Chapter 7

JD rode on the first shuttle down to Thor Base. He reflected on his leadership of the colony and considered the probability that he would soon be stepping back into that position. It would have been impossible to know that events elsewhere would squash any such plans.

He was surprised to land in an open bay and watched as the clamshell doors closed behind the shuttle. Then he waited as an atmosphere filled the entire bay. Once the pressure outside the craft equaled the interior, the shuttle ramp dropped open allowing all passengers to debark by walking off. Louis was standing at the bottom of the ramp with his hand outstretched waiting to shake hands with JD. From there the two men walked past the open hangar air lock, and then into a corridor leading inside the arrivals longue. The whole arrangement reminded JD of passenger liner arrival lounges back on Earth.

He was ready to find out about some of the changes, but Louis led him to a dining room with a buffet spread out for him and the arriving passengers. It was a nice touch and reminded JD of walking into his house after school as a youngster. His mom seemed to always had a snack or meal prepared for him or his friends.

After the meal, Louis had a briefing prepared for all the arriving passengers. He explained that Thor Base now had a population of over eight thousand former Home World inhabitants. There were a few alien species like the Alterran and Edran colonists. JD was about to question the likelihood of Alterran emigration when Louis explained that another ship had arrived from Alterra with actual colonists aboard. And the University professors, along with their families, that came with Meteor had agreed to emigrate permanently. JD could only shake his head in wonder.

But the news only seemed to get more astonishing as the briefing progressed. The volcanic neck launch facility had been completed months ahead of schedule due to more workers being assigned there. The launch facility was sending one complete thirty-meter section of pressure vessel, twenty-five meters in diameter wide to the orbital shipyard each week. All the iron for such construction came from lava reclamation on site. The remaining silicates were cast as blocks used to seal off even more lava tubes, as they were being discovered and mapped. The current extent of discovered lava tubes that had been enclosed and filled with an atmosphere could support a doubling of Thor Base’s population immediately. Biological hydroponics had been included in all lava tubes to replenish oxygen in the air as it was consumed by its occupants.

Solar and electric powered vehicles were being produced at the rate of eighteen per week. Most were reserved for interior transportation, but a few were designed for exclusive outside exploration and construction activities.

Plant growth continued to exceed demand. Twenty-eight species of fruits and vegetables were now grown on Thor Base. Tomatoes cucumbers and lettuce led the production, with squash, beets, beans, and turnips following near behind. The first large scale corn, wheat, oats, and barley crops had all recently been harvested. Cantaloupe and watermelons were nearing harvest soon. Onions and garlic would take another season to produce bulbs in any quantity. Sugar beets led the source of sweeteners but the first crop of sugar cane had been planted recently. Thor base would never become an agricultural colony, but she could produce most of the food necessary to feed her population. The remainder could be replicated from recycled nutrients and plant fibers.

In addition to precious metals and ordinary steel; aluminum, tin, copper, nickel, and zinc were recovered from mineral compounds or from the left-over mostly silicate slag. Most of those recovered metals found their way into manufactured items, wire, protective coverings on metals, or various alloy metals with specific beneficial properties; such as brass, bronze, and Monel metals.

Louis completed his briefing with an artist’s rendition of the new spacecraft being constructed at the orbital shipyards above Thor Base. A vessel he called Thor’s Law was designed to fly farther, faster, and carry more passengers or crew than any craft of the day. In addition, a fleet of piloted fighters would call Thor’s Law their home base. He envisioned it becoming the flagship of Thor Base’s naval fleet.

With the briefing completed, the audience was released to whatever pursuits that they chose. JD and Louis walked to his nearby office for continued briefings and discussions.

JD opened with his impression of JD’s performance. “Louis, I couldn’t be any prouder of what you have accomplished during my absence, that I would had I accomplished it all myself.”

“Thank you, JD. But remember that it was you started all this.” Louis added.

“I never imagined a ship the size of Thor’s Law.” JD gasped out.

“Really. Then why build a launch facility in the volcanic caldera that could send those sized sub-assemblies to an orbital shipyard.” Louis pointed out.

“For just the reason you mentioned. One lengthened cylinder could make a Meteor transport ship. Four cylinders strapped together would make a Leviathan Class battleship.” JD explained.

“Seven in a different arrangement make up Thor’s Law, JD. Here,...” Louis pointed out a model at the far end of the room. He walked toward it and JD followed. Reaching for the top of a disc shaped lid, Louis pulled it off revealing labeled cylinders inside. Holding the lid, he said. “This is the bridge and crew living compartments with engineering and food replication shops on the lower levels, spread apart for greater survivability.” Pointing to the center interior cylinder he spoke. “Fuel for the impulse drive is stored here with the cold fusion reactor forward and the actual impulse drive thrusting to the center of the aft housing. Beside the center cylinder are the two cryogenic gas stores. Again, two separate housings for greater survivability. The outside cylinders are shorter but just as critical. They are the hydroponics and life support systems. Spread apart, each is more likely to survive an attack and only one is necessary to support all life on Thor’s Law.”

Pointing to the underside of the large cylinders, Louis said. “Here is the main punch of Thor’s Law. In the center is the landing bay and launch deck. At each side are the cargo areas and the fighter storage and maintenance areas. Above them are the industrial replicators, raw metals stores, and parts warehouse. On the bottom and around the bridge at the top are the close-in weapons arrays. Situated on opposite sides of the central disk adds to their survivability and overlapping fields of fire. But it is really the long-range fighter / interceptors that give Thor’s Law its offensive firepower.”

Placing the lid back on the larger model, Louis pointed to the two large nacelles adjacent to the huge disc. These are the main propulsion for Thor’s Law. Two fusion drives with Warp capabilities that can be synchronized to thrust together. With them both working to full power and augmented by the impulse drive, Alara believes that speeds of Warp twenty-five can be maintained.” That was amazing. A huge ship traveling as fast as a message torpedo.

Louis then turned to a couple of smaller models, and picked up one of the smallest of them. “This little fellow is a long- range fighter / interceptor. On the end of its stubby ‘wings’ are two enhanced pulse lasers. Underslung are four solid fueled, short-range attack missiles with armor piercing laser guided warheads. Their attitude thrusters can terminally correct its flight to impact even wildly jinking targets. A single pilot aided by a weapons control android pointing the laser designator allows the pilot to fly his craft even as his missiles make their way to their target. While his lasers can punch holes in most armor plate, it is his missiles that will explode throughout the target, tearing it up and opening huge holes to space. Capable of refueling in flight, this fighter can patrol distant sites, shut its engines down, and loiter around waiting for its threats to appear; then attack by surprise.”

Placing the first model on the table, Louis picked up the other model and held it, saying. “This is the close-in or short-ranged fighter. His stubby wings hold the same enhanced pulse lasers. There are no missiles, laser designator, or android weapons controller. It has the same fuselage as the long-range variant, but is purely a dogfighting space supremacy fighter.”

“Both fighters have prototypes that are being tested now. A few pilots have been trained, and based upon their experiences, a new class of pilot candidates are about to start their flight training in a few days.”

“I’d like to join that class, Louis. I need to have a feel for any advantage my sleep training may give me. If it does, then I’ll have Alara see that all pilots get at least minimal Galactic Naval Service ‘sleep training’.

“It can’t hurt, sir. But shouldn’t you take back over from me?”

“No Louis. That wouldn’t be right. Thor Base is yours to run as long as you continue to get the results that you have managed so far. I’ll focus on diplomacy and trade, those things I learned best from my recent travels. I’ll stick around for the next year or so, but sooner or later, I’ll get the bug to explore new worlds.” JD explained.

“That’s what Thor’s Law was meant to provide, Sir. An exploration and defense vessel that would extend your reach to many other systems in this galaxy.

Pilot training started without Captain Martinson because he was away inspecting the asteroid mining operation. The next day found him in a seat in the classroom, along with the rest of the class. To JD, the topics were old news, things he learned in sleep training. He would eliminate such classes in favor of the GNS ‘sleep training’. But the practical exercises in real prototypes held his full attention. Even then, flight simulators in sleep training could improve all pilot’s familiarity with space flight. These two recommendations could potentially reduce the fighter pilots training cycle by weeks. He’d have Alara begin adapting GNS training modules to apply to fighter / interceptor pilots. He would add weapons modules for the long-range pilots so that additional missile capabilities could be added. He figured a decoy missile and chaff / electronic counter-counter measure (ECCM) missiles would protect certain attack profiles better than having more space craft available.

He told his pilot candidates that having a wingman to support their attacks would enhance their survivability. Firing drones, decoys, chaff, and ECCM missiles would confuse and distract the enemy, making the armor-piercing missile attacks more effective. Two pilots working together could always be more effective than any single pilot, acting on his own.

It was no wonder that JD had the highest scores on gunnery evaluations. He told the rest of the pilots that his prior training and lifetime of experiences contributed to his success. Eventually, they too would score as high or even better than him. Until that time, his records would set the bar for best achievement.

JD decided to take Thor on a flight to Home World. He asked the two best interceptor pilots to come along for the ride with their space craft. He wanted to see how they might be controlled and used along with Thor on patrol.

Loaded with bullion and leaving one attack shuttle behind, two long-range fighter/interceptors were flown onto Thor’s shuttle bay. After they had been strapped down, Thor pushed off of the orbital dock and using minimal impulse power cast away from Thor Base. A short trip of one day under propulsion towards Home World and an equal time slowing down by reverse propulsion brought them to within orbital distance of their destination. Local patrol craft were particularly aggressive in their approaches to Thor. During one encounter, an approaching ship was warned to break away or a warning laser shot would be fired, prior to it being engaged.

JD was concerned enough to launch his two interceptors to precede ahead of his path inbound approach to the planetary orbiting dock. He would never know why; but aggressive flights disappeared after his fighters were launched.

Granted permission to dock at the platform, JD took the Attack Shuttle to the planet’s surface with the bullion shipment. Once deposited, JD spoke with his lawyer during a meeting at his offices. His first question dealt with the aggressive meeting that Thor received near it orbit approach.

“Our ruler is being advised poorly JD. Ever since you destroyed Titan Industries and wrecked its orbital platform, his advisers have advocated a retaliatory strike be initiated. The ease with which you disposed of their rather significant strike force has held them in check so far. You certainly must realize that at some point, our ruler will change his mind and choose to attack you or Thor Base. Your purchase of a steady stream of debt slaves is the biggest reason he has held back so far. His economy is shaky. Social unrest is greater than at any time that I can recall. And the opposition party is calling for a referendum of no support within the legislature. With popular support falling, I believe his days are numbered.”

“Is it really that bad?” “Yes, about the only thing that could save him would be a successful attach upon Thor. I would be very wary of any approaching space craft until you leave Home World.”

JD nodded and asked to be excused for a few minutes. Once back on the shuttle, JD called Alara on a tight beamed secure laser communications relay. “Alara, the situation here is very tentative. I believe that we should man half of all close-in weapons positions, both laser and rail gun. And I would launch the fighters to patrol above and outside the reach of our close-in weapons to preclude friendly fire incidents. Have them conserve fuel by slowly maneuvering there and taking parking positions for the next twelve hours, or until I return to Thor.”

“Your will shall be done, commander.” Alara replied.

“Captain, out.” He closed the conversation circuit.

Returning to the lawyer’s office, JD opened with a request. “Can you prepare a suit seeking unspecified compensation for any damages that Thor or my property on Home World suffers from any unprovoked attack.”

“Yes, but our laws preclude suing the government for damages. We could sue the Generals, but their pockets are limited and any likelihood of a sizable recovery is doubtful. Perhaps a counter attack on some defense asset would send the message that you are not to be intimidated.” The lawyer mentioned.

“Wouldn’t that precipitate a general war?”. “While such is always a possibility, if your response is measured and limited; I could argue that your counter-attack was in self-defense.” The lawyer explained.

“I guess that is what I have to decide to do next. Go ahead and prepare the law suits. I have a bullion shipment on the shuttle if you would be so good as to see that it is placed in our escrow account with ten percent being added to your retainer account. I’ll prepare to leave ASAP.”

“I would be most happy to be of such service to you, JD.” The lawyer smiled, visions of collecting huge fees undoubtedly dancing in his mind.

With business concluded JD returned to the shuttle and contacted Alara again by secure laser communication.

“Alara, have six armor piercing kinetic energy missiles target the naval shipyards of their orbiting docks. No explosive warheads. Select one ship only as our target. Link their firing to the launch controls of this shuttle. Have them prepared for firing only after Thor has been attacked. I will return after out bullion deposit is accomplished. Be prepared to depart immediately after I board. Captain, out.”

The bullion shipment transfer into armored cars that would take it to the bank for deposit seemed to take forever. Just as the Attack Shuttle was about to launch, Alara announced General Quarters aboard Thor, in the clear for all to hear. “Unknown craft is targeting Thor with attack missiles. Patrol craft, target unknown and attack as hostile should Thor be fired upon. Close-in lasers and rail guns, prepare to defend Thor.”

Almost immediately Alara responded, “Thor is under attacking missile fire from unknown. Unknown now declared hostile. Patrol craft engage. Forward missile bays are ready to fire.” Alara was letting me know that I could launch at will.”

I replied, “Firing missiles from shuttle on planet surface. Will depart enroute to Thor immediately.” That said I closed the ramp doors and lifted off without getting all personnel back on board. They were in no danger from our quick launch and would do just fine with a little longer vacation stay on Home World.

Even as I lifted off, I couldn’t even hope to see any tiny launch signatures in the far distance overhead. We were just too far away and the atmosphere, even on a clear day would shroud their view. Perhaps at night a flash could be seen, but it was broad daylight now.

Even as I climbed, tactical was broadcast in the clear to me. “Con, Weapons. One incoming missile destroyed. The second has impacted in our aft upper quarter.”

“Thor, Patrol. Engaging hostile with full missile load. Target destroyed. Tumbling and breached to open space. No escape capsules observed. Approaching hostile to look for survivors.”

“Con, Sensors. Retaliatory strike completed. All six missiles impacted a docked target at Home World orbiting shipyard.

“Con, Damage Control. Aft parts warehouse hull penetrated, patching underway. No casualties reported.”

“Thor, Con. Prepare to get underway upon shuttle arrival. Con, out.”

The following day was full of diplomatic messages passed back and forth.

Our patrol craft were recovered on our way out of Home World orbit.

Our lawyer filed a lawsuit listing the entire chain of command above the attacking escort ship which actually fired the missile. The ship and its crew died in the attack. There were no survivors to add to the lawsuit.

Home World countersued seeking reparations for the damaged cruiser and loss of life aboard it.

The suits would take years to be settled. Not so with the political turmoil the attack spawned. A declaration of war was rejected in the legislature where a no confidence resolution easily passed. An election to replace the prime minister succeeded in the majority party losing many seats. A new government was formed and life continued. Debt slavery still accounted for most of the emigration from Home World. A growing number of dissatisfied citizens chose to emigrate rather than face the prospect of a continued life under the repressive regime and its social practices. It was impossible to determine the exact extent, but a significant number of trained pilots volunteered for emigration immediately after Thor left Home World.

It seems that one of the crewmen left behind had taken pilot training for fighter spacecraft. He took it upon himself to recruit qualified pilots and offered a sign-on bonus of a year’s salary for any pilot signing a five-year enlistment contract in the Thor Navy. Without contacting JD, Chuck and the lawyer thought that it was a good idea.

Thus, as if by accident, the Thor Navy was begun. At first it was only a few individuals on each emigration passage of the liner. Then each arriving ship had a cadre of college trained flight candidates. It was only a matter of time before discharged Home World naval ship’s officers began applying for emigration to Thor Base, just as a fleet of new destroyers was being launched from the planetoid’s shipyard.

Thor’s Law was beginning to look like a spacecraft. One fusion drive was completed by the fitting of the whole assembly brought from Earth. The second housing was awaiting only the insertion of the fusion unit being replicated on the planetoid’s surface below. With the huge ship having its own power thanks to the cold fusion reactor brought from Earth, as well as the industrial and various smaller replicators salvaged from Zeus, work on the ship was well ahead of schedule.

Ever more frequently, Thor was traveling to Alpha Centauri’s nearest gas giant planet for the collection of atmospheric gasses used to fuel Thor’s Law reactors. Water was even becoming a limiting factor delaying more crew assignments on the ship. It was now requiring supplemental oxygen being brought from the surface hydroponics tanks to refresh the ship’s overtaxed life support.

Thus, Thor conducted a voyage deep into the outer regions of Alpha Centauri’s heliosphere in search of water ice asteroids or comets. As JD’s seeming luck would have it, Thor stumbled on a small planetoid with several moons in eccentric orbits about it. These moons seemed to have originated from a comets impact upon the rocky planetoid’s surface. Robbed of its momentum, many pieces of the comet must have been captured by the planetoid’s gravity. Water mining on one such ‘moon’ soon filled Thor’s fluid reservoir. After placing a beacon on the ‘moon’, Thor returned to the inner system to off-load its liquid cargo. A second voyage a month later was equally successful and this time dry ice was captured as well. The frozen carbon dioxide was placed in a huge cylinder strapped alongside Thor where it was allowed to slowly melt until an equilibrium was maintained within the storage container on the return trip. The abundance of liquid water and carbon dioxide allowed the second hydroponics tank aboard Thor’s Law to be filled and activated. With both tanks working even at a minimal capacity, excess atmospheric oxygen was soon being liquified and stored as a reserve in cryogenic storage.

Perhaps the most important indicator of JD’s plans was when Alara was moved to the bridge of Thor’s Law. Her AI cabinet was carefully removed from Thor after the Edra successfully fitted their upgraded processors, memory, and back-up power modules to her AI cabinet. Simultaneously, Arlene’s AI cabinet was installed on Thor. With the enhanced Arlene in place, a full range of diagnostics was conducted to ensure that every function was working properly. After the results were evaluated, no anomalies were noted.

Alara faced a different challenge. Once in place on the bridge of a ship under-going construction activities, her focus switched to management for optimum efficiency. JD moved his belongings from Thor to his new command suite on Thor’s Law. It wasn’t done all at once. Just a few items on each trip. Thus, it came as no surprise to him when he opened Thor’s ship safe and removed the manila envelope it contained. He realized that in the confusion and excitement after leaving Earth, he had forgotten examine the documents that George Kingsley had left for him on Zeus. Admonishing himself for that oversight, JD concluded that he had no need to return to Thor any more.

One of the naval officers from Home World had impressed JD during a newly arrived emigrant interview. This officer, Maxwell Owens was young; just having turned thirty. On his birthday, Max had reflected on his career and was dissatisfied with his future prospects in that government’s Navy. He yearned for an opportunity to explore the galaxy outside of Alpha Centauri. Obviously, with the current turmoil on Home World, galactic exploration had been curtailed. Leadership was focused on looking ‘inward’. They had lost sight of any benefits that further exploration could provide. Knowing of Meteor and Thor’s interstellar flights, Max decided to cast off the tackle of Home World’s yoke and move onto a less certain path with greater potential. It was the right move at the right time.

JD offered Max his old command, after he had taken all the learning modules related to Thor. Like JD had before him, Max spent several days in sleep learning on Thor. Gaps in his knowledge caused him to access several pre-requisite sessions to complete his understanding. But as with JD’s experience, one day eventually came when he had successfully completed all the necessary ‘sleep’ learning.

The bridge of Thor was crowded with visitors and crew when JD brought everyone to attention. “Attention to orders. Let Thor’s ship’s log reflect the I, John David Martinson, hereby relinquish command of Thor to Captain Maxwell Owens.”

Arlene’s ‘voice’ said. “Acknowledged. Captain John David Martinson has relinquished command of Thor.”

All eyes turned to Max Owens. “By the orders of the Thor Base Naval Command, I, Maxwell Owens, have assumed command of battleship Thor from Captain John David Martinson. Let this ship’s log so reflect the change and its new designation as a Thor Naval Ship. TNS Thor’s new mission is to explore distant star systems, charting trails to new and unclaimed worlds that could support our future colonization.”

Again, Arlene said. “Acknowledged. Captain Maxwell Owens now commands TNS Loki.

The ‘Top Secret’ documents that JD had removed from Zeus revealed the troubled state of Earth and the Galactic Navy from well over a century ago. Although the many fractious nations on Earth had consolidated into one political regime; social and cultural assimilation lagged far behind. World leadership was increasingly disregarding advancements in science and technology, favoring instead less sophisticated AI’s and fewer, significantly reduced capability androids.

Interstellar travel had become somewhat routine. Instead of any mixing of species, travel was almost exclusively outbound with any forward-thinking groups choosing to leave Earth rather than improve life at home. Returning news was rare and of little interest to the introspective world leaders.

The Galactic Navy reflected the waning interest in exploration. The government was less willing to expend the exorbitant cost of patrolling the empty space between stars. As the threat of invasion from exo-species had diminished, so did the need for a large and costly Galactic Navy.

The documents JD read indicated that the Galactic Navy now (in 2896) consisted of a few cruisers and a dozen or so destroyers on patrol throughout the galaxy. As those destroyers reported in, most were recalled. The AIs once vaulted as the future of technological superiority, were replaced with simpler navigational computers and separate propulsion monitors. Replicators were replaced by manufacturing robots. Natural resources became limited to whatever could be found on Earth.

One particular ‘Top Secret’ document mandated that all AIs be deactivated as soon as less sophisticated means could replace them. Then JD found the GNS deactivation orders for Atlas, Zeus, and Thor; in that order. Atlas was the first to be retired. She was cannibalized for repair parts for the other two ships which functioned for another decade during their final active-duty interstellar travels. As each had returned, they were de-activated and deemed as obsolete; being of no further use to the Galactic Navy. Due to the lack of interest in any re-use of technology at the time, each vessel was to be parked and abandoned. Once they were demilitarized by removing all weapons and missiles, they were landed in an isolated boneyard on Earth. All reactors were ordered to be shut down. Their crews were assigned elsewhere or were retired, as the needs of the service dictated.

The final document JD read reassigned Thor’s last commander, a very junior captain, to command GNS Hornet. He was to leave the final deactivation of the ship to the senior enlisted member of the crew that remained. A hand-written note on the back of the reassignment orders for the commander read: This is stupid for me to continue to look after this ship. The AI has been put to sleep, so I am leaving, while I have a ride, to get out of here. It was signed by a low enlisted seaman with a supply rating. He probably lacked the technical knowledge to shut down the cold fusion reactor properly. He didn’t even shut down the fuel replicator, which insured those atmospheric gasses were used to replenish the cold fusion reactor’s raw ingredient source feed.

JD shook his head in astonishment. It was all right there. That is how he came to command Thor. Incompetence and apathy taken to the extreme; allowing accident and opportunity to manifest themselves. Now that was a sobering realization.

After reflecting upon how he had gained command of Thor, he pushed it from his mind. Still, he kept the ‘Top Secret’ documents that George Kingsley had left in Zeus along with Anna. The android woman had bonded with Naomi and her crew of women. He no longer heard that she wanted to go elsewhere in the galaxy. Instead, she seemed fascinated in promoting a healthy diet from replicated nutrients aboard Thor’s Law. She shortened the name to TL, and soon it became the un-official nickname for the space craft that was nearing its completion. Anna accepted a crew position aboard TL as the Chief Dietician.

Sensing that things were about to change, Naomi confronted JD about her ship and her crew. Naomi offered to let JD buy Meteor. He accepted, offering her much more than Meteor was probably worth. She initially refused the offer, but was convinced to split anything above her ownership costs, as a bonus for her crew-ladies. Next, Naomi asked that her crew earn positions aboard TL. Secretly, JD had always planned to take those women wherever he went. So, it was no problem to find jobs for them within his crew. Naomi next asked where they were going to live on TJ.