Part 36: Thor-el's birthday party!
Whitney in his attack fighter with the 'Go Crows' insignia painted on the side by the still hot laser cannon and was cruising in the cold darkness of space back to the Weave star cruiser. He looked out over his left wing and saw her two inch canines flash as Puss'n'Boots from her attack fighter gave him a smile. On his other wing was Clark with just as big a smile but one that was missing the two inch Kzin fangs.
The three friends and comrades in arms had spent the last several hours in deep space going through dog fighting exercises and practicing spectral vector attacks.
The Weave's military force was made up of all volunteers unlike the genetically programmed slave soldiers of the Clove. This meant that with millions less soldiers under arms all the Weave warriors pulled multiple duties as infantry, armor and pilots.
Whitney with his actual combat experience felt very comfortable on foot as a sniper scout even if he missed his AWM .338 Lapua Magnum sniper rifle. However Whitney knew that even with the fighter pilot training in the oxygenated fluorocarbon fluid tank he still needed to continually practice in real space to have any chance of survival in an actual outer space dog fight.
Lucky Clark and Puss'n'Boots were happy to take him out into real space every chance they got to put him through the paces.
Clark was a natural dog fighter but had the benefit of having been trained directly by his uncle the Kryptionian warrior Thor-el. Also add to that sixty years of combat experience it was no surprise he was one of the best attack fighter pilots in the galaxy. Likewise Puss'n'Boots was one of the most promising Kzin pilots having received personal training from her father Chuut Ritt, Thor-el and Clark.
Since Whitney had joined the Weave forces the Kzin Teenager and the Quarterback had become fast friends and complemented each other so well that squadron leader Clark decided to pair them up with Whitney acting as Puss'n'Boot's wing man.
The three friends flew out of the cold vacuum of space and landed in tandem on the Weave star cruiser's flight deck. It had been a good but intense training session and all three felt it was time for a little reward after the hard work.
For today the reward would come in the form of Commander Thor-el's birthday party. The one thousandth birthday of the greatest warrior in the galaxy promised to be quite the occasion with the party being held on the observation deck of the Weave star cruiser flagship.
After getting cleaned up the three friends headed to the party which had already been going on for a couple of hours. Clark carried the Hattari Hanzo sword as Thor-el's birthday present that he had picked up in Okinawa with Chuut Ritt on his last visit to earth just before their rescue of Whitney and Puss'n'Boots in North Korea.
The trio walked into the party which was going at full blast. Most of the guests were Kzin warriors that had served under Commander Thor-el but there were also quite of few of the support crew from Hivustahm doctors, Wasis linguists, Lepar technicians and programmers and the few Turlog surgeons with a couple drinks in each tentacle floating around wearing with their anti gravity belts.
When Whitney first arrived on the Weave Star Cruiser he had the usual xenophobic feelings typical of the human race toward anyone that was in any way different. Now after a few months on board the star cruiser he had lost for good that particular negative characteristic of a native of earth.
Most of his prejudice and fear had disappeared within a few minutes of being put back together by the Turlog surgeon with her multiple arms, gravity belt and soft invertebrate body.
Now today Whitney was completely comfortable in the multi species environment of a Weave crew birthday party. Whitney gave her a big smile of thanks as he reached up and took the three drinks offered to him and his friends by the Turlog surgeon floating past in her anti gravity belt with her tentacles stocked up with drinks.
Puss'n'Boots left the two Smallville crows to go cheer on her father Chuut Ritt who was getting into a few semi serious dueling contests with some of the younger Kzin warriors.
Clark waved to his Uncle who was surrounded by Kzin and caught Thor-el's eye. Thor-el excused himself from the band of Kzin warriors and made his way over to Clark and Whitney.
Whitney had never met Thor-el but of course he had heard about him. And most of what he had heard was both pretty scary and way out there in incredibleland.
Thor-el was about an inch taller than Clark and a bit broader in the shoulders but what really made an impression was not his physical presence as much as the aura of death that hung around the Krytonian warrior like a dark cloak. Whitney knew the reputation was not dressed up war stories or political propaganda but historical fact.
As Thor-el came over all Whitney's inner voice kept saying over and over was, 'Be careful and don't make him mad this guy has super emotions and has killed more people than I have seen live and I did a four month backpack trip through China.'
Clark smiled and said a greeting in a language that Whitney didn't speak from logistic training but he recognized the spoken Krypton language.
Thor-el spoke a few phrases to Clark in Krypton and then turned to Whitney and in slow but even English said, "It's a pleasure to meet you Whitney Fordman and I would like to personally express to you how happy I am that you have chosen to join the Weave."
Then Thor-el gave a short laugh and continued, "Surprised but still happy that you have joined us."
Whitney didn't quite know how to respond to the mixed message so took the middle route. "It's a pleasure to meet you Commander Thor-el. I am happy to be here and just want to do my part. However, I am curious why you are surprised?"
Thor-el gave Whitney a disarming smile and said, "Well there are two reasons; the first I have been listening to Clark in between battles for sixty years whine about being homesick for Smallville so to meet a Smallville native that chooses to leave is not what I expected. The second reason is in my several visits to Smallville I have never been that impressed with humans other than the Kent family and Pete Ross. Thus it is a nice surprise to meet someone such as you and discover that I maybe have made my mind up about the natives of Smallville too soon and there is hope for Smallville after all."
Whitney was intimidated by Thor-el; after all who wouldn't be but wanted to stand up as best he could for his home planet that everyone except Clark kept calling Smallville.
While looking up into the eyes of the most dangerous man in the galaxy Whitney delivered his response, "Commander Thor-el, I know we do not build star ships such as this and we do not place the importance on honor in society as the Kzin or are as compassionate as the Turlog but we are trying and some day I like to believe humans just might surprise even someone like you."
Thor-el leaned forward and gave Whitney a small tap on the shoulder, "Don't worry about waiting for someday Whitney Fordman for today on my birthday a native of Smallville has already impressed me."
Clark decided at this point in the party to give Thor-el his present of a samurai sword made by the great Okinawan sword maker Hattari Hanzo.
Thor-el slid the exquisite blade out of the black ebony scabbard, "This is incredible quality Clark," He then turned to Whitney and gestured with the samurai sword, "See Whitney you might not build star cruisers but here is something from Smallville that impresses even a old space war horse such as myself."
Whitney had heard of Hattari Hanzo and even knew how to use such a weapon due to the Kzin boot camp training from his three weeks in the oxygenated fluorocarbon fluid tank but felt compelled to point out, "It is a beautiful weapon and a great birthday gift Commander Thor-el but it's too bad that it will not be used other than as a work of art in this war of star cruisers and ray guns."
A tight look appeared on Thor-el's face, "That is where you are wrong Whitney. I will take this sword into combat and when doing so fully expect to put it to immediate and prolonged use against the Clove."
Confused looks appeared on the faces of both Clark and Whitney. "What do you mean?"
"Clark, while you were away on earth some surprising things happened."
Thor-el gave a sigh and continued his explanation. "The same way the Clove surprised us with green plasma based weapons against Krypton they have made another breakthrough in weapon's technology but with the help of weapons like this Hattari Hanzo sword we are going to be prepared for the next time they use it."
Thor-el then explained the new Clove secret weapon to Clark and Whitney.
It turned out that the Clove had discovered a way to create a portable "stasis field".
There was no way for Thor-el to explain the theoretical physics principles behind the stasis field to Whitney being that his Smallville High physics was like medieval alchemy compared to modern galaxy level physics but Whitney soon understood the "stasis field's" effects.
A stasis field was about a kilometer in diameter and hemispherical (in space, spherical).
Inside the stasis field there was no such thing as electromagnetic radiation; no electricity, no magnetism, no light. There was no sentient being in either the Weave or Clove that could survive in a status field without a fully enclosed protective space fighting suit.
Without the protective fighting suit the molecules in your body with no electromagnetic radiation would stop moving and you would instantly freeze.
The fact that there was no ordinary light inside the Clove 'stasis field' is what really freaked out Clark and Whitney. The first question the two had for Thor-el was since there is no electromagnetic radiation how can you see anything inside the stasis field?
Thor-el described it as being able to see your surroundings in ghostly monochrome. A phenomenon Thor-el explained to Whitney as being due to "phase transference of quasi-energy leaking through to the "stasis field" from an adjacent tachyon reality".
'Yea right, that makes perfect sense in a super futuristic advanced space/time physics kind of way,' thought the ex Smallville High physics student.
The net result of being inside a stasis field was it made all conventional weapons of modern galactic warfare useless unless you picked them up and used them as blunt objects to whack enemy soldiers over the head.
Even an armed nova bomb was just an inert lump of metal inside the "stasis field". Inside the field laser cannon and disrupter ray guns turned from high tech weapons into simple clubs.
Thor-el told Clark and Whitney that at first it looked like the Clove had developed the ultimate weapon. The first few times the Clove used the 'stasis fields' the Clove soldiers wore protective suits unlike their Kzin opponents.
The Clove soldiers were invulnerable inside the stasis field to all advanced high tech weapons. The Clove soldiers in their protective suits just carried the stasis field generator close to a dug in Kzin ground force and then turned on the 'stasis field'.
When the 'stasis field" came on line then all the Clove soldiers had to do is watch the Kzin instantly die where they stood as the molecules in their bodies instantly froze.
In five engagements where the Clove used the 'stasis field' weapon whole Weave bases were whipped out without a single Clove ground casualty. The stasis field neutralized the high tech weapons and Clove tactic was they had the advantage when winning a battle that came down to simple numbers. The Clove had millions more genetically modified slave soldiers so would win using the stasis field.
Clark saw the Clove's tactical logic and was scared to hear the answer but had to ask, "Thor-el that stasis field weapon sounds deadly like the green plasma based weapons used against Krypton; is it going to decisively tip the probability of victory to the Clove?"
Thor-el answered with a hard smile, "Now Clark don't count us out just yet." He went on to explain that there were two things the Clove forgot about regarding the stasis field that Thor-el soon figured out.
First, inside the stasis field high tech weapons didn't work but medieval edged weapons worked very well.
And second was even if numbers are on your side there are only so many soldiers that could fit into a stasis field. Even with vastly superior numbers the stasis field was like a bottle neck where you couldn't use superior numbers of soldiers all at once to overwhelm your opponent.
Most importantly no one thinking clearly would choose to engage Weave troops the majority of which are Kzin in hand to hand combat. After all no one loved hand to hand combat like the Kzin.
So Thor-el's plan was to be ready the next time the Clove used the stasis field weapon. The Kzin troops in the field had been issued protective fighting suits and also the medieval weapon of their choice. The Weave were not going to be caught out again without putting up a fight.
The next time Weave troops were in a stasis field Thor-el was going to be sure they all were wearing protective suits but importantly also carrying spears, swords and battle axes that they would put to good use cutting through the protective suits of the Clove soldiers that were carrying the stasis field generator.
Thor-el held up the Hattari Hanzo and gave a scary smile to Whitney, "So see even in a high tech war this birthday present is going to taste blood. Next time we go up against Clove soldiers using a stasis field I will be carrying this sword and it will work its magic so you could not think of a more appropriate birthday present for this space warrior."
After hearing about the stasis field and how a Hanzo Samari sword was going to be useful in a war in outer space Whitney just thought, 'Christ on a cracker, when fighting this war I have to stop thinking that I have been surprised for the last time."
Thor-el leaned forward and softly said to Clark and Whitney, "You asked me Clark about a decisive weapon that could change the course of the war. The stasis field is important but not that weapon. However I have an idea that still needs some more testing but it could just be the break though we have been searching for centuries to win this war."
Thor-el leaned back, "War, even a high tech war in space is still about movement and the most important is fast movement that flanks your enemy. Whether on horseback with spears or in warp attack fighters appearing on your enemies flank when they least expect it is still the surest route to victory."
Clark could feel the hairs rising on the back of his head. His uncle was a military and scientific genius and never prone to exaggeration. Clark knew what Thor-el was going to tell them would be both fantastic science and in the war for the galaxy strategically decisive.
Thor-el had discovered something that would allow them to flank the Clove battle lines and fleets. It was not only faster than warp drive and had more range than artificial jump gates but also very sneaky.
Thor-el doing physics research in between battles had discovered a phenomenon that he called the collapsar jump.
In simple Smallville High physics terms: Just fling an object like a Warp star cruiser at a black hole at certain speed and a particular angle to the black hole's event horizon and guess what?
Instead of being torn apart by gravity or rushing headlong to nowhere for the rest of eternity or dropping to the center of the black hole in a trillionth of a second the star cruiser pops out in some other part of the galaxy.
It didn't take Thor-el long to figure out the formula that predicts where the object or star cruiser would come out in the galaxy.
It turned out the object or star cruiser travels along the same 'super string' (actually an Einsteinium geodesic) it would have followed in the black hole hadn't been in the way. That is until it reaches another black hole gravitational field where upon it reappears traveling with the same speed at which it approached the original black hole.
And now come the cool part: The time to travel between the two black holes…. exactly zero.
Sweet, cool and just the advantage needed to tip the balance of power in the galactic war.
Faster than warp drive and no ion trails to warn the enemy where you are going or that you are coming. There will be no warning at all to the Clove fleet when the Weave star cruiser suddenly appears on its flank after doing a collapse star to the nearest black hole. Weave ships would be appearing on the flanks and behind Clove battle fleets seemingly out of no where.
There were still some practical issues to solve like it was going to be a big job mapping all the black holes big enough to handle a collapse star jump but solving them could mean winning the war.
The surprise was it turned out that the black hole didn't have to be all that big. A black hole could create a collapsar jump if it was at least two kilometers in diameter suspended forever in a state of gravitational collapse with its surface falling toward its center at nearly the speed of light.
The reality was that black holes that fit the bill were all over the place and to take back the galaxy "all over the place" was exactly where Thor-el, Clark and the rest of the Weave star cruisers were going to go.
Each of them had a different reaction to the discovery of the collapsar jump.
Thor-el thought of revenge for the destruction of Krypton and finally victory in the galaxy for freedom.
Clark for the first time in sixty years caught a glimpse of a light illuminating his return to Smallville at the end of a very long dark tunnel of galaxy war.
Whitney just thought, "How freaking Star Trek can this place get?"
The collapsar jump still need to be tested and would be an important and decisive advantage but it would still mean the war would last for years.
For now Thor-el was going to do some more testing to get better control over the collapsar jump. What the future held for Clark, Puss'n'Boots and Whitney was they were all together going into combat.
The campaign they were joining was the battle for the Masood planet.
There was a powerful race in the galaxy called the Mansood who like Krypton before had tried to follow a policy of isolation. They declined to join the Weave and instead counted on diplomacy and indifference to keep the Clove from invading their world. As with Krypton of course such a policy of isolation failed.
Intelligence reports had come in to the Weave fleet that the Mansood were in a desperate losing land battle on the surface of their home planet with a powerful Clove army. There were many in the Weave that wanted to leave the Mansood to their fate remembering their earlier refusal to help the Weave but fortunately Thor-el and Chuut Ritt convinced the Weave council to set politics and prejudice aside and instead do the right thing and go to the rescue of the Mansood.
Thor-el would not be joining the campaign but would be working on the collapsar jump algorithms. The Weave leader would instead be Chuut Ritt with Clark, Puss'n'Boots and Whitney all joining their unit that with many others was being mobilized for the campaign to free the Mansood planet.
The shipping out date for Clark and his friends was still some time off and there would be plenty of time to get Whitney up to speed piloting his attack fighter and to get the presents sorted out and delivered for Ryan's graduation from Smallville High.
Just before Thor-el walked away to return to center stage for his birthday celebrations Clark reminded him about Ryan's big day at Smallville High, "Now Thor-el this is important to Ryan so I expect you to come up with a thoughtful card expressing your sentiments and please no advanced weaponry as a graduation present."
Just before he turned to walk off Thor-el gave Clark a grin, "Ok, ok, no advanced weapons; I promise to only give Ryan the standard issue stuff."
Clark just shook his head laughing as his Uncle Thor-el walked away.
Whitney put his arm on Clark's shoulder and watched Thor-el back moving away into the crowd. "Jesus Clark I can't tell you how relieved I am to have survived this meeting with your Uncle and thank God he is on our side."
Clark turned to Whitney, "Yea, he is quite a character, but you know Whitney more than that when it comes to most things, in fact everything, he is the best there is."
Then the two Smallville crows decided to join the party by finding Puss'n'Boots and help her cheer on her father's dueling and party tricks.
…….To be continued as Part 37: Smallville High Graduation Day where Ryan's graduation presents are being delivered by the Krypton Express.
PS Guess what recently divorced lawyer is going to be at the Smallville High Graduation ceremonies to congratulate both the twins and Ryan and little does she know is in for a real surprise?