Chapter One: Aliens?
Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.
-Arthur C. Clarke
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April, 2157CE
UNS Norway SDD-051
In geostationary orbit off Shanxi
The piercing sound of a whistle radiated throughout the ship, its wail more than enough to wake even the deepest sleepers. It had been heard by sailors for hundreds of years, the sound that they had always been training and dreading for. "General quarters! General quarters! All hands man your battle stations!" The once quiet and tranquil ship erupted into organized chaos with sleeping men abruptly awaken and groggily running through long and narrow corridors to their stations. Personal effects, cutlery, and anything that isn't bolted into the ship are secured to prevent them becoming deadly projectiles during combat maneuvers. Men donned their soft suits which contained a small rebreather and magnetic boots to lower the chances of the sailors from getting killed in the event of a hull breach. The Combat Information Center (CIC) came to life as systems were turned on as their operators arrived in a rush. Throughout the ship the incessant wail of the alarm droned on as the stations checked in one by one. The wail finally ended when the last station, damage control, checked in to Commander Jonathan Peterson's visible displeasure.
"Almost six minutes, Jesus that's the worse time so far." Lieutenant Commander Abigail Wang clicked her tongue in disgust. It should have taken the men less than four minutes to reach their battle stations yet now looking at her wristwatch it clearly wasn't the case. "We should make the drills even more often commander."
Peterson looked towards his Executive Officer (XO), sighed, then turned back to studying the planet below. "I know ex-oh I know, but there's no use of pushing the men this hard, this is a relatively new colony is it not? I doubt there's anything down there that's worth enough for the pirates to come all the way out here."
The commander looked around the bridge studying the men and women dutifully manning their stations, then silently chuckled to himself. Oh how he remembered watching those old sci-fi movies and games with the bridge being so spacious and the captain having a plush chair of his own to sit and rule over his little kingdom in space with fancy holograms projecting out of the armrests. Not in the real world. It's as cramped as the engineers could get it to be without hindering the movement of the crew. The captain's chair looked like something his grandfather could have sat on and he definitely don't have even close to enough holograms aboard his ship for it to be like one of those movies. No matter where it is space aboard a ship is always at a premium. But for all it's worth he still calls this fifty thousand ton lump of metal his home for nearly a decade.
He continued to study the planet for a few moments more before sitting down on the captain's chair. "Master Chief, secure from general quarters and helm, take us back to the space-ev."
A chorus of aye sirs rang out before the dreaded whistle rang throughout the ship once more ahead of the booming voice of Command Master Chief Petty Officer Alex Schuartz "Secure from general quarters, I repeat secure from general quarters. It was just a drill."
Lieutenant Commander Wang took her leave from the bridge followed by the Master Chief a short while later as well as all non-essential personnel. In just a few minutes the bridge was transformed from being in mayhem to being in peace, the only sound being the ever present hum of the inertial dampeners slowly ramping up to compensate for the gradual increase in acceleration.
After five minutes the thrusters cut off followed by the Reaction Control System (RCS) flipping the ship over and the thrusters turning on once more to slow down the ship. Peterson was thankful that the inertial dampeners were invented for it they don't exist then he'll need to be constantly strapped on to his seat fighting against the gee forces of the acceleration, something that the anti-grav would not be able to compensate for. They also would not be able to use the ship's maximum acceleration of forty standard gravities since the human body would already not be able to survive in sustained fifteen gee environments.
Five more minutes and the engines cut off a final time and the ship flipped over to reveal the Shanxi Space Elevator in front of them. The station was anchored to the planet with dozens of pairs of tethers securing the space terminal to the planet. Looking out of the bridge's small windows he could see several of the elevator capsules zooming up and down the tethers delivering cargo and passengers to and from the terminal. It had dozens of berths large enough to fit a class three freighter which is over twice the size of Peterson's destroyer, though he wasn't able to see any at the moment.
The destroyer slowly maneuvered to the other side of the cylindrical terminal and berthed beside the other two vessels of the Shanxi Patrol Flotilla, the frigates Manila and New Delhi. Two gangways then extended from opposite ends of the berth connecting to the destroyer's airlock. The ship hissed and screeched before the engine was powered down to idle.
Peterson was satisfied with how the helmswoman handled herself. He got up from his chair and gave her an approving nod before getting off the bridge and into the maze of the ship's corridors heading to his cabin. Arriving at his door he opened it with an old fashioned keycard and closed it with a sigh as he entered, he immediately plopped down onto his bed still in his service uniform at last enjoying a few minutes to himself. He still remembered the first time he entered this room, observing that it was very small in normal standards but was already a suite in the navy's. His XO would go and do all the routine tasks such as discharging men for shore leave with the Master Chief helping her out. Now though, he could finally rest his mind after a month out on regular patrol for what the navy called "hostile crafts".
The captain scoffed. Hostile crafts? The only thing hostile out here is the boredom that eats into the soul of every sailor. Peterson tossed around in his bed, an action unbecoming of a captain of a ship but since he's in his private quarters he doesn't care. Looking professional and all is important when you're in front of the men you're commanding, its not really if you're all alone. He then realized something, maybe its because of the way he thinks that caused him to get stuck at Lieutenant Commander for such a long time. Oh well, he's already got his own command and would love to see the faces of his academy professors now, ones that said that he'll be lucky if he even gets a frigate.
"Commander, do remember that the Captain Sugawara would like to hear your report as soon as possible." A sultry disembodied voice in his quarters suddenly brought Peterson back to reality.
"Alright Eve just… give me a moment."
Peterson stood up from his bed and straightened his uniform before proceeding to his desk. He sat down on his small plastic chair and stared at the mess that is his table. "Eve, remind me to clean this up next time I'm here."
"Yes commander." The shipboard AI replied curtly. He was still getting used to the AIs having actual… well not exactly personalities but getting there, a far cry from his great-grandfather's time where voiced AIs were simply a novelty in smartphones. Now they're indispensable aboard a ship making both his and his XO's life far easier.
After arranging his desk for a bit, Peterson finally turned on his terminal and contacted Captain Sugawara. He was greeted by the captain's yeoman and placed on hold for a few minutes before being redirected to the captain himself.
"Commander Peterson! How are you? I trust that the patrol went smoothly?"
"Aye sir, as always." Peterson replied. He still wondered why the hell Captain Sugawara still insists on him reporting immediately after a patrol when nothing ever really happens out there. Ever since Sugawara was transferred here from Terra Nova a couple of months back the number of patrol cruises went up as well as adding new patrol routes to the stretched Patrol Flotilla. "I'll have the report sent to you by eighteen hundred later sir."
"Good, good." The Japanese Captain scratched his light stubble. "Dismissed commander."
Peterson nodded back before cutting off the transmission, he leaned back onto his chair murmuring to himself. "Well that was pretty useless, time to start writing that report anyway. Eve, can you bring up the old ones?"
"Just a moment commander." Eve replied, pulling up his old files into his terminal.
Peterson was tempted to simply copy and paste his old report as practically everything went as it did the last time but thought otherwise. He sighed once again. If the Manila never discovered the Megastructure four months ago then Captain Sugawara would've never been transferred here. They would've never needed to do so much patrol so far into deep space. If only, if only, if only…
The commander shook his head trying to concentrate, at this rate he'll never meet his self imposed deadline. After getting his bearings Peterson started typing away at his keyboard instinctively. He finished and sent the report to Captain Sugawara with half an hour to spare. He got out of his chair and made himself a cup of coffee from his personal coffee maker before he sat down on his bed, switched his terminal to some music, and savoured his self made brew.
If only the Shanxi Patrol Flotilla was given more ships, even just two more frigates, then he wouldn't need to tax the men so much. Damn, being the guy in charge isn't easy.
A few more minutes of quietly sipping coffee was followed by Peterson switching the television on to the news. CNN, it looks like.
"In other news, the 'Shanxi Megastructure' appeared to have existed for hundreds of thousands if not millions of years according to the new study released by UNESCO."
Wow, Peterson thought, CNN got excellent timing today.
"Though the Megastructure's exact location remains classified, sources have confirmed that UNESCO have used a new method, in determining the Megastructure's age since it is made out of materials that they claimed did not exist in the periodic table. Critics are already arguing that unless the material was released to be investigated by a third party, we wouldn't know if they're telling the truth or just running us around."
Peterson sipped some more coffee. He listened some more but switched it off when several people came up to the screen and started arguing with one another. Oh how the Megastructure was just one big conspiracy to take the people's minds away from the real problems, with doomsday apologists who proclaim the end is nigh and an alien invasion is imminent.
Eve interrupted his musings. "Commander, a reminder for your meeting in five hours with the Shanxi Defence Committee."
Peterson finished his coffee. "Yes…" mom, he was about to say but quickly stopped himself. It would be horrible if the shipboard AI started to have a slang and was traced to his conversations with it. "…Eve, I'll get right to it." He went to his small sink and washed his mug before placing it back into the small cupboard. He then prepared his dress blues for the meeting later down on the planet, the first in a series of meetings to 'formulating a basic contingency plan and defence strategy in the event of an alien invasion' if he recalled correctly.
He smirked while shining his buttons, he never though that anybody would actually be making contingencies for an alien invasion. But then again the Megastructure was undoubtedly not a natural occurrence in the universe and having saw it himself several times already, it was most definitely constructed by someone. Someone who's level of technology is far beyond that of humanity and Peterson shuddered to think what the aliens are capable of if they came and started knocking.
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RV Midas SR-091
Shanxi Megastructure. Approximately 2 light-years from Shanxi, in interstellar space
The fifteen kilometer long Shanxi Megastructure never ceased to awe Doctor Hiroshi Nakamura as he gazed at it through the ship's porthole. It had two distinct parts that mirror each other with each having a curved portion close to the back that created a circular hole in the middle of the two containing static gyroscopic rings.
"Quite a remarkable thing isnt' it doctor."
Doctor Nakamura swung his head around to see Jackson joining him at the table with a tray full of food. "Yes indeed." He took another mouthful of potatoes from his own tray before turning back to the porthole. "You know it would be pretty horrible if the megastructure turns out to be a beacon that directs some hegemonic galactic empire towards us."
Jackson chuckled. "Well that's what we're here to find out doctor."
Nakamura nodded absently, his thoughts still on the megastructure and the… quite impressive amount of funding the research team has got from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Then again if it turned out to be some kind of alien structure that was built by a species that is still alive today, it'll change humanity as they know it for better or worse.
The doctor finished his potatoes before excusing himself from Jackson, returned the tray and cutlery, and headed back to his cabin. He would like to get some more rest before it was his expedition's time to disembark and make their way to the megastructure and to collect more samples to figure out just what the hell it was made out of.
Serendipity and Serenity already had their expeditions on the megastructure while the expeditions from Midas and Curiosity would be sent later on when the other two ship's returned which would be in a few hours. Nakamura also noted that the destroyer Norway and the frigate Manila was maintaining station several light-minutes away from the megastructure keeping a watchful eye for any uninvited guests.
Nakamura entered his quarters and sat down on his bed, he set the alarm to an hour from now and lied down to take a quick nap. An hour later he was awaken by the irritating beeps of his clock and, groggily, turned it off. When he finally came to he prepared himself for the expedition by browsing over the notes once more, on what the objectives of today's mission are, and what difficulties they may or may not expect. All off it which seemed routine for him by now since it was already his third expedition to the site.
He went on for a few more pages more before noticing the time. Nakamura turned off the terminal, stretched, and proceeded to the small docking bay of the ship several levels below the crew quarters. He was greeted by the other crew who would be accompanying him, seven in total, before changing over to his soft suit. He doubt that they would be doing a lot of spacewalks since in most of the expedition's duration they're controlling drones, but then again to be sure of any eventualities the ship's crew loaded their Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) suits into the boat.
The expedition's crew entered the boat through a gangway connected to the boat's passenger airlock from the side and made their round of the boat making sure it and the drones are in top shape before proceeding to their stations in the cockpit to start the pre-flight checks. Nakamura always loathed this part, being the senior scientist on board with no flight training or experience whatsoever he was relegated to simply being a passenger while the crew do their things.
Even though they each have a terminal at their stations his doesn't even have anything referring to the flight controls which he thought was just as well so that he could concentrate on leading the expedition.
He was already gazing away into launch bay, thinking of how they'll conduct the expedition when he was brought back by the sudden jolt of the boat undocking with the ship. Through the cockpit's narrow windows he could see the ship slowly floating up and away from boat, the gangway retracting back into the inner walls of the ship and the massive airlocks at the bottom of Midas slowly closing.
As the boat slowly maneuvered away from the Midas he was greeted by the sight of the megastructure in its full glory and the sleek lines of Midas. Being a research vessel the ship was rated to be able to handle atmospheric flight unlike the larger freighters or navy ships which aren't, they could only dock at space elevators.
Since the larger ships can't get anywhere near an atmosphere they all looked like blocky monstrosities because… well having no air resistance in space there isn't a need to make those ships elegantly aerodynamic like the Midas. It cuts down on the production cost though at the expense of form.
Midas slowly got smaller as the boat increased its acceleration towards the megastructure fifty kilometers away. In the halfway point the boat flipped over and started decelerating without Nakamura even noticing. They finally arrived at the megastructure stopping several hundred meters away to deploy the drones.
"How goes the drones Doctor Roxas?"
Dr. Kenneth Roxas grunted from his terminal, eyes still fixated on the monitor. "Well Doctor Nakamura, everything looks good. I'm just rechecking their orders making sure they don't go to far."
"Good, and Mister Jackson can you update me on the progress of Curiosity's expedition? I might get too caught up to notice them hailing us."
The communications officer simply nodded. "Alright doc."
"Very well then, lets get to it."
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June, 2157CE
UN General Assembly, United Nations Headquarters. Geneva, Switzerland.
Approximately 310 light-years from Shanxi
The speaker in the podium droned on endlessly. The representative from the Martian nation of Tharsis went on and on about how the tariffs imposed by Terra Nova on Martial products were unjust and against what were signed in the Interplanetary Trade Organization (ITO).
Secretary-General Park Gui Hei pinched the ridge of her nose in boredom and annoyance. Representative Indra had been pushing for tariff free trade between the planets for the past year and Terra Nova had already given some concessions in the matter but the Martians wanted Terra Nova to remove all tariffs. Problems like this won't get solved very quickly.
Her phone buzzed. She checked it, grateful for any distraction.
'Madame, the Security Council session slated tomorrow has been delayed. Councillor Angelo informed us that there was a suspected terror attack in Sirius Prime and he would be needed in-system for at least the next few days'
Park groaned. Attacks like these had been increasing the past few year, being carried out by groups that want to secede from the UN. The last time that happened five decades ago humanity almost destroyed itself. Even with the warp drive moving from one system to another still took days.
She placed her phone back into her purse, looked up, and was delighted to finally see Indra moving off the platform. The president of the session replaced Indra and Park perked up when he started discussion into the real stuff, the reason why she was the secretary-general: UN budgetary woes. The military clamoring for more ships and men, the Systems Health Organization (SHO) lobbying for more funding, the Interplanetary Monetary Fund (IMF) negotiating with the new colonies on loans, and finally the elephant in the room with UNESCO requesting even more funding to accelerate its investigation of the Shanxi Megastructure.
UNESCO was already receiving the largest budget in its history with even the navy putting down something. Park looked through the request and was not at all surprised to see the megastructure placed front and center, they even labelled it as a possible threat to interplanetary security. She sighed thinking about all the things that people are labelling as "threats to interplanetary security" just to get more funding for their pet projects.
No, she'll have to turn the request down. There are a lot more important things for the money to be spent on. Anyway UNESCO already had a lot, far more than what she would have approved if the navy didn't support them.
The General Assembly (GA) went on down the list, accepting the navy's request of building two more light cruisers but rejecting the army's claim of raising another infantry division to put down separatist elements in Eden Prime, they'll have to make do with what they already have. The GA accepted and rejected various request more for over an hour before the president finally ended the session.
Park leaned back into her chair rubbing her eyes. It had been a productive session, more so than she thought. The secretary-general left the plenary after having a few idle chats with the other representatives and went straight to her office in the penthouse of the headquarters building.
She poured herself half a glass of brandy aged fifty years before sitting down onto her chair and opened her terminal. She browsed the internet leisurely for a short time, sipping her brandy before she was interrupted by a pop-up in her terminal by her secretary.
Ah, he's here.
"Enter."
The door opened to reveal an East Asian man in his forties wearing a suit. He walked with measured steps and a head held high. "Madame Secretary-General, I am honored to finally meet you."
Park stood up from behind her desk and extended her hand for the visitor. He took her hand and shook it lightly before they both took their seats.
"What brought you all the way back to Earth from Shanxi Doctor Nakamura? I trust the travel had been quite enjoyable." She said, offering the brandy.
Nakamura politely waved the spirit off. "Yes madame it was quite nice."
Of course it was. Park thought to herself. With how much money we're giving UNESCO, that first-class seat ought to be comfortable.
The doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a small memory stick. He then handed it over to Park with a sly grin. "I think that the information stored in here might make you reconsider our request."
She sneered, accepting the stick and plugging it into her terminal. "I don't recall humans having the ability to see into the future."
"Oh we most certainly do not madame, but we were quite certain that the request would be turned down and made our plans accordingly."
Park glanced at the doctor while the information in the stick was still loading. "I assume the reason than you hand delivered the data and not simply send it through the hypercomms is because it is of the highest classified material?"
Nakamura's grin got larger. "Oh spot on madame, and it's all in the stick."
Park started reading when the files finally opened in the monitor. Her eyes widened when she realized that it truly is very important and not bullshit. No wonder UNESCO wanted it sent straight to the top at once, bypassing the dreaded UN bureaucracy.
"Element Zero?" Park chuckled, amusement in her voice. "You really called it element zero?"
"It's more like a placeholder name for it madame since we don't really know what it is or even what its uses are in the megastructure." Nakamura replied, slightly embarrassed. Scientists were never known for giving cool sounding names.
"I see."
Park continued to read through the files as the office had gone quiet. Nakamura sat silently as he waited for the secretary-general to finish reading the preliminary reports. Minutes gone by without a sound, he was already starting to daydream but was interrupted when the she leaned back into her plush seat and stared at him intently.
"I trust that UNESCO had made all the necessary precautions to prevent any form of leak?"
"Uh, yes madame."
"Good." Park then leaned over the table. "I'll be updating UNESCO regarding the security council's decision in a week or so, would that be alright doctor?"
"Of course madame."
"Very well then." She sank back into her seat. "Is that all Doctor Nakamura?"
"Yes madame."
They both stood up with Nakamura thanking her again, shook hands, and strolled out of the office, the doors automatically closing behind him. Park sat back down and gulp down the remaining brandy in her glass. Deep in thought she didn't realize that it was already the end of the work day until her secretary buzzed her terminal.
"Thank you Shila, I'll be staying a bit later today. You can go first."
"Okay ma'am, take care." The secretary replied before cutting the feed.
Park went back into her own thoughts trying to decide what the best course of action will be. The report stated that without a shadow of a doubt that the megastructure is some form of a gateway, though how the element zero is used and where it leads to is still a mystery. There was also something in the report that left her quite disturbed.
'... have located what appears to be an inactive communications buoy of some form just 1500km away from the megastructure. It was only spotted when RV Curiosity happened to pass by within visual range as the buoy way not detected in either radar, ladar, or any of the passive scanners aboard the vessel. It had yet to be disturbed by the expeditions for fear of inadvertent activation…'
She pinched the ridge of her nose and closed her eyes taking deep breaths. Just a year in her term and she might actually get into a first contact situation and go down in history as the one who opened up humanity to the galaxy, or the one one that lead to its downfall.
She groaned and poured herself another glass of brandy, quickly washing it down her throat. Humanity had so far explored a four hundred light-year bubble of space around Earth, with the galaxy being almost a hundred thousand light years wide who's to say there aren't other civilizations out there?
Park took her phone out and opened her notes for the delayed Security Council session. She quickly read through it before marking a new one at the top.
*IMPORTANT: debrief council in new findings, add. funding for megastructure and add. military presence in Shanxi. Might be other aliens in galaxy.
Park shook her head in amusement. Her life right now suddenly turned into a character in a bad science-fiction novel. She took the bottle of brandy and was already halfway to pouring herself another glass when she thought otherwise, she realized that she's already feeling a little tingle from the alcohol. She placed the cap back onto the bottle and stored it in the table's bottom drawer.
The secretary-general turned her terminal off, she got up from her chair and stretched before gathering her belongings. She left her office with an hour of overtime and proceeded to the lobby. Park was greeted by her driver Bobby when he pulled up the headquarter's main entrance in the secretary-general's heavily armoured Cadillac.
"We headed back home madame?" Bobby asked as Park entered the back seat of the car.
"Yeah Bobby." Park replied, the car door automatically closing beside her.
The Cadillac moved out of the UN Headquarters and into the slow moving traffic of the nightly rush hour. "So how was your day madame?" Bobby grunted as the car stopped at an intersection.
"Oh you know determining the future of the human race, as always." She shrugged, a grin on her face.
Bobby laughed. "Sure don't want another interstellar war on our hands, an interstellar war two and a half world wars is already more than enough."
Park kept grinning back but deep down she knew just how much truth their jokes have.
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Codex
The United Nations as of 2157CE comprised of dozens of systems though only twelve are inhabited with fifteen inhabited planets in total including the colonies but not counting mining outpost. With a population of some eleven billion people, Earth alone comprised over half of the population of the UN well as three-fifths of its total Gross Domestic Product. Each planet has an elected councillor taking a seat in the fifteen seat Security Council while each nation has an elected representative that occupies a seat in the two hundred and seventy seat General Assembly with elections held every five standard years.
DuPont-Alles Drive or more colloquially know as the "warp drive" was named after the renowned physicist Dr. Richard DuPont and Engineer Michelle Alles who lead a team that created the first successful prototype of a FTL drive in 2086 with a nominal speed of just 5 light-years a day.
UNS Norway SDD-051 is the lead ship of the Norway-class Destroyer (SDD-051 to SDD-070). Launched in 2143 and commissioned in 2145, she was the first of a new series of destroyers to mount the new fourth generation DuPont-Alles drives capable of traversing 70 light-years in 24 hours.
UNS Manila SFF-058 and UNS New Delhi SFF-063 are both New Arcadia-class Frigates (SFF-052 to SFF-113). Launched in 2122 and 2123, and commissioned in 2124 and 2125 respectively. These venerable ships served as the backbone of the UN navy's fight to combat piracy in the outer systems. Although almost equal in size and mass to the bigger destroyers yet having significantly less firepower, these frigate can run a six month patrol in deep space without the need to resupply when most ships could only run two at best before running out of either fuel or provisions.