0300 Book 2 - 16. Chapter 16: 0300

Chapter 16: 0300

It was 0300 when Admiral Davis called me. Doesn’t that man sleep! I wondered as I knocked my communicator to the floor. Beside me, George mumbled sleepily.

“Sir?”

“Paul, will you take your fleet through the rift into Universe 1 and clean out that nest of vipers? You would have the task force that is at the rift, plus three destroyers, two cruisers, the troop transport Rodger Young full of Marines, and one more hospital ship, the Walter Reed. She’s empty of patients, now, and headed your way.”

What the . . . ? I thought. He calls at 0300 to ask me to start a war with an entire planet? He knows that if we defeat the Reverends, we’ll have to deal with the communists and the Muslims. He knows . . . I went through the points raised at our planning meetings. What if these people have weapons we don’t know about? What if we can’t convince the population to join us? What if the Muslims and Communists gang up on us? What if . . . ?”

Then, the things Artie had said came to my mind. Oppressive religious law. Beheading gay kids—children—after burning off their dicks. Suppressing any form of free thought. I went through these thoughts and made up my mind in the space of a single breath.

“Yes sir; thank you, Admiral.”

“Orders,” the Admiral said. “Operating independently and in command of . . .” He listed the ships names. “With volunteer crews, you will prosecute the war as you see fit. That is all.”

The communicator blinked off. It was 0304. The entire conversation had taken less than five minutes.

By now, George was wide awake. He called Danny and told him. I waited until 0600 to break the news to the rest of the GWGs and the task force. Morning watch shift-change time was about the only time everyone would be awake.

“Jonathan? Please give me a link to the ships in the task force, ship-wide PA on all of them, including the Charleston.”

Jonathan created the link and then surprised everyone when he pulled out a bosun’s pipe, cupped it in his hand, and played the two notes that signaled word to be passed. I was taken by surprise. We had talked about tradition, about the customs of the old surface Fleet, and about how much I wanted to revive some of them, but I didn’t know he was going to do this.

I sent Jonathan a quick Bravo Zulu, and then started my speech.

“This is Commodore Stewart. Fleet has offered us a mission. I say offered rather than ordered, because there is still time to back out. After I finish this communication, anyone who doesn’t want to be a part of this is free to leave. Shuttles will return to Earth anyone who asks. There will be no stigma associated with refusing this mission.

“Here’s the story. You all know that a rift has opened between our world, our universe, and a parallel universe. That second universe is a dark place. It is a primitive place. Still, it shares some things with our universe.

“There is an Earth, there is a United States of America. There is no Fleet, and no Fleet governance.

“In that universe, religious fundamentalists took control of the United States sometime in the early 20^th century. They didn’t believe in cosmology or evolution; in fact, they didn't believe in most of science. As a result, a lot of their world is stuck at 1920s technology. No space flight, for example; no nano-technology; and no microchips. Heck, they don’t even have pop-up toasters. They do have television, and they’ve turned it into a tool for propaganda.

“They also have a repressive government, one that Caligula would admire. They’ve implemented strict religious law throughout the United States, North and South America, and Europe. They have an uneasy alliance with Muslim fundamentalists who have implemented Sharia law, and with a communist totalitarianism.

“The Fundamentalists have a particular animus toward homosexuality. If they find a couple of boys acting out their love for one another, they burn off the boys’ penises and testicles—with branding irons, and then behead them, in public and on television. If they find a couple of girls acting out their love for one another, the girls are subject to what amounts to religious rape before they’re beheaded, in public and on television. I cannot bring myself to describe what else they do to these boys and girls.

“What technology they have has been subverted to keep the population subjugated. They’ve managed to invent tasers: primitive electro-shock weapons. They have gas weapons, like those of the Franco-German war—mustard gas and others that they use to control any crowd that gets the courage to defy them.

“One year ago today, some kids, the age of our cadets, children who had escaped sexual slavery and worse, managed to connect to one another. They got their hands on ancient projectile weapons. These children began a revolution. They were badly outgunned and outnumbered. The fundamentalists brought in the Army, with tanks.

“Then, something happened. A rift opened between the Fundamentalists’ universe and what we’re calling the Long Universe. Thirty shuttlecraft, with capabilities similar to ours, including weaponry, filled with more kids, some of whom were armed with energy weapons, were drawn into the Fundamentalist universe. The Long kids quickly figured out what was going on, and gave their support to the children who were fighting the Fundamentalists.

“Long Family forces managed to rescue hundreds of children, many of whom were wounded. Those children were brought to our universe, where the wounded were treated on the USF Hope. You’ve seen the funeral; you know what happened to the others.

“That battle—the First Battle for Las Vegas—is over; however, the war has not been won. The Fleet Council has declared war on the Fundamentalists. Fleet has given us a chance to enter the Fundamentalists’ universe and win that war.

“It will not be as easy as it might seem. Yes, we have a large edge in technology; however, there are many more of them than there are us.

“They have the support of most of the population, which is too brainwashed even to know that they’re brainwashed.

“They are deeply embedded in that Earth; there isn’t one, big target that can be destroyed.

“The war may take years.

“Given these things, I will accept only volunteers.

“You have twenty-four hours to decide. At the end of that time, anyone wanting to leave must have done so.

“If you have questions, send them to Flag Comm. The Flag Team and I will address as many as we are able.

“Commodore Stewart, out.” I nodded to Jonathan, who drew his hand across his throat, signaling that the circuit had been closed.

There weren’t many questions. In the end, they boiled down to two.

What would happen to us if the rift closed and we were trapped in the new universe? Answer: We don’t believe it will. If it did, and couldn’t be reopened, we’d do what we had to do to survive, to promote our beliefs and culture, and to rescue the oppressed.

We’ve never been attacked, so why did Fleet declare war? Answer: Six hundred eighty six kids were rescued; 68 bodies were recovered. Every single one of those kids, including the dead ones, was adopted by a Fleet member. They are our sons and our brothers. They are determined to carry out this war. We can do no less.

In the end, only 50 people were taken back to Earth. Of the remaining 22,574, which included all of Artie and Corey’s people, I had high confidence that they would be stalwart.

Epilogue

0300 Pacific Standard Time

A boxy aeroplane without wings circles above the camp, slowly, silently, and invisible in the moonless, overcast night. Three times it makes its circuit while sensors probe the buildings and the mountains surrounding the camp. Then, it settles to the ground in front of the headquarters building. The boy on guard on the porch sees the aeroplane, and runs into the building.

A door in the side of the aeroplane opens and three figures step out. They are immediately followed by a dozen boys carrying rifles. Four of the boys are in the black and gray of the California Army; four are in blue jumpsuits; four are in desert camouflage. The armed boys take up defensive positions. The shuttlecraft departs as silently and invisibly as it arrived.

Lights on the building come on and illuminate the waiting figures. A man steps from the headquarters and walks toward the figures. When he is about ten feet from the figures, he stops. “I am Don Renaldo. Welcome.” His eyes widen but only slightly. “Artie? Why am I not surprised?”

Artie smiles broadly. “Don Renaldo, this is my brother, Captain Cory Long, commander of his world’s forces. This is my father, Commodore Paul Stewart, commander of his world’s forces. We’ve come to take our world back from the Reverends and anyone else who would stand in our way.”

This story will continue in “0300 Book 3,” which is in development.