The Battle for Eden. Mark E. Burgess
ship, was a huge modified rail gun. It was so named because the ancient models had utilized long metal rails along which a solid projectile would slide, driven along the shafts by magnetic fields and ejected at tremendous velocities. The technology had been appealing from the start. It was simple in design, required only a cylindrical metal slug as ammunition, and could deliver as much impact as missile warheads at a fraction of the cost. The striking power came from the muzzle velocities the guns achieved; with that much kinetic force delivered on target, no other explosive was needed.
The problem with the original designs, which had led to humans abandoning them as primary weapons, was that the projectiles moving at extreme speed created unacceptable heat and wear in the guns, which rapidly broke down the rail components. Small versions had been deployed on naval warships, and these had performed adequately if used lightly, but the problems had worsened exponentially as larger models were attempted. Only now, with advances in materials science and energy manipulation, could a gun be built that enhanced the known strengths of rail guns and avoided their weaknesses.
The new weapon was based on the general design and principles of the originals, but with one important difference. Instead of metal rails, this gun utilized dense force screens which under certain conditions could be made to behave like solid matter. Magnetic fields could be propagated down their length, and the projectile slid along the energy “rails” with virtually no friction or wear. Round after round could be fired without overheating the gun.
The electromagnetic fields generated by the weapon used prodigious amounts of power, and no less than five fusion reactors were dedicated to powering the gun and the inertial dampeners arrayed along its length. Basic physics states that every action produces an equal and opposite reaction; without dampeners, the weapon’s recoil would kick the entire ship backward nearly a quarter kilometer with each discharge, or more realistically, the gun would probably be blown out the back of the Lamprey’s hull.
As the entire super-dreadnaught was essentially a housing for the rail weapon, the ship had to aim directly at its target in order to fire. Simon watched with intent interest as the Lamprey approached to within about ten kilometers of the alien destroyers. The surviving human ships had redoubled their attack on seeing help arrive, but the Knackers found time to begin throwing energy beams at the newcomer. Then the dreadnaught fired back.
The main gun’s ammunition was a cylindrical, 100-kilogram slug of depleted uranium alloyed with titanium. This material possessed a density nearly seventy percent greater than lead. The round was further strengthened with an outer sheath of pure tungsten. The gun accelerated this projectile to a muzzle exit velocity of 223 kilometers per second, or over 800,000 kilometers per hour. The round traversed the ten kilometers to its target in less than 0.05 seconds.
The kinetic force that the slug delivered to the Knacker destroyer on impact approached 2.5 million megajoules. This was equal to the energy released in the detonation of a 0.5 kiloton bomb. The alien vessel was armored with nearly three meters’ thickness of high-density refractory materials in multiple sandwiched layers, designed to reflect or diffuse high levels of incoming energy. However, the Knackers had relied on energy beam weapons for much of their history, and had tailored their defensive armament to protect against same. Sophisticated as it was, the destroyer’s hull was not designed to handle this type of assault. The rail gun round punched through the alien ship as if it were tissue paper.
The slug’s tungsten sheath disintegrated on impact, exposing its heavy metal core. Depleted uranium has singular properties when subjected to extreme heat and kinetic forces. It instantly pulverizes and explodes outward in a cloud of fine particles. In these conditions the metal is also pyrophoric, meaning the dust cloud ignites into an intense fireball within microseconds.
In real time, the Lamprey fired, and a faint blue aura lanced 100 meters out from the bow of the ship, as the exiting projectile dragged the gun’s energy fields with it into space. Simultaneously the front of one of the Knacker destroyers flared brilliant white, and then the entire ship...expanded...an instant before the hull split open like a cracked egg. Fire jetted from every orifice of the dying ship. The kinetic energy of the round, which continued on in the same direction as the original impact, exploded out the destroyer’s stern, blowing the rear quarter of the ship off into space. The entire event took less than two seconds.
Simon sat stunned for a moment. Then he raised his arms high and shouted, “Yaa-hoo! That’s how we cook Crabs! Get ’em, boys!” As he spoke, the Lamprey was already turning to target a second alien ship. Another blue flicker, and another destroyer became so much salvage material. A third vessel had joined its comrades in their death throes before the aliens had time to react.
Almost as one, the remaining Knacker destroyers accelerated out of the firing path of this new threat. Then they wheeled and bore down on their attacker. The dreadnaught turned ponderously to track the enemy, but the alien ships were smaller and quicker. As a group they closed with the Lamprey and began unleashing their main energy weapons into its flanks.
The dreadnaught had considerable firepower even in its lateral plasma guns, and bright beams lanced out along its length as the humans found targets. But it was no match for five destroyers at close range, and structural debris sprayed off the ship as the enemy weapons bit glowing chunks out of its hull. In a few moments the Lamprey turned away towards deep space and began to run. The alien vessels followed on its heels like a pack of wolves hounding their prey. Simon saw the remaining human destroyers begin moving to come to the aid of their beleaguered comrade.
Abruptly his own fighter began to buffet and shake around him, and reluctantly he tore his gaze from the drama playing out in space above. A scan of his instruments confirmed that his ship had reached the outer limits of Eden’s atmosphere. He had to ensure that his approach angle was proper. If he came in too steep, he ran the risk of burning up on reentry.
Once he was satisfied that he had it right, he looked up again, but the sky was hazing over with atmospheric molecules, and friction had started to glow his hull. The battle scene above faded from view until he could see nothing.
With a sigh Simon leaned back in his flight seat for the long ride down to the surface. Closing his eyes for a moment, he let the adrenaline slowly bleed from his system. He had lived to see another day. Whether he lived to regret it was a different question.
Chapter Two
Sarah McKinley saw the bright streak dropping from the sky as she stood in the half-acre crop field of her rural homestead. She straightened her back, groaning as the stiff muscles protested, and pushed a lock of damp brown hair out of her eyes while she squinted up into the bright afternoon sun. Twenty years old, dressed in simple blue fabric shirt and work pants, a long handled garden shovel in her right hand, she would have looked perfectly at home on a Midwestern farm on Old Earth. Never mind that this was Eden, located in a solar system unfathomable distances from humanity’s roots, and thousands of years removed from those days of yore. As much as things had changed over the course of human history, even more had remained the same.
A frown of worry creased her brow as the object descended. It was headed in this general direction, and in only moments the glowing speck had materialized into a solid object which was enlarging rapidly. It was still high up, and moving much faster than the planetary shuttles she had seen, and that was what worried her. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was looking at a spacecraft, and if so, it could mean trouble. Specifically, Knackers!
As that thought sunk in, she dropped the shovel and sprinted for the house several hundred meters away. Sarah had inherited her dad’s foot speed, and her graceful stride ate up the distance quickly. As she ran she thought of calling out for her father, but then remembered he had taken her brothers to town to shop for supplies. Her mother, her Aunt Katie, and Kate’s daughter Jessie were out for the afternoon as well. Sarah was completely on her own.
She reached the house and darted into the front entrance, returning outside quickly with a farseeing scope. She dialed it to low mag, located the ship in the viewfinder, and increased the power to bring the still-distant image closer. Panting from her run, she struggled to steady the jiggling scope, scanning the interloper’s conformation anxiously. After a moment she relaxed and lowered her hands. With a sigh of relief, she muttered