CONTROL DECK
ALLIANCE SHIP NEW AMERICA
CHARON MASS RELAY
JANUARY 18, 2000
"That's it," Captain Anderson said, not quite able to keep a note of awe out of his voice. He eased the earphones from his wiry black hair; a stocky pug-faced Minnesotan of Danish descent, and a physicist of note as well as a Space Forcer.
Anderson looked at the gaunt man who stood watching the mass relay in the main tank-screen in the center of the control deck. Although completely alien in design, the construction closely resembled an enormous gyroscope. At its center was a sphere made up of two concentric rings spinning around a single axis. Each ring was nearly five kilometers across, and two fifteen kilometer arms protruded out from one end of the constantly rotating middle. The entire structure sparkled and flashed with white bursts of crackling energy.
"So they're keeping their word, for once," Lefarge said softly. "Not that we left them any choice, the way we had it set up." It was surprising enough that von Shrakenberg had trusted him to broadcast the final specs on the comp-plague.
"We're still ready in case any of their FTL ships decide to drop in on us at the last minute," Anderson said. "We'd shred them before they could do much damage."
"That's true," Lefarge agreed. New America was the largest ship in the motley horde of vessels and converted space habitats that were assembled in formation near the massive piece of alien technology, but far from the only armed one. Miners, haulers, prospectors, transports... even ships of Draka origin, ranging from the sublight warships captured during their attempted raid on Ceres, to the two cargo carriers that had been captured back in '89. All of them filled with as many refugees as they could without compromising the safety of the vessels or the fleet as a whole. The New America itself had another forty thousand onboard in addition to the one hundred thousand in low-metabolic stasis.
"Nine hundred forty-three thousand eight hundred and seventy-four men, women and children," he said. "There's no way we could have brought so many if the Sacajawea hadn't told us about a good candidate for colonization after another jump through the mass relay on the far side." The FTL auxiliary had successfully transited the mass relay several months ago and discovered that the other one travelled to several locations instead of a single one as the one at Charon did. Sacajawea's sister ships, meanwhile, had maintained a watch over the device ever since to make sure the Snakes went nowhere near it as the fleet made its way here. The Draka ships that had completed the excavation had withdrawn back to the Domination's facilities at the gas-giant moons as part of the agreement.
"Transmitting fleet mass to the relay," the communications officer said.
"Communication to the fleet." Lefarge forced strength and confidence into his voice. "Begin burn to the mass relay's approach corridor. Good luck and godspeed to us all. See you on the far side." He paused as the channel was closed, then cleared his throat. I never liked public speaking, he thought as he tapped some keys on the console near the tank-screen.
The view changed to show the receding light of Sol, no more than an unusually bright star at this distance. Anderson came up beside him and looked as well. There was no other sound besides the ventilators, and the subliminal tremor of the drive. "Perhaps one day we... our descendants could come back."
"No. No, not if they have any sense. There'll be nothing here worth coming back for; we're taking all the valuables with us. All that's left."
As the fleet moved forward – pulsedrives, mirror-matter reactors and the scant few mass effect drives – the rings at the relay's heart began to spin faster, accelerating until they were nothing but a whirling blur. The sporadic bursts of energy emanating from its core became a solid, pulsing glow, growing in strength and intensity until it was almost impossible to look at.
The leading ships of the Alliance for Democracy's refugee fleet were less than five hundred kilometers away when the relay fired. A discharge of dark energy swept out from the spinning rings like a wave, engulfing the ships. They shimmered momentarily, then disappeared as if snuffed out of existence. Instantaneously they winked back into reality in a whole different star system in staggered waves – the New America last of all – emerging from apparent nothingness with a bright blue flash in the vicinity of a completely different mass relay.
Lefarge stared at the tank-screen which showed the fleet stretching out in all directions, surrounding the New America like an ocean of steel. The entire scene was illuminated by the orange glow emanating from the type-K red giant in the distance. The ships reflected the star's fiery glow, gleaming brilliantly – as if there was new hope to be found for them under the light of a new sun.
"Arcturus," he breathed. It was one thing to get the reports about traveling to a different star system, but it was a whole different experience to see a star completely different from the sun you grew up under with your own eyes. "Thirty-six point seven light years from Sol." Lefarge shook his head slowly, awestruck. "Over eight times the distance it would have taken to get to Alpha Centauri, which was a forty year transit time with a mirror-matter drive. Done in an instant."
A low whistle from Anderson. "Damn impressive," he remarked. "And to think the Protheans built an entire network of these things across the Milky Way."
The thought was a daunting one. Lefarge shook himself out of it after a moment; he'd been too easily becoming introspective these days. He needed to stay clearheaded for the sake of his people and their future.
"Right," he said abruptly. "Nothing for us in this system, though. Send word to the fleet: we will proceed immediately to the system the Sacajawea found. Helm, bring us about to face the mass relay." Need to get some space between us and the Snakes if they decide to break their word, anyway. As far as they could tell there was no way the Draka would be able to tell where they had gone after they transited, since this relay would reset itself to face Sol if – no, when – they came through. There were dozens of relays linked to this one.
This time after the signal was sent out the mass relay began to move. It turned ponderously on its axis, orienting itself with a linked relay hundreds of light years away. Again, the discharge of dark energy swept over the fleet and transported them to another system.
For a moment Lefarge thought that they had accidentally been returned to the Sol system. Then he realized that the yellow star was larger in the tank-screen than Sol had been before they had used the Charon relay.
"Type-G star, four planet system," Anderson reported as he scrolled through the Sacajawea's report on a nearby terminal. "Three terrestroid planets and one gas-giant. The first planet has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, a bit smaller than Earth, no moons. The colonization candidate they reported." A pause as he read more, then a surprised grunt. "Our stellar cartography team says we're in an entirely different star cluster. They're still trying to figure out exactly what star this is–"
"Never mind." Lefarge's face was an stony mask as he stared at the view of the system before them. "This is way out of our old neighborhood, anyway. We'll give this star a new name that will tell our descendants – and the Snakes if they ever find us – just what this new home of ours means." A smile with a savage edge to it. "They like Classical references, right? We'll call this system Invictus. Unconquered."
CONTROL DECK
ALLIANCE SHIP NEW AMERICA
ORBIT OF FIRST PLANET
INVICTUS SYSTEM
JANUARY 25, 2000
Frederick Lefarge stared down at the planet below. It had a blue glow around its edges, just as Earth did. Unlike Earth, it was slightly further away from its star but – seemingly paradoxically – had a warmer surface temperature; there was a band of desert around its equator, while the regions closer to the poles were more temperate. The scientists said there was likely an overabundance of what they termed 'greenhouse gasses' that kept more heat within the atmosphere, a little known phenomenon that had been utilized mostly in proposals for terraforming Mars.
The first people were already walking on its surface, brought down by one of New America's sublight auxiliaries. Ground and air surveyors were searching for a suitable site for a main settlement while the ships of the fleet remained in orbit.
The Invictus system as a whole covered a far smaller area than Sol's, as well. Even the old pulsedrives will be useful here in developing this system. Further investigation of the neighboring gas-giant – which was large enough to equal six Jupiters – found that it possessed over ninety moons, including metal-rich asteroids. While we should be able to mine helium-3 from the gas-giant itself, Lefarge thought. Our power considerations should be taken care of, anyway.
Captain Paul Anderson walked up beside him, folded his arms as he also took in the view. "Guess I'm going to be out of a job soon," he remarked. "I'm thinking maybe I'll get into building fusion reactors, or finish that novel at last."
Lefarge smiled, but shook his head. New America was slated to be part of the construction materials of a colony as per the original plan but, as everything had since the discovery of the Prothean bunker, that was going to change. "No, I don't think New America is ready to be retired just yet, Captain. The Snakes are out there; hell, the Protheans or who knows what else could be out there too. This is the largest ship humanity has ever built. We'll strip out everything we possibly can for the colony below, but I think she's got a new lease on life as a dedicated warship."
A frown came to his face as he gave further thought. "We'll have to rebuild everything, come to that." A glance at the questioning look on the captain's face. "Much as we hate to admit it, the Alliance for Democracy is dead. It died back in the Sol system." Lefarge shook his head. "It was too decentralized, too prone to paralyzing bureaucracy, even after we tried to made it the sovereign government after the India fiasco. We're going to learn from our mistakes, and build a new nation based on the founding principles of the system we love, as well as the realities of the enemy we know is out there."
Lefarge smiled grimly as he nodded his head towards the view of the planet. "We believe in democracy, the will of the people. That all started back in Ancient Greece; while the place itself has been under their Yoke since the Eurasian War, the principles, the ideas, have stayed with us. We've been thinking long and hard about what to call our new homeworld. There was an island city-state that was particularly rich and powerful: Samos. They produced such individuals as the mathematician Pythagoras, and the astronomer Aristarchus of Samos, the first individual to propose that the Earth revolved around the sun."
To the look of dawning realization on Anderson's face: "No, that's not the name we're thinking of. Even the Greeks of Samos went out and left their home island behind. They crossed what were rocky, turbulent seas and found a new home on another island, made themselves a new home. A fitting analogue to our situation, hmm?" He looked back at the view of the planet in the tank-screen. "That's what we're going to name this planet." A smile. "Samothrace."
Anderson was silent as he watched the brigadier. He'd lost weight since the Fall, what everyone was starting to call the events of the 'Final War' that – with the mass relays – might turn out to be not so final. Everyone who met him, talked to him, could tell that it ate away at him. But since we passed through the mass relay at Charon he's been different. Energized, almost. There was a lot of work ahead of them all, settling this new Samothrace and rebuilding human civilization. And not the abomination of it the Draka call it, he thought. Hell, with that New Race of theirs, there probably won't be anything human left there in a generation anyway.
The captain hesitated, then patted a hand on Lefarge's shoulder. "Well then. Personally, I think my contributions to Samothrace, then, are going to be down there. I'm a physicist; most of the reason I was given command of New America was so I could help maintain her during a forty year trip. If she's going to go warship, she'll need to be in more capable hands than mine."
Lefarge turned to the Minnesotan and shook his hand. "I understand. We all have our own ways to help build our new nation. And don't worry," he continued, smiling, "I think I know the perfect man to take your place."
Anson MacDonald stared at Lefarge, his face a mask as he took in what he had heard. "You do know that I'm a thirty-year Navy man, correct? I hardly know anything about this space stuff."
Lefarge shook his head. "Beside the point. I need a man to help reorganize and rebuild our fleet, and there are plenty of old Space Forcers to help you with the technical details." He leaned forward. "What I need is a man not set in the old ways of doing things, who won't continue doing what's been done before just because it's what's been done before."
MacDonald smiled grimly. "No danger of that," he said in his deep voice, raspy from too many years of cigarettes. "People kept telling me I'd have two stars, maybe three, by now if I could learn to keep my mouth shut. They were probably right, but..." He shrugged. "I've always been a loose cannon."
Lefarge leaned back in his chair as he considered the man in front of him. He smiled slowly. "You almost sound like you're trying to argue your way out of the job," he remarked.
"No, sir." MacDonald shook his head firmly. "I'll always do my utmost to serve, but I'm just telling you what to expect. Don't expect me to stay quiet if I see something wrong in the way we're doing things." His gaze became hooded. "We lost back in the solar system because we were soft. The Fall, in a way, was a judgment on us. Worse than we deserved, maybe, but a judgment all the same."
Lefarge's face went stony, but he raised a questioning eyebrow. "What do you mean by that, Commodore?"
"It's not hard, Brigadier. Draka Citizens are A-Number One bastards, but they've always known what's on the line for them. If they ever let up, even for a second, they were doomed. They had responsibility and discipline forced on them. We didn't, or not enough. And so... we're here, and they're back around Sol."
"It wasn't as simple as that," Lefarge said, voice disapproving.
"Probably not," the Commodore said cheerfully. "But are you going to tell me it's not one of the reasons they won and we lost?"
The OSS man blinked at the sudden change in the man's tone, then studied him for a long moment. "You're a hard man to like, Commodore MacDonald." The Navy man nodded in agreement, without hesitation.
After another minute of silent thought, he stood and extended a hand across the desk. "But I think we can work together."
MacDonald took the hand and shook it firmly. "I'll take the job, sir, but if I'm going to do it it's going to be a navy, not that space force nonsense," he warned.
Lefarge grinned and actually found himself holding back a laugh. "I can work with that, Admiral." MacDonald seemed taken aback for a moment, then nodded in acknowledgment of the promotion. "You certainly know how to talk. Now let's see if you can put your money where your mouth is."
JEFFERSON SETTLEMENT
SAMOTHRACE
INVICTUS SYSTEM
APRIL 2, 2000
Frederick squinted against the sunlight as he stood by the window of his office, looking down at the streets of the raw settlement below. Many of them were still graveled dirt, lined by the modular buildings brought out of New America's cargo hold and reassembled dirtside. People bustled back and forth, with yet more modular buildings being assembled further out and technicians and engineers surveying or laying down the groundwork for basic utilities.
There was a muted roar in the distance as one of New America's auxiliaries descended to the spaceport several kilometers away, bringing down more specialists and equipment from orbit. The spaceport had been the first piece of infrastructure to be constructed to help expedite the expansion of Jefferson, this initial settlement, and create homes for the teeming masses still waiting on the ships above.
Lefarge turned back to his plain metal desk and sat back down with a sigh. Reports were already piled on it, reporting on the progress of surveying mineral deposits, farmland, fresh water, and the numerous other things needed to help support modern human civilization. Preliminary reports told of traces of platinum, and suggested there might be significant deposits if they could only gain more dirigible time.
He snorted quietly. The airships they were knocking together were worth their weight in gold these days. Or tobacco anyway, he thought. Some people can't understand that food takes priority. Dirigibles, they knew, were the best form of transportation to help develop the untamed wilderness of Samothrace. It had been proven before by the Snakes when they took over Africa back in the 19th Century, and by the United States in settling the vast spaces of the North American continent.
Lefarge looked up at the sound of a knock on his door. The uniformed young woman standing there saluted. "Sir, the Columbus has finished compiling its final report on the survey of the Demos system."
He returned the salute and held out a hand for the folder. "Give me the gist. Is that planet they found workable?"
Involuntarily, a grin came to the young woman's face, making her look younger than her mid-twenties. God, Janet and Iris are almost that age. He sighed inwardly, feeling every one of his nearly fifty-two years at that moment. "Sir, it's perfect from what they're saying. In their words, it's 'unusually well-suited for importation of Earth-native life.'"
Lefarge's eyebrows rose, and he opened the folded to skim through the report. Unusually well-suited indeed. One of the primary concerns of the biologists had been if the plants and animals they had brought with them would acclimate properly to the warmer biosphere of Samothrace. The second planet of the other system they had discovered was slightly larger than Earth and further from its star – what the discovering captain had named Demos – but its climate remained more similar to the Earth average.
"Looks good on the figures." He fell silent as he considered, then nodded. "I think we can spare the resources for an agricultural colony to introduce the plants and animals we've brought. Once they've matured, we can try and see which ones will be able to survive here." Another look at the folder showed the proposed name for the planet, and he snorted again. "We'll see how well, ah, California does then."
Mass Effect notes:
Samothrace is Terra Nova, and California is Eden Prime.