The Universe — or Nothing, Meyer Moldeven [best color ebook reader txt] 📗

Brad saw the question in Ram's eyes.

"One of Zolan's home-grown gadgets," he said. "Sets up an omni-interference field for a couple of hundred meters. We'll be moving through comm-override chatter until he switches it off."

Then to Kumiko, "Which way?"

"Left. Air lock. Hundred meters." She crouched and darted away.

"Ram, stoop, bend, whatever it takes to shrink.
Stay close to the wall for as long as you can.
Everyone keep a few meters apart. Hodak, you stay
close to Ram and watch the rear. OK, let's do it."

Two burly men came around the end of a nearby structure, stopped, stared at Ram as he rose through the manhole, and then at each other. Zolan caught both in a conical burst as they backed away. They fell in silence.

Hodak and Zolan dashed forward. Each grasped a set of ankles, hauled the bodies into the cul-de-sac and dumped them down the utility hole.

Brad took a quick look in both directions and nudged Adari.

"Go," he said.

Kumiko was at the air lock. Brad, Hodak and Ram were well away from the cul-de-sac. Kumiko stepped into the enclosure containing the suit racks, her weapon up and level, safety off, finger a tiny space from the trigger.

Two guards, sitting on a bench, rifles across their thighs, gaped at her.

"What the hell," one of them yawped, raising his rifle.

The other guard flipped the switch on a hand-held transmitter and started to raise it to his lips. Kumiko cut them down with a single sweep. She raced up and across the long room, checking alcoves, corridors and behind suit racks. Empty.

Ram entered, quickly followed by the others. Hodak remained at the door, alert for intruders. Adari moved across to the keypad control for the outer air lock, and peered through the visi-screen. She thumbed up.

Ram rummaged hastily among the space suits on the rack. Adari left her position, grabbed a suit and worked herself into it. Brad, Kumiko and Zolan were halfway into theirs. Zolan moved to the outer door. Hodak, suited up, called to Ram, who hurried over.

"Here's one you might squeeze into. C'mere, give it a try."

Ram looked distastefully at the suit. "Well," he muttered, "that's what happens to a giant among pygmies. I couldn't find anything bigger than what you've come up with. Give a hand here."

Adari joined them. Together, she and Hodak shoehorned Ram into the suit and closed the seals. Helmets fitted, they ran quickly through air tank and suit connections security and pressure checks. Minutes later they were ready for departure.

Brad motioned Kumiko closer, and they opened their faceplates.

"Stay here until we return," Brad instructed, "but keep your suit on. Now that we're all wearing suits we can't be identified. So, if you get innocent visitors, just incapacitate them. If anyone comes looking for a fight, don't wait for an invitation."

Kumiko nodded and closed her faceplate. Weapon in hand, she took up a position where she would not be seen from the entryway.

Brad lumbered to the air lock and, a moment later, the panel to the buffer space slipped aside. Gesturing Ram, Zolan, Hodak and Adari through, he stepped after them and closed and dogged the panel leading back into the dome. He lifted the safety cover and pressed a wall plate. With a swish of escaping air, the outer doors slid up. They stepped out.

##

A dozen taxis and space tugs were scattered about on the ramp. Choosing the taxi most distant from the others Zolan beckoned Hodak and Adari to follow him. Moving as quickly as their suits and the light gravity would allow, they reached the taxi and climbed aboard. Brad and Ram brought up the rear, turning often to watch other suited people moving about. A ramp guard was some distance away, gesturing among a knot of people. The Sentinels remained unnoticed.

Reaching the taxi, Zolan and Hodak began to adjust its controls, vector and power instruments. Adari's helmet filled in the pilot position. Raising her glove she beckoned frantically to Ram. He climbed in beside her. Her hand on his helmet she spoke rapidly, pointing at the instrument panel.

Brad watched Adari move back and out as Ram moved into the seat she vacated. Bending forward, her helmet touched Ram's as her gloved hands pointed to where the depot was visible. She slapped Ram on the shoulder and stepped back.

The jerry-rigged taxi rose slowly at first, gained speed and disappeared into the backdrop of black velvet and stars.

Camari strode into the Conference Room, took his seat at the head of the long table, and stared bleakly at his advisors. The faces of the Ministers of Diplomatic Protocols and Intelligence were grim; the Commander of the Space Forces ready to explode.

"I suppose you've all studied Ram's report," Camari said in a low, angry voice. "What do you think? Selvin?"

"If they take the depot," Admiral Selvin said, "we're out of business. Even if we get the depot back undamaged, we'll be unable to make up the time lost. The construction and launch schedules are that tight."

"What do you suggest?"

"Stop them — now."

"They'll know we're coming when our fleet lines up to enter the spunnel. The gateway can handle our military craft, no problem there. What we cannot count on is INOR's failing to see us on the move."

"How do we get around that?"

"Diversionary tactics; draw their attention to a major initiative on our part in which all of INOR has role vital to its interests, if not survival. Risky, but we have no choice."

The Strategic Concepts Computer recorded, analyzed, and reported. They listened, then talked.

##

The Solar Spunnel Communications Control flashed a Category One Alert across the system. The Alert was directed to all planets, satellites, stations, outposts, and all ships in space from Mercury to deep within the Oort Cloud far beyond the Slingshot construction sites.

Rymer Camari, President of the United Inner Planetary System wished to address the citizens of all nations on a matter of extreme urgency, one that affects humankind throughout the entire Solar System. The INOR Chiefs of State were urged to convene their Executive and Legislative Councils and to listen to the UIPS President.

Interplanetary comm-spunnel boosters were raised to maximum power and range. The added power cleared Camari's image and speech for override into all open aud-viz transmitters and receivers throughout the system.

When Camari's features formed in view tanks or on screens his manner was grave, and his tone solemn and deliberate. The message was brief.

"Greetings to all citizens and Governments of our Solar Community," he began. "We wish you well. I have chosen this time and this means to speak to you directly because the threat to all of use is real and our peril increases by the hour. Unless we act immediately and in concert, disaster will befall us all.

"Not long ago two of our manned recon craft were attacked and destroyed near Planet Pluto. These ships were part of a small protective force that the UIPS maintains in the Plutonian Special Zone for the safety of the Slingshot terminals and its logistics depot.

"The Government of Planet Pluto has been familiar with the patrollers' mission to protect Slingshot assets in the Construction Zone since the Program was in its early planning stages. In these latest operations, one of our patrols was known to be scouting the Plutonian outback for subsurface tunnels and galleries where unscrupulous adventurers sneak off to hide after preying on our outposts and transports. The other UIPS patroller had identified a cache of contraband weapons in space that presented a clear threat to Slingshot.

"The attack on the two UIPS ships could not have occurred without the prior knowledge, approval and very likely, the direct orders from the highest authorities in the Plutonian Government."

The President sat forward in his chair and his face loomed larger across the system. His voice lowered, and increased its intensity.

"We cannot consider these incidents in isolation. Our transports to the Slingshot depot and construction site are being raided and harassed by terrorists and pirates who are directed by and provided sanctuary by both official and non-official entities. We are compelled to conclude that INOR criminal adventurers and pirates act in the context of agreements among their Governments. Doing so constitutes direct military and economic warfare against the UIPS and is an attempt to sabotage the Slingshot mission.

"I must tell you now we are outraged by this conspiracy and these attacks. The UIPS does have recourse. It can respond in kind.

"What then? Warships carrying weapons of unprecedented destructive power are at the ready in both regions. Have we no choice but to keep escalating provocation, sneak attacks and reprisals until our full military fleets are unleashed in their fury against each other? If we get to this, citizens of INOR, do not rule out reprisals on your encapsulated communities. Be aware: history clearly shows us that there are indeed few, if any, real sanctuaries for civilian populations in times of war."

He paused to let the words sink in. His voice became crisp and forceful.

"I am now faced with this decision: Should the UIPS retaliate against Planet Pluto and all other members of INOR that interfere with innocent passage of our transports to and from the Slingshot sites?

"That is one course open to us; it would bring death and havoc all across this star system we know as our home. We must look to alternatives. The creators and wielders of weapons must demonstrate reason along with valor. War, in any form and at any level, is a blind evasion of the real problems that confront humankind.

"When the old United Planetary System was replaced by the UIPS and INOR, the relationships among governments and peoples deteriorated. We drifted apart. The few interregional agreements that did evolve supported special interests. Once ingrained, they became acceptable, even generally attractive, practices. Now we each have our spheres of influence, and we guard them jealously — and often with apprehension.

"There remains, to this day, a deep distrust and fear that one nation or independent colony, or any collective, will attempt to secure advantage over another. Each of us, focused on our own interests, sees the danger and seeks to avoid being its victim. This infectious distrust and fear must be cleansed from our system-wide community of nations if we are ever to live in peace with each other.

"Misunderstandings have arisen over the centuries concerning the intentions for Slingshot facilities and personnel in place throughout what has now become INOR territories or jurisdictions. We accept our share of blame for these misconceptions. Let us dispel them.

"The Collector Terminal, as you all know, will be disengaged upon completion and take its position on the system's rim. When the launch window opens, and it will be open to us for only a very brief time, the Extractor must depart — there will be no second chance for several centuries. The Extractor must fly as fast and as true as the missile did from the sling of David to the head of Goliath. The Extractor is our missile, Alpha Centauri is our target and, as David's leather sling was the instrument to save an ancient civilization. The orbit of Planet Pluto powers the sling that will save our civilizations for the ages which extend before us, but only if we act in unity.

"What happens afterward? When the Extractor has departed, we will no longer need the logistics depot, and UIPS citizens in the Zone will return home. All but a small portion of our facilities, equipment, and supplies will be transferred on site to the Plutonian Government or INOR generally. Whatever is not wanted by its new owners we will remove and help Planet Pluto to convert and reconstruct Coldfield and the rest of the planet to fit the needs of its citizens. We will provide material support and training for transition to an infrastructure and administration of Pluto's choice. We invite all of INOR to share in this task."

Camari leaned back for a short pause. His eyes looked beseechingly at his unseen audience. His voice softened.

"That was the past and, admittedly, a poor foundation upon which to build; let us now look to a more positive future. I make this proposal to all Governments of our star system, the common heritage of humankind.

"We are in disarray. As history has demonstrated time and again there are no real winners in contests of military might, to the contrary. Our response to the incidents off Planet Pluto is that we reject reprisal merely for vengeance, or for imposing ourselves on the Plutonian people. In the same vein, we reject war against any Government within INOR. Not because we cannot wage war, but because war would annihilate cities and lives on both sides. Further, Slingshot would be lost to us, and ultimately, the entire solar civilization would wane and disappear.

"I propose we meet in space, along the border between our Regions at a place of mutual agreement. Let us convene as equals to examine our differences. We must give greater credence to each other's needs and aspirations