"Command center, command center. This is Voyager 19. I want to re-enter the solar system. Please come in."
"Voyager 19, this is Origins Mission Control. We are running NASA Mission Control. Come in, Voyager 19."
Evan jumped in surprise as he picked up a signal from an old NASA satellite. Is there anyone else out there? He jumped out of his chair, nearly knocking over his colleague in his rush to the general's office. Evan rushes past the General's aide-de-camp and into the General's office, even as the aide-de-camp rushes to drive a wedge between Evan and the General.
"I detected a signal," he said suddenly. "not Chinese."
General Brooks raised his head and waved his adjutant away. The assistant gave Evan a disapproving look and returned to his desk.
"Okay, son, I'm listening to you. Play it for me."
Evan pulled out his tablet. Its screen has cracks from the previous communications technician who used it. Considering the tablet is at least 12 years old, Evan feels lucky it still works.
"Command center, command center. This is Voyager 19. I want to re-enter the solar system. Please come in."
"Voyager 19, this is Origins Mission Control. We are running NASA Mission Control. Come in, Voyager 19."
"Where did the broadcast come from? 'Origin Mission Control'?"
"This is not a broadcast. This is a quantum relay link. It is labeled "NF Ga
ymed". What is that? Can they help us with the mechanical issues?"
"How did you know?" It doesn't matter, it's a small base. No, they are the Nikolai Foundation. A group of people who truly believed in "human genetic purity," the latest fad in eugenics. Also, if they survived, they were in the asteroid belt. "
"We can still ask," Evan said.
"We'd better not take the risk. We don't have a choice yet. China may still respond to our plea for help."
"Is it time?" Sakura asked.
"Yes," I said. "Have a safe trip. I'll talk to you in a few microseconds."
Sakura smiled, seed spaceship OSS Ag
IPPA separates from Origin's docking arm. Despite its size, the massive craft moved subtly, traveling a safe distance before turning and speeding toward Earth. She would pass by the Möbius Gate on her way to Earth because Earth's small orbit has passed us and the Möbius Gate. Under continued high acceleration, "Sakura" will complete the flip within two weeks and enter orbit within four weeks. The solar system is getting smaller.
She still had a lot of work to do on the seed ship's internal systems. The factory is mostly complete, as are the hull and engines, but the living quarters and hydroponic farm are still under construction, and her drone count is low. I filled her vast warehouse with raw materials, finished products, and an important genetic profile. She should have more and more drones as she enters Earth orbit and is closer to completion.
Even before the SOSS Agrippa left the asteroid field, I was already laying the keel for the next seed ship, and the construction dock for the second seed ship was almost ready. Saku
a officially quits O
igi
management. I replaced her with multiple NI-19's. One man managed the warship construction docks, several were responsible for the growing manufacturing facilities, and one was responsible for the mining operations. Our facilities now extend almost to Ga
ymed the entire region of the asteroid, and construction of Phase II and, in some cases, Phase III is beginning.
I also sent out reconnaissance drones to detect asteroids around us. While I have an endless supply of base metals like iron, some rarer elements are being depleted. My reserves are vast, but not infinite, and I need them more than ever. I've built over a dozen mining stations on various asteroids to mine volatiles, platinum group metals, and rare earth elements, in addition to all our outposts and the Origin Corporation itself. I'm also trying to figure out how to build a self-sufficient mining platform in Jupiter's upper atmosphere to easily extract helium-3. Having a stable source of helium-3 would give me an alternative to the lithium fuel we have relied on to date and allow for a more efficient fusion reactor design and greatly increase my power generation options.
Not long after, the alarm clock rang, reminding me that it was Sakura's turn for a blood transfusion. Even if you can work on dozens of projects simultaneously and have ever-growing resources, you'll be surprised how quickly time can slip away from you. I focused on the sensors and watched as the massive seed ship reversed the gravity field in its opposed engines and began to slow down. Everything is exactly like our model. perfect.
Now it's time to welcome your guests before they arrive.
It's my order. The Origin and every outpost with coilguns began firing into the space surrounding the Mobius Gate. We had a detailed firing plan, carefully laying out a grid of continuous super-velocity shots at reasonable ranges to cover the largest area we could hit. This covering fire would continue, with thousands of ground-based coilguns operating until the first enemy arrived. The first round of iron bombs would take two weeks to arrive, coinciding with the earliest possible arrival of the Orion Arms Trading Company's fleet. We would fill the space with endless columns of bullets, spend tens of thousands of tons of iron and unheard of strength, and hold them under fire the moment they arrived.
This doesn't come without a price. My growth has slowed down significantly, not because of the exhaustion of endlessly building coil guns, but because of the drain on our grid. On the plus side, it helps eliminate excess steel.
As the days passed and the artillery fire continued, my troops took up positions. My newest outposts opened fire and plunged into darkness as part of my own fleet took cover behind them. My older, therefore more powerful outposts increased their firepower to compensate with their own assault troops in preparation for the coming battle. Battleships No. 11 and 12 left the docking bay, which was completed six weeks ahead of schedule. Each squadron has its own NI-15 commander, as well as six squadrons of Wasps and Scorpions as escorts. I named them my Viper-class battleships, and each Viper was assigned to a different location within my ever-expanding sphere of influence.
After 6 months, no one came. Two days, three days, then four days. Still no one came. I keep bombing. Actually, I know this might happen. It could take them months to muster forces on the other side. It is unlikely that they had a full fleet ready for invasion. I don't doubt they've mustered some muscle, though. There is no other reason to issue a probe attack and then run away like we experienced. It doesn't matter. I'm very patient. I could really keep this up for a few years if necessary, although I have other plans if they wait longer than a few months.
Despite all my planning, I never could have predicted what happened next. I got a call from Sakura.
"Well, Nikolai?" she said tentatively. "Are you free?" You won't believe it.
"What is that?" I asked. Nearly all my attention was devoted to preparations for war. I wasn't completely distraught, because that would be nearly impossible, but I didn't assign the topic of conversation to her very high. I knew it wasn't an emergency
"There are survivors."
"What survivor?" Within a microsecond, I realized this, and talking to her suddenly became my top priority.
"Human survivors. I found a shelter in the mountains of Panama in Central America. It's warmer there. According to weather satellites in orbit, it looks like it's summer there, with temperatures close to zero degrees Celsius. Their shelter is a warm place. There might be another one.”
"How did you find them, or get the idea to find them?"
"I got a radio signal going from one to the other as it bounced off the relay satellite. It looked like they were trying to contact someone in Southeast Asia, somewhere in China. They didn't get a response."
"What are they talking about?" I asked curiously. I've been assuming that none of the shelters survived. There has been no radio signal there for more than a decade. Were the two surviving shelters cut off from communication? Or is there just one left?
"They need gear. They have HVAC issues and can't stay warm enough."
"Are they underground or above ground?" I asked.
"I don't know, but it makes sense that they would be underground. At least then, they would only be warming up from about 10 degrees Celsius throughout the year instead of fighting extreme winter temperatures."
"Do you have a transport drone that can land?" I asked. My knowledge of her current inventory is weeks out of date.
"I have one, and my gravity board factory isn't quite online yet. I built it from stock."
"Do you have a spare robot?"
"I did it! Are you coming to see me?" she screamed.
"I think this is a good idea, what do you think?"
"Yes!! Let's go make friends!"
byO
igi
and OSS Ag
The quantum relay link between IPPA and cross-loading to a new robot took about 30 minutes. I went online, sat up, and my sensors came online in a way I hadn't experienced since the Gerry invasion. I am a new variant of Mark IV War, a modified robot with synthetic biopolymer skin covering its entire face and skull from fingertips to shoulders. It's the most human-like robot yet, but it has electromagnetically secured body armor and wears a helmet. When fully armed, it looks a lot like the Guardian-2 model. The only notable difference is that the armor consists of a very thin layer of compressed titanium to protect the joints and is coated with white industrial ceramic on top, the same gold and white color scheme as my battleship and seed ship. The Guardians still wear gray and black tactical clothing.
Sakura sits on her own Ma
In K-IV, he is fully armed but still has pink hair. She added a pair of gold and white emblems to her armor and prepared one for me. I looked at it strangely.
"Don't bullshit me," she said. "Humans read a lot into clothing. Aesthetics are very important in making a good first impression. Decorating yourself shows personality, which is something they don't think of as a machine. We don't want them to think we are mindless drones, If we really want to help them.”
I nodded. “Any response from contacting them?”
"Except that they stop contact with the Chinese? Nothing." "
That's not very promising. Our ultimate goal is to rebuild humanity. If there are living humans, helping them is a major part of our mission, not to mention a real shortcut. After all, no one is creating new humans that are better than existing humans.
"Okay, let's go knock on the front door."
Most of our re-entry flights are over water. This transport drone is a multi-purpose design and comes with a seating area equivalent to a robot. In fact, this was mostly to ensure that Sakura, myself, and our team of Guardian escorts wouldn't be thrown off by sudden movements. I tied a string to the drone's camera and watched us fly, keeping the robot's sensors mostly offline. I have enough work to do that I don't feel the need to stare at the interior walls of a transport for hours.
We flew southwest over the Pacific to avoid the blizzard hitting the Gulf of Mexico. We passed dozens of frozen villages and towns, suffocated by ice and snow to their rooftops. We then walked through fields and hills to the shelter.
From above, it's obvious that people live there. Its location in a narrow valley between two mountains protects it from many of the worst winds and weather. The shelter itself is built into the cliffs of the valley, surrounded by dozens of large outbuildings spread out in a grid pattern. The snow is covered with the tracks of heavy tracked vehicles and snowmobiles, and only one road leads from the base to where civilization once stood. There are no traces on the road. The path is obvious only because it is higher than the rest of the snow and is wide.
We landed on the road outside the shelter annex. To be more precise, the transport hovered a few feet above the snow and then dropped down a slope. We got off the ship, and six guardians lined up in two lines to outflank Sakura and me. The remaining four team members remained on the drone.
Other than the snow, the temperatures are no different than the regular ones we're dealing with at the origin. Our drones typically operate in temperatures of minus 100 degrees without sunlight and up to 120 degrees with sunlight. However, we were heavy and the snow was deep. It took us a long time to make our way steadily to the crowded, crowded area of the shelter.
When we reached the road, over twenty armed men were lined up in front of us, weapons at the ready. They wore thick coats and masks to keep out the cold. Behind them, several men stood watching, but without weapons.
"You are trespassing on our property. State your purpose," came a voice over the loudspeaker.
I turned on the speakers and adjusted the volume to a level I thought I could hear.
"I'm Nikolai. We hear you asking for help fixing your furnace. We can help."
Humans are nervous. My sensors are tuned well enough to pick up the pulses and shakes of the weapon. This makes sense. They have lived alone for more than ten years without any outside contact.
"How many people do you have?" the speaker asked again.
I'm confused by this question. "By what standard?"
"What?"
“How much of something?”
The people in the back began to talk in confusion before the speaker raised the megaphone again.
"How many people live on the Origin Planet?"
"You mean humans?" Zero. "I could feel the tension rising, my pulse quickening even more. We were scaring them. "Our mission is-"
crack. One of the humans fired, and the bullet bounced off one of the Guardians' armor, causing no damage. The six Guardians immediately formed a firing formation.
"Don't shoot! Stand down!" I said, speaking loudly to the humans as I radioed the appropriate authentication codes to the Guardians. The Guardians dropped their weapons and stood up. This was not going to work.
I stepped out from behind the guards and motioned for Sakura to follow me. I walked up to the nervous people and stopped. I took off my helmet and the human gasped. My face is clearly human, but at the same time not human. My eyes glowed a pure blue.
"We mean no harm. We're here to help," I said. The blizzard in the distance began to snow lightly, and I stood quietly, waiting patiently.
After a few long minutes, and a few more quiet conversations between the people behind, a man came forward. He was tall and had a walk that reminded me of Agrippa. So, it’s a soldier.
"I am General Brooks. I am the commander of this base." When he spoke, I could see a few strands of silver hair under his hood, and a pair of fierce eyes appeared in the mask.
"We're here to help," I repeated. "Origin's goal is to rebuild humanity and protect it. You are the first survivors we have found."
"Where are you from?" Are you with the Orion Arms Trading Company? Are you Chinese? The old man asked, his voice was stiff.
"We are enemies of alien invaders," I replied. "We are from O
igi
. You may know it as asteroid 1035 Ga
ymed. We are the original NI intelligence personnel sent to build an interstellar colony ship. As a result of this attack, our original mission has changed. "
"So, you're responsible for those Foundation fools?" He seemed guilty of the association and ready to reject us.
I replied: "We are responsible for it." "There are no humans on the origin planet."
"I don't really like that either," he said. "What price do we have to pay?"
"Money?" I asked doubtfully.
"Yes, the cost. Your help. How much do you want to sell it for?" he asked reluctantly. This is a man who knows he needs help, otherwise he wouldn't radio for help, but he's almost afraid of getting help. He says Is it money?
"We don't need your help," I responded. "Our purpose is to help. You don't have the resources we need."
"Ha!" he laughed loudly. "Now I hear everything." Well, Ms. Nicola, I bite you. Can you get us replacement parts for the Trane-Cline Model 1909 commercial furnace?”
I looked at Sakura. I now run O
igi
No problem as I focus on big picture projects and managing other NI. However, Sakura's talent for detail surpasses mine.
"I can make up what you need," she said. "But this model has many known issues and requires a lot of maintenance. I can build a Daikin DM3312VE that produces more BTUs for the same power and space requirements and lasts longer."
"How long will it take?" the general asked. "My engineer says we have a week or two before the main furnace fails."
Saku
"I have most of the materials on hand and I can make some that I don't have," A said. "About an hour?" plus shipping time from orbit. Assuming you allow universal drone access to your base, the installation time will be a few hours longer. "
"This is the price," the general said. "Into the base. No, I don't think so. We're done."
He started to back away. I took a step forward and he froze. The soldier behind him raised his gun again.
"General, we mean no harm and there is no need to enter." I knew I had lost him, so I changed my strategy. "You know, I was human once. I was version 1.01, the first Nikolai Intelligence. I understand you wanted to protect your people. I once had a family. A wife, twin daughters. I know you wanted to Protect your loved ones. We will provide you with parts for your existing furnace and a new Daikin furnace. We will box them up and put them on the road. Do with them what you will.”
I took a step back. The soldiers lowered their guns slightly. Then Origin's alarms started alerting me. My main focus shifted. The energy flow of the Mobius Gate fluctuates. The enemy is coming.
"We have to go. The Orion Arms Trading Company is sending out another fleet. Do not, under any circumstances, radio."
"Well, thank you," the general said gruffly. I don’t know if he trusts me more now than when we first arrived. If it were me, I wouldn't do it. But this is a start.
I snapped my helmet on and started walking toward the transport. Sakura and the Guardians followed. It's nice to finally see someone in a broken memory or movie. But playtime with the robots is over. I climbed back into the transport and immediately cut all the lines. I have a war to fight.
"I know you're about to start fighting," Zia radioed from her research lab, "but you need to know. Gerry changed course and started accelerating. He's going to slingshot around Venus."
I sighed and asked even though I already knew the answer. "Has he changed his destination?"
"No. He's going to Earth."
