Chapter 7

Alan Carter unstrapped his safety harness and moved to the back of the cabin of the Santa Maria. Unlike the eagles, the swifts were not modular. It was one big ship. That had certain disadvantages, but to Alan's mind it was far outweighed by the advantages. Advanced shielding, stealth mode, speed, virtually unlimited range, and a weapons array that would make a Mark IX Hawk sit up and take notice.. When the cutting edge of Earth technology was combined with alien technology salvaged from the various species they had encountered over the last six years, many things became possible. Like the nuclear submarines of the twentieth century, the Swift was only limited by the food supplies that could be crammed into her holds. In ten days he would be relieved by the Mayflower. With a crew of two, the swift could stay out for weeks, but they did not have a crew of only two on this run, not even close. And with the addition of a particular piece of specialized, and bulky, equipment, everyone was hot-bunking on this trip. Submarines indeed! For the past two days, they had been holding a more or less constant position near Pluto, keeping watch over the known location of the wormhole that had brought the moon back to the solar system.. and then sometime after that, a Dorcon probe. The wreckage of that probe was now a part of Neptune's ice rings, hopefully never to be seen nor heard from again. His mission right now was boring, and he prayed to God it stayed that way. The advanced technology of the Swifts notwithstanding, Carter had no illusions about its ability to go up against a Dorcon battleship. Not without help, anyway. But that was not part of the plan. Carter checked in with Specialist Mario Infantino at the ECM station.

"Anything?" Carter asked.

"No sir, all quiet." answered Infantino.

"Good. I'm going to turn in. Wake me if you find anything." he ordered. He felt some of the bones in his back grumble and crack as he lay down. It was a reminder that he was getting older. The last six years had taken their toll on everyone. As he started to nod off, he wondered when he would get to set foot on Earth again. Maybe at last he could think about starting a family. Maybe he would be able to take an eagle to his home country of Australia, and see if any human settlements remained there. Strange that Alpha's many sensors had been unable to pin that down. Professor Bergman had said that Earth's magnetic field had shifted, and it was playing havoc with their equipment. Either way, he knew he had to go and investigate his homeland. He wondered how many other Alphans were itching to go back to their homes. He had been so focused on his job since the moon came back to Earth, he had not had a chance to do much socializing. So many things to consider." I'm glad I'm not the one who has to sort all this out." was Alan Carter's last conscious thought before sleep finally overtook him.

New York City, near St. Patrick's Cathedral, midtown Manhattan

Something was happening. His telepathic senses told him that much, but as usual the details were incomplete. As he closed his eyes and stretched out with his mind to the surface, beyond the border of the subterranean colony, he sensed patterns that had been altered, much as a man coming home from work at the end of the day will notice subtle changes carried out by an errant housekeeper: some curios moved, furniture slightly out of place, the faint odor of an unknown perfume or never before used recipe cooking in the kitchen. For as long as it had been his role to stand vigil, Ongaro had noted little if any change in the movement of people and apes, the pattern of weather and animals. Now, in these recent weeks, there had been a change. Men had arrived, but these were different men. Not moving as a herd of animals, but in small groups, with a purpose. And the apes. Where had they gone? His people had of course known the savage beasts were there. Except for the one small group last year, no apes had ever come near their colony. As the colony had no weapons, this would have been a disaster. But men, who did not share in the purification, who had been tainted by their contact with the apes, would they not be just as dangerous? Men with machines? He pushed these thoughts from his mind. Such things were for Mendez and the ruling council to decide. His goal was to observe with his mind, and report. This he would do, as his father had before him. Ongaro had inherited his father's strong telepathic powers. He hoped his own son Demetrius would also develop the skill, so he could likewise follow in his footsteps. But that was out of his hands. His only course was to submit his will to the will of the night gods and their chosen instrument: The Bomb. He broke his concentration just long enough to steal a glance down the avenue towards the cathedral. He could just barely hear the chorus practicing, along with the enormous pipe organ. In the large, closed dark cavern that was their colony, sound traveled a long way. He smiled at the hymn. It had been one of his mother's favorites:

Bomb of ages, cleft for me

Let me hide myself in Thee

Let the fire and the fallout

From thy riven side which flowed

Oh, be of sin the double cure

Cleanse me from its guilt and power

The ancient words soothed him, as he continued his vigil.

Deeper in the colony, Ongaro's son Demetrius sat in his grim dwelling, reading his lesson for the day from The Book. It was the only book anyone was allowed to read. It was the only book he had ever seen in his life. He had sometimes heard rumors of other books that people had found in the forbidden ruins. He had heard whispers that the ruling council had other books. As he paused to look up, he saw what he saw every day of his life. Four bare, gray walls. No decorations, no artwork. The only embellishment was a small ceramic reproduction of the holy missile, above their small hearth. He got up from his table, and went to the communal bedroom. Looking around to make sure he truly was alone, he lifted up his thin sleep mat. Under it he felt for the special place, a hole he had dug out in their dirt floor and covered over with a small piece of wood, and then dirt. From that small hole he pulled out a rose, dried but still alive with red color. It had been given to him in secret by Jane, his co-worker from the agro-section. Holding the rose reminded him of Jane, and that caused such a wonderful feeling of warmth in his heart, he wanted to cry tears of joy, but he did not (it is forbidden). He had seen her once in the cornfield, when no one was looking. She had been doing a strange thing. Rather than working, she had her arms outstretched towards the sun, and her face upturned towards it. Then Demetrius had been frightened, because then Jane danced (it is forbidden), then she jumped and ran and flapped her arms like a bird (it is forbidden), and then sang a strange song, not of the bomb (it is forbidden). Demetrius had been at once, frightened and enthralled. He had never known of such things. The sounds and words were alien to him, with no meaning. But the song sounded so…happy. But then he felt tears flowing down his face. Jane saw him crying, and abruptly stopped singing.

"Demetrius, what is wrong? Does my singing wound you?"

"Yes..no..I..I don't know!" Rather than dwell on that, he asked, "Where did you learn that song? I have never heard anything like it. If the elders hear it..!"

"My mother taught it to me. She learned it from her parents" she said in a very soft voice, almost a whisper. "It's called 'nuyorknuyork' "

"What does that mean? The words of your song, I recognize some of them. Others are just gibberish."

Jane dropped her voice even lower, and put her lips right next to Demetrius' ear. "My mother says everyone used to sing it. It's about this very land we live on.. It's from…before."

"Before what?"

"Before..the Bomb". Demtrius lurched away from Jane, horrified. Then he ran home. He had wanted nothing more to do with Jane or her songs. The night gods created their chosen instrument, the Bomb and Holy Fallout, from which we sprang. This was the beginning. To believe otherwise was to risk death. But he could not stop thinking about Jane: her face, her eyes, her achingly beautiful voice. They haunted his dreams.

She placed the first slide under the Cole-Parmer microscope, attaching it to the metal clips and adjusted the magnification, following the same formula she had learned in seventh grade science class. Lancaster remembered getting this microscope in one of the very last shipments to Moonbase Alpha before Breakaway, as part of the effort to isolate the "virus infection" that had been killing astronauts. She still remembered being angry at all the hours she had wasted, hunched over this thing looking at specimens for a non-existent pathogen. She fiddled with the resolution and position until she found … there they were! The chromosomes. She increased the light slightly. Good. The stain Dr. Vincent had suggested was working perfectly, showing…she frowned. The structure of the chromosomes was not what she had remembered. Maybe this was the mutation? She commenced a chromosome count, standard procedure before moving on to the mitochondria.

"He's coming around, Doctor." a female voice said. It sounded familiar. He thought he knew everyone on Alpha by name. After six years…

"Commander? Commander Koenig?"

"Ben? What am I doing here? I was in Command Center.." he tried to lift his head and made it about six inches off the pillow.

"You fainted, Commander. Blood loss, looks like a perforated ulcer" Dr. Vincent held up a container of antacid tablets. "You should have come to see me!" he scolded.

Koenig scowled and looked away. He hated having his weakness laid bare for all to see. "I need to get back to Command Center."

"Forget it. Your blood pressure is down over twenty points. You almost went into shock." said Vincent. "You're probably going to need surgery, and I can't do it here anymore. We're going to have to Medivac you to the surface. Doctor's orders. I already told Helena and she will be waiting for you at Base Main" He left as the nurse began to prep him for transport. Then he went to his office and closed the door. He reviewed the test results again and toggled the communicator on his desk. Presently the face of Dr. Helena Koenig (nee' Russell) appeared on the screen.

"He's stable and out of danger. They are preparing him for transport now. And Helena, I am sending you the test results. Cardiomegaly and atrial fibrillation are both confirmed. I didn't mention it to him."

"Thanks Ben. Since I'm his 'primary', that's my job." she said with an anxious expression, then signed off.

"Shields down, long range scanners off-line. Main power is holding steady!" reported the Ship Control Officer of the Royal Vindicator.

"Estimated repair time?" inquired Counsel Ardyth.

"At least an hour, maybe two," answered the Captain. The Dorcon flagship's journey through the wormhole had been predictably rough.

"Can you ascertain our location by star readings?" asked Ardyth

"I believe so, Consul." the Captain nodded to his navigator who input the query into the ship's powerful computer.

"The star readings correspond to the information we have about the Earth solar system, but without long range scanners, we can't pin down the location of the planets or scan for life signs," said the navigator.

"Begin short range scans. I am interested in any activity, anything out of the ordinary, no matter how small. Understood?" ordered Ardyth.

"Yes, Consul!"

"If these primitives think they can kill the Archon of the Dorcon Union and destroy one of our warships, and not suffer the consequences, they are about to learn a hard lesson," said Ardyth. She departed to her private suite adjacent to the bridge. After closing the door, she sat down and waved her hand over the comm board to send a message to the new Archon's quarters, then paused. "No. No need to send a report until there is something to report." Besides, her orders had been clear enough, hadn't they?. "Avenge the Empire.. and find the Psychon."

Alan Carter awoke to a proximity alarm, and he knew in his gut what was coming next. He was half way out of his bunk when the words came to him.

"Contact! Large object bearing 039 relative, distance thirty-thousand kilometers, holding steady" reported Infantino.

And so it begins. Carter had dreaded this moment. Every Alphan remembered the last encounter with the Dorcons. Despite their preparations and many defense upgrades, the word "Dorcon" still struck fear into every Alphan. The Dorcon ship had appeared with no warning and had swept aside all of Alpha's defense upgrades with contemptuous ease, inflicting heavy damage that had taken weeks to repair.

"Stealth mode?" asked Carter.

"Already engaged, Mr. Carter," said the co-pilot. Alan Carter sighed inwardly. He had long since given up asking Infantino to drop the "mister." The man was a little long on formality for Carter's taste, but there was no doubt that he knew his job. Among its many other upgrades, the Santa Maria had been coated with a special substance that, in theory, absorbed most electro-magnetic energy from sensors, scanners, radar and the like. When the swift was switched to stealth mode, all broadcasts or energy emissions that could be detected were shut down. Only passive sensors were used. While it had been tested thoroughly using telemetry from the first encounter with the Dorcons, there was always the possibility that this Dorcon ship had unknown capabilities.

Carter walked over to Infantino's station. "Magnify," he ordered.

The ship that came into view was definitely a Dorcon configuration, but much larger. Some minor differences in detailing of the engine pods.

"Have they detected us," asked David Mankewitz.

"I don't think so, sir."

"What are sensors telling us?" asked Carter.

"Mr. Carter, her shields are down!" exclaimed Infantino, pointing to the console.

"I'll be damned. You're right, mate."

"You think maybe she took some damage coming through the wormhole?" asked Infantino.

"It's a possibility. We sure did."

"Sir, however it happened…"

"Right. Let's take full advantage. Turn on every camera, censor, recording device we have. With any luck we'll get a full picture of that monster's innards, and maybe its capabilities.

"Should we report in, sir?" asked Infantino.

"I don't want to risk being detected. After we put some distance between us." said Carter.

Infantino didn't like that, but he kept his face impassive.