Tribulations

By Ken Shufeldt

The world has ended…. The war is only beginning.



An asteroid storm has obliterated the Earth. Billy and Linda West have built enough space-going arks to save a small number of people who now roam the void in search of a new home.

Desperate to find a safe haven, Billy makes a dangerous attempt to exceed the speed of light. When his plans go terribly wrong, the Wests' severely-damaged ship is separated from the fleet and left drifting near a mysterious planet.

This world's conditions are hospitable—but its inhabitants are not. Suddenly the Wests and their fellow survivors are caught in the middle of an ancient war between two brutal nations. Faced with horrific dangers, they are forced to choose a side just to survive.



At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Jan 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781429971027

Ken Shufeldt

Ken Shufeldt was born in Kansas and raised in the West Texas Panhandle. He served in the US Navy for a number of years before leaving to begin a career in computer programming, where he specializes in law enforcement system software and 911 dispatch software. The author of Genesis, Tribulations, and Rebellion, he lives and works in Amarillo, Texas.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

THE BEGINNING

AT THE TIME, Larry Sheldon hadn’t thought that much about the call he got from the Logos high council to make an emergency trip to Iraq to retrieve an artifact they had found.

When Larry had delivered the artifact to the research team at Glen Eyrie, he had no way of knowing that his actions would set in motion events that would forever change the course of human history.

Dr. Billy Evans had also been a member of the ultra-secretive evangelical society called the Logos. At the time of the accident, he had been leading the elite team of scientists at Glen Eyrie who were studying the ancient sarcophagus that Larry Sheldon had brought back from the battlefields of Iraq.

The sarcophagus had been used by Evevette to bury her husband, Adamartoni, over a hundred thousand years ago.

Adamartoni and Evevette had been ancient space travelers from the planet Theos. Their spaceship’s power center had failed during a desperate resupply mission to their fleet, which had been engaged in a battle to the death with the Apollyon Empire at the center of the universe.

When they had been unable to repair their ship, they had journeyed to the nearest planet in search of help. While they were exploring the planet, a massive earthquake had damaged their shuttle-craft beyond repair and had permanently stranded them on Earth.

The humans they found on Earth had been extremely primitive and had lacked any form of technology. With no way to repair their ship, they had been forced to live out their lives on Earth.

In addition to being highly intelligent, Adamartoni and Evevette had been extremely long lived, by human standards. Over the ensuing centuries, their family interbred with the local population, and that had been responsible for the acceleration of humanity’s development.

Their family had managed to build a fairly advanced civilization before they died. After their deaths, however, barbarian hordes had destroyed most of what they had accomplished.

The Theos had been an extremely religious people, and Adamartoni and Evevette had made sure that they had documented their beliefs and a chronological history of their family before they died.

Over the centuries, the texts had been either lost or destroyed; however, before the originals had disappeared, they had provided the basis for many of the Earth’s formal religions and had been directly responsible for the foundation of the ultrasecretive evangelical society called the Logos.

As Dr. Evans’s team studied the sarcophagus, they had discovered that its entire surface was covered with microscopic text.

Evevette had realized that what they had built was going to fall to the barbarians, and she had used the virtually indestructible metal of the sarcophagus to try to ensure that their words weren’t lost to their descendants.

The text on the sarcophagus included everything they had ever written. But even more importantly, it provided the details of Adamartoni’s final warning to his descendants.

The warning had come from a vision that Adamartoni believed was from God, and it told of a coming catastrophe that would destroy the Earth, and of a young couple who would ultimately save mankind from extinction.

*   *   *

WHEN BEN AND Mary West had taken refuge at Glen Eyrie, they had set in motion the next step in the chain of events in the long saga of Adamartoni and Evevette’s legacy.

Shortly after they had arrived, Mary had gone into labor, and Dr. Billy Evans had delivered the baby for them. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, they had named the baby Billy in honor of Dr. Evans.

While he had been treating the baby, Dr. Evans had accidentally injected the baby with the recombinant DNA they had extracted from the body in the sarcophagus. The injection had produced amazing changes in Billy’s body, and when they were complete, he was unlike any human that had ever been born. His intelligence was beyond measurement, and his body was capable of regenerating itself with remarkable speed.

Billy’s parents had been lifelong friends with Rob and Beth Bustamante. When Rob and Beth’s only child, Linda Lou, had been born, she needed an operation to save her life, but there hadn’t been any blood available.

Even though Billy was still an infant, Ben and Mary had let the doctor use some of his blood for Linda Lou’s transfusion. The transfusion had saved her life, but it caused the same changes in her body that Billy’s had gone through.

When their transformations were complete, a unique bond had been formed between them, and they became the first two instances of what might be the next stage of human evolution.

When the Logos found out what had happened, they started to follow their development. It hadn’t taken very long for the Logos to come to the conclusion that Billy and Linda were the couple that Adamartoni’s final words had foretold.

The Logos high council was determined to do everything in their power to help fulfill Adamartoni’s prophesy. To make sure that nothing got in the way of that goal, they gave Larry Sheldon full access to their considerable resources so he could make sure that Billy and Linda would reach their full potential.

From that day on, Larry Sheldon had followed, guided, and even manipulated them, as they had grown up together; however, he had never divulged the secret of their transformations.

DREAMS

AS BILLY WEST dreamed, his mind was retracing the events of his life. He remembered how hard he and Linda had worked to hide how different they were from everyone else. How Pastor Earl Williams had helped them understand it was alright to be different, and that God had a plan for them.

He relived the frustration they had felt when their teachers couldn’t keep up with their development, and how quickly they had progressed when the school had given them computers and Internet access so that they could study at their own pace.

Billy remembered their experiences at the university the summer before they were supposed to start high school: As they had worked to learn everything they could, the professors, and Larry Sheldon, had recognized how brilliant they were and had allowed them to take achievement tests to finish their formal educations during their summer stay at the university.

Then he recalled the shock on their parents’ faces when they had explained what he and Linda Lou had accomplished during the summer. How they struggled to help their parents understand who, and what, they were. How much alike they had become, but so different from virtually everyone else in the world.

He remembered the blur of events that had followed their summer at the university, and the premonitions that were constantly in their minds. He would never forget the day when it had all finally become clear, when Larry Sheldon had briefed him on the coming catastrophe.

His heart ached as he thought of how much he had missed Linda Lou while she was at the Mayo Clinic working on her residency. He remembered the friendship he had formed with Klaus Heidelberg as they labored to develop the technology necessary to save the human race.

His mind was flooded with conflicting emotions as he remembered the exhilaration he had felt when they had been able to develop the advanced power and the necessary technology to build the ships.

His feeling of exhilaration had been replaced by frustration as they had frantically raced to build the ships they needed. Then the utter devastation he had felt when Klaus Heidelberg died from an infection he had caught from a terrorist attack victim.

Finally, he remembered the chaos of their final hours on Earth as they struggled to overcome the riots and the terrorist attacks so that they could save as many people as they could. How the leading edges of the asteroid swarm had surprised them, causing them to fall far short of their goals to fill their ships with evacuees.

The last thing he remembered before he woke up were the feelings that God had shared with him as he had watched the destruction of Earth.

1

WHEN BILLY WEST woke up, he opened his eyes to a wondrous sight: Open space filled his entire field of view, and his mind was struggling to understand where he was. As his mind cleared from the night’s sleep, he remembered they were on board their spaceship, Genesis.

Once he was fully awake, he smiled to himself as he remembered their wedding night. He turned his head to look at his new bride, Linda Lou, whose head was resting on his shoulder as she slept. As he was enjoying watching her sleep, she began to stir. She opened her beautiful dark brown eyes to an amazing sight. The walls of their room were still transparent and allowed her to see the grandeur of space.

She lifted her head off Billy’s arm.

He said, Hi you.

She smiled and said, Hi yourself, husband.

As she replayed their first night together in her mind, she felt his mind touch hers.

I love you so much. Last night was everything I dreamed it would be, Billy said.

It was neat. Wasn’t it? Space is so beautiful. I thought it was awe-inspiring when we used to lie on the grass and look up at the stars, but this is amazing. Are you ready to get up and go and eat some breakfast?

She felt his answer in her mind and told him, That’s a much better idea. We can eat later.

*   *   *

A COUPLE OF hours later they showered and went down to the main galley for breakfast.

Richard Patterson spotted them as they entered and wished them a good morning. He asked, How do you like married life so far? Wait, you don’t need to tell me. You’re both glowing. I just hope you’re always as happy as you are today. Why don’t you take that open table over there, and I’ll be right back with your breakfast?

As they waited for their meals, Richard’s wife, Shirley, brought them a pot of coffee and their silverware. Congratulations again, and you both look so happy. It almost makes me believe that we may have a chance for a decent life yet.

We’re very happy, Linda said. And we both think that we’ll all have a good life. It may not be anything like we could have imagined, but it’ll be a good life nonetheless.

How can you be so sure? Things definitely don’t look good right now.

I know they don’t, but I believe there are truly wondrous adventures ahead of us.

Here’s your breakfast, Richard said as he sat their meals down.

That was quick, Billy said. I meant to tell you the other day, you guys are doing a great job running the galley.

Thanks. I’m afraid we don’t know much, other than how to run a café, but we always try to do our part.

You’re definitely doing your part.

We’d better let these two newlyweds eat their breakfast, Richard said. I just saw some soldiers come in. We’d better get busy, because those kids can eat like horses.

Billy and Linda Lou ate their breakfast in what looked like complete silence. In reality, they were conversing in their own special way. When they finished eating Billy asked, I’m going to the lab to work on finding us a destination. Would you like to come with me?

No thanks, I need to get down to the hospital and get back to work. There are over a hundred people waiting to see a doctor.

I didn’t realize that we had that many people who were injured.

They’re not all injured. Most of them just have your normal everyday health problems.

When Billy reached his lab, he reviewed the ship’s logs for any issues. When he was finished, he leaned back in his chair as he contemplated what their initial destination should be.

Since it was technically the closest one, several of the other scientists in the fleet wanted to try to reach the Canis Major dwarf galaxy. He’d strongly disagreed with them, however, because it was in the process of being pulled apart by the gravitational forces of the Milky Way.

It had taken him several hours, but he finally decided on the Sagittarius dwarf elliptical galaxy. The problem was that although it was relatively close as stellar objects go, it was still over four light years away.

As he pondered the immense distances they would need to travel, he realized that they needed to find a way to exceed the speed of light.

As he tried to think through the problem, it brought back memories of a conversation that he and Klaus Heidelberg had had on the subject. He had told Klaus that he thought faster-than-light travel was feasible, even though Albert Einstein’s theories didn’t support his thinking.

Klaus had been a close friend of Einstein’s, and he had assured Billy that Einstein had believed it was possible. Thinking of Klaus made him remember how much he missed having him around.

After he had spent a few minutes remembering Klaus, he said a quick prayer for him and resumed his work.

He called up the schematics of the ship on his computer screen so he could study them. While they were building Genesis, he had Nicholas Stavros add a set of massive magnetic projectors in the bow of the ship. At the time, he didn’t know exactly how he was going to utilize them, but he had felt that he would at some point.

He spent the day deep in thought, and when he finally looked up from his computer, it was after 6:00 PM. He had worked through lunch, and he realized he was starving. He saved his work and went to find Linda, so they could eat dinner together.

He found her in the hospital, where she had just completed an evaluation of John Tyler. John had passed out during their wedding reception the previous night, and he had to be rushed into surgery. Linda’s boss and mentor at the Mayo Clinic, William Robbins, had performed the microsurgery necessary to repair several congenital defects in his heart.

Linda greeted Billy as he entered John’s room. I’m glad you’re here. I just finished examining John, and he’s making a good recovery from his surgery. I think he’ll be able to resume some light duties in eight weeks or so.

She turned back to John and said, You don’t know how lucky you are. Without the advances in microsurgery that we’ve made in the last two years, you probably wouldn’t have survived, and if you had, you would have been laid up for several months, instead of several weeks.

Actually, I understand more than you could ever know. The doctors at Walter Reed had told me that the surgery wasn’t even possible. In fact, it was the reason I got out of the military.

The last few days have been pretty exciting for you, Billy said. You’ve got a new baby boy, and you’re going to get your health back. How are Millie and Adam doing?

I only got to spend a few hours with them before I had my problem, but this is the happiest we’ve been in many years. We can’t thank both of you enough for all that you’ve done for us.

No thanks needed, Linda said. Besides, if it hadn’t been for you, our entire team might not have made it.

It’s great that you’re going to get your strength back, because I’m going to need your help, Billy said.

No problem, you can count on me. If you don’t mind, I do have a couple of questions. Do you think we’ll be able to find a new home, and how long will it take us to reach it?

I’ve selected our first place to search, but at our present speed, we won’t be able to reach any destination for many years.

That doesn’t sound very promising. I would hate to think of Adam growing up without ever being able to run and play in the sunshine.

It’s too early to think like that. I’m working on some things that may allow us to cut some time off of our travel, but it’s too early to talk about them yet.

*   *   *

MOST OF THE living quarters had kitchens, but they hadn’t worked out the logistics for everyone to pick up the food they needed, so everyone was either eating in one of the ship’s galleys or they were picking up their meals and taking them back to their quarters to eat.

Billy and Linda Lou liked eating with everyone, but they had decided that they wanted some time alone. As they sat eating, they had joined their minds instead of talking out loud. Billy had turned on the virtual reality system so the scene was quite a contrast of perceptions. They were sitting at a small table in front of the fireplace in their bedroom, but they were surrounded by open space.

The stars didn’t twinkle in the vacuum of space, and the crystal-clear view was incredible. They could see the faint glow of the ships that stretched out for miles behind them, and the occasional piece of space junk that went speeding by.

They were already moving faster than any human had ever gone. The fleet had been under constant acceleration since they had left the rally point, and it wouldn’t be too much longer before it reached its maximum speed.

At maximum power, the Genesis was capable of almost 60 percent of the speed of light, but the rest of the fleet was only capable of about half that.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the view, Linda said.

It is awe-inspiring, Billy replied. But I imagine we’re going to see a lot of things that we never thought we would. Even though I’m responsible for much of the technology, I’ve got to admit that I’m somewhat astonished by what we’ve achieved.

I know what you mean. I’m still struggling with our lives in general, but as bad as some of it has been, I’m still extremely grateful for what God has given us.

They had almost finished eating when Larry Sheldon called Billy on the intercom. Our sensors have just picked up a ship, and it’s about three hundred thousand miles behind us.

Can you identify it?

"I believe it’s the president’s ship, Freedom."

The President of the United States! Are you sure?

I am, and that’s not all! There’re several other ships traveling with it. They’re closing with us, but our sensors show that they’re running dangerously close to an overload on their power systems.

Signal the fleet to reduce our speed by 30 percent. That should be enough for them to catch up to us. At that speed, how long do you think it will take them to catch us?

Let’s see, it shouldn’t take more than twenty-four hours.

*   *   *

WHEN THE PRESIDENT’S ships were within a few hours of the fleet, Billy hailed them: "This is the Genesis, calling the Freedom. Freedom, please respond. Freedom, if you’re receiving this, please respond."

He was about to hail them again, when they answered: "Genesis, this is President McAlister, on board the United States Vessel Freedom. Who am I taking to?"

This is Billy West, and I’m glad you made it. How many other ships do you have with you, and what took you so long?

I’m glad we’re finally getting to talk, President McAlister said. I’ve heard so much about you from Larry Sheldon and Klaus Heidelberg. How are they doing?

Larry Sheldon is fine, but Klaus Heidelberg died just before we left.

I’m so sorry. He was one of my most senior advisors and a truly brilliant man. I’ll miss him.

We all will. He was quite a man.

He was, wasn’t he? I’m sure that he would be proud of what you and Larry Sheldon have accomplished.

It could have never happened without his help.

"I’m sure he would have appreciated the credit, but the last time we talked, he told me you’re the only reason any of us made it.

"You asked me earlier how many ships we have in our group. We have forty ships, not counting the Freedom. We would have been here sooner, but we had to leave Earth in the wrong direction to avoid the incoming asteroid swarm.

I’m glad you slowed down, we were running at over a hundred-percent load on the generators, and I was afraid we would burn them out. Luckily for us, you did such a great job designing the ships that they were up to the challenge. Did you pick us up on sensors, or did you slow down for another reason?

We picked you up on our sensors, so I gave the order to slow down.

I’m sure glad you spotted us. As soon as we catch up, we’ll assume the lead positions, and I’ll take over. I appreciate you getting the fleet that far. It’s a job well done.

Almost anyone else would have taken offense to someone taking over after they had brought the group that far, but it never occurred to Billy.

It took the Freedom and its sister ships the rest of the day to pass Billy’s fleet. Once they had, they took up positions in front of the Genesis.

Once they were all in formation, the president radioed the fleet:

"Attention, attention, this is the President of the United States, John McAlister. I’m happy to report the Freedom, which is my flagship, and the rest of the United States fleet, has arrived. I’ve assumed command and assumed responsibility for the continued planning and execution of our evacuation.

"My advisors have told me it’s going to take a long time to reach another planet. However, you may rest assured that I’ll do everything possible to ensure we all reach safety.

I need to get an assessment of everyone’s current status, so there will be a mandatory video conference at one tomorrow afternoon. All ship commanders should be prepared to present their current supply inventory so I can begin to assess our available resources. Again, thank you all for your cooperation in these trying times.

*   *   *

AS THE MONTHS passed, President McAlister continued to consolidate his control over the fleet. He brought structure to the fleet, but his heavy-handed ways were beginning to grate on the nerves of several in Billy’s group.

Meanwhile, Billy had been working almost day and night as he tried to develop his plans for a faster-than-light drive. Finally, he decided he had a solution and called his team together to discuss his plan.

He had Nicholas Stavros and his teams meet him in his lab for a briefing. He also invited John Tyler and Larry Sheldon, so he could keep them up to speed.

Thank you for taking the time to meet with me, Billy said. As many of you know, I’ve been working on a plan to allow us to exceed the speed of light.

I didn’t think that was possible, Nicholas Stavros replied. Nicholas was a brilliant young engineer, and he and his teams had been largely responsible for the construction of the American portion of the fleet. If you had been observing him, you might have thought that he was a teenager with ADD.

"That’s what most of the scientific community believes, however, I’ve developed an approach that should allow us to break that barrier. I had talked with Klaus Heidelberg about it before he died, and he also believed it to be possible.

It was his encouragement, and his suggestion that I read all of Stephen Hawking’s research that kept me working toward a solution. Before he died, Klaus arranged for me to gain access to Hawking’s unpublished papers, which has proven to be invaluable.

Klaus had mentioned it in passing, and Larry Sheldon had actually been the one who had gotten the papers for Billy, but he didn’t say anything about it.

What do you need us to do? Nicholas asked excitedly.

I’ve already uploaded the engineering changes that I need done.

How do we get at them?

They’re all stored on the central server, but I would like to walk you through them, before you get started.

Billy hit a button on the wireless remote he was carrying, and a holographic image of the bow of the ship appeared before the group.

These things will never cease to amaze me, John said.

It’s pretty amazing, but it’ll let me show you exactly what I need done.

Billy used the remote control to highlight the new power leads to the magnetic projectors, and the projectors’ main plates.

"If you’ll pay close attention to the highlighted areas, you’ll see the sections that I want to replace with the new formulation of the ceramic superconductors.

"Once we have replaced the marked areas, we’ll add two more fusion reactors to power the projectors. I’ve got a new design for them as well, and the output from the two reactors should be a little more than twice the existing power of the Genesis."

Wow, that’s some upgrade, Nicholas exclaimed. When can we get started? We’ve been going crazy since we ran out of new projects.

You can begin whenever you’re ready, but I would like to start no later than the end of the week.

No problem. In fact, if you don’t mind we’ll get started this afternoon. How long did you estimate it should take us?

Using your team’s previous work as a reference, I would say about thirteen weeks.

Later that night, Billy and Linda met their parents for dinner. They were going to meet them on the upper deck where they could eat under the starlit skies, but at the last minute Billy decided to meet them on the beach deck. When they got there, their meals were already laid out on a table by the water.

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to all of this, Linda’s dad, Rob Bustamante, said. Here we are on a spaceship, hurtling through space, to who knows where, and we’re about to have dinner on a beach that’s identical to a South Pacific island.

This looks scrumptious, Linda’s mother, Beth, said. Is that a lobster?

Yes it is, Linda replied. I knew it was your favorite, so I had the Pattersons prepare one for you. I know the rest of you would rather have beef, so you’ll be having some really good rib-eye steaks.

How can we be eating all of this? Ben West, Billy’s dad, asked.

We have plenty of food, and we also have the capability to raise more. The lagoon is stocked with all sorts of seafood, and you and Rob already know about the agriculture decks.

We sure do, and thanks for letting us work on them, Rob said.

As they sat eating their dinner, a faint breeze suddenly moved over them, and they thought they heard the sound of distant thunder.

Is that thunder? Mary West asked.

It is, Billy replied. In another hour there will be a tropical rainstorm falling where we’re sitting. I’ve engineered all the agriculture areas to have normal weather patterns, and the forest areas have all four seasons.

It’s great to see both of you, but what are you going to spring on us this time? Ben asked.

I would like to say that I don’t have something to tell you, but I do, Billy answered. You’ve all asked how long it’s going to be before we can find a new home, and I have some news that will affect my answer.

It’s not bad news again, is it? Beth asked.

Not this time. I’ve been working on a way to exceed the speed of light. When we talked about this before, I told you it would be many years before we could reach any possible destination. If the new propulsion system works like I think it will, we should be able to cut decades, if not centuries off of our transit time.

Does this mean that there’s a chance that we’ll be able to find another place to live? Rob asked.

I don’t want to raise your expectations too high, but I do believe that it gives us a chance.

His statement set off an outburst of excited conversations from their parents. After several minutes the conversations started to die down, and Billy told them, We’d better get going. It’s going to start raining in another ten minutes.

Would you mind if we stay? Rob asked. Beth and I just love the rain, and it’s been a while since we’ve seen any.

No problem, stay as long as you want. You know your way back to your quarters, don’t you?

Yes, we do, and thanks for the great evening. We really enjoyed it.

*   *   *

LATER THAT NIGHT, Billy and Linda were lying in bed talking.

I think our parents really enjoyed dinner, Linda said.

They seemed to. I just hope I didn’t upset them.

"I don’t think they were upset, but you know how badly my dad wants to have a real home again. He’s doing much better since you let him and your dad take over the agriculture decks. But he still struggles from time to

Reviews for Tribulations

[thelostentwife · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

You know, I’m willing to overlook names like Billy and Linda Lou if the story is good, and draws me in (and it’d have to be damn good to make me feel like I’m not reading about some hicks in outer space). Seriously though, that’s a personal thing.. I enjoy good character names, and these just seemed as if the author just didn’t give a damn about his characters – which becomes even more evident in his story.If this story had been recited to me, orally, at bedtime, in increments, by my grandfather, I would have loved it. It moved at a quick pace, and was written in “everyday speak” sort of language. But that doesn’t translate to the page well. There needs to be detail, and description. An author should not write about how there is a language barrier between an alien race and the crew aboard a spaceship and then, a few lines later, solve that issue by saying Billy made some translation devices for everyone and they all could understand.It’s not that easy!There needs to be some depth to the story. There needs to be actual time passing, don’t tell me “…a few weeks later”, write about something that happened to make me understand that time is, indeed, passing. Did he face any difficulties? I mean, creating a translation device, that seems pretty interesting – tell me more about it.Furthermore, don’t create situations that you have an easy answer to. I felt like every obstacle facing Linda and Billy was easily solved, way too easily solved, with so little actual writing space between the problem and the answer that I barely had time to wrap my mind around the issue before it had been solved.Also – never a good idea to start a book with the morning after a wedding night. That felt uncomfortable and weird.I really was psyched up about this book – I wanted to enjoy a good science fiction book, and when I saw that TOR had mailed this one to me I jumped around the house and talked to everyone about it. But man, I am so. damn. disappointed. by this story.