Nanomachine War: Book 2, Battle For Holtu

By Don Viecelli

The Yoyka’s attempt to subjugate and enslave the people of Earth and Mars using their nanomachine weapon failed—the first time. Rahta, the Yoyka Imperil Leader, is outraged by his defeat and near death at the hands of the Holtu androids in the Mars Space Battle. Rahta seeks revenge by sending another large fleet of warships to attack Earth, Mars and Holtu with a new version of nanomachines that could mean the extinction or slavery of the human race. Rahta must defeat and destroy the Holtu androids and the Qumru who are now in a Military Alliance with Humans against the Yoyka Empire. Rahta intends to capture the Onutu mind transfer and regeneration technology the Qumru possess, which will give him the ability to achieve immortality and rule the galaxy forever. What the Yoyka do not expect is the resolve and tenacity of the humans from Earth to stop him with the same fierce determination to remain free against a ruthless tyrant. The Yoyka possess a quantum link kill code for all races they have enslaved with nanomachines. The battle for Holtu results in a race against time to save the lives of billions of Qumru on their home planet against Rahta’s vindictive decision to use his nanomachine kill switch one more time as an act of revenge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Don Viecelli
• Release date: Jun 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463444412

Don Viecelli

The author lives in Arlington Heights, IL with his family. He attended Michigan State University and earned his MBA at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management in Illinois. He recently retired as a product marketing professional in the high tech industry and is now pursuing a writing career. He has always enjoyed science fiction and plans to continue writing imaginative novels that explore the future boundaries of real science. He writes science fiction book reviews on popular authors and lists them on Goodreads.com. He can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and he has his own Website for science fiction readers. He is also a Member of the Writers of SciFi, a group of Indie Science Fiction writers and authors associated with BooksGoSocial. Drop him a line when you find a story you like.

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Description

The Yoyka’s attempt to subjugate and enslave the people of Earth and Mars using their nanomachine weapon failed—the first time. Rahta, the Yoyka Imperil Leader, is outraged by his defeat and near death at the hands of the Holtu androids in the Mars Space Battle. Rahta seeks revenge by sending another large fleet of warships to attack Earth, Mars and Holtu with a new version of nanomachines that could mean the extinction or slavery of the human race. Rahta must defeat and destroy the Holtu androids and the Qumru who are now in a Galactic Military Alliance with Humans against the Yoykan Empire. Rahta intends to capture the Onutu mind transfer and body regeneration technology the Qumru possess, which will give him the ability to achieve immortality and rule the galaxy forever. What the Yoyka Emperor does not expect is the resolve and tenacity of the Humans from Earth to stop him with the same fierce determination to remain free against a ruthless tyrant. The Yoyka possess a Quantum Transmission Link (QTL) kill code for all races they have enslaved with nanomachines. The battle for Holtu results in a race against time for Colonel Doug Martin and his Allies to save the lives of billions of Qumru people on their home planet against Rahta’s vindictive decision to use his nanomachine kill switch one more time as an act of revenge.

Copyright Page

Nanomachine War - Book 2, Battle For Holtu

By Don Viecelli

Copyright © 2018 by Donald E. Viecelli. Official ECO Number to follow.

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Ebook cover page image and design is provided by Kerman Rodriquez.

This is a work of science fiction. All the characters, names, incidents, places and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any errors found in editing, formatting, plot or structure will be corrected in future editions.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Positive reviews on various book sites are always welcome. It helps independent authors like me to reach a broader audience.

Smashwords ISBN: 9780463444412

For Smashwords Readers.

Published By Smashwords for Don Viecelli.

First Release in June 2018.

Latest Edition R4, July 2019. Includes Excerpt from Nanomachine War - Book 3.

Word length approximately 86,648.

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Dedication

If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.

Abraham Lincoln

Table of Contents

Description

Copyright Page

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Excerpt From Nanomachine War - Book 3

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Author’s Page

Chapter 1

Qum

The situation on Qum, 15,000 Light Years from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, was desperate. The people on Qum had been subjugated by the Yoykan race for nearly two lunar cycles now. Killian, a small female Qumru with round eyes, pointed ears, pale green skin glanced up at the large yellow moon slowing rising in the night sky outside her window and reflected on her current situation. If things did not change soon for the better, all free, intelligent life on Qum would be lost forever.

What are you starring at, Killian? Jopar, her husband, asked walking up behind her and putting his small, four fingered hand on Killian’s shoulder. They stood in a small, dark room with a large window that was part of a well built, secret scientific research building high up in the mountains.

The moon. It’s brighter than I have ever seen before.

I can think of two reasons for that my dear. The night sky is clear and we’re standing high in the mountains of Quintor. He smiled, knowing he was teasing, waiting for her to answer.

Killian turned to look Jopar in the eyes and pinched his arm. You always have an answer, don’t you?

I tend to look on the bright side. He smiled again and kissed her.

"That’s one of the two reasons I love you. The moon is always shinning for you.

And what is the other?

You have an explanation for everything. Even if I cannot prove it wrong at the time.

They kissed again before turning back to the window to look at the bright moon. Two moons circled Qum. They were looking at the large moon called Opura, which was relatively close to their planet and circled every 29 days. The smaller moon called Mimly was much further away and could barely be seen by eyesight even on a clear night. It circled Qum every 41 days.

Killian and Jopar were scientists recently married to each other. They were among a small group of survivors from the Yoyka invasion who had escaped to the mountains far from the capital city of Ollala where the Yoyka had taken over the city and spaceport. Yoyka soldiers were searching for them and other resistance groups who had escaped the Yoyka nanomachine contagion and were now hiding in the foothills, jungles and mountainous regions on Qum.

The Qumru people hiding in the research facility were the lucky ones. They could no longer become infected by the Yoyka nanomachines. They were some of the scientists who helped developed the nano-agent solution that prevented them from becoming infected by the nanomachines if given in time. However, this made all of them prime targets for the Yoyka ground troops searching for them.

Even if the Yoyka troops or their drones did not find them right away, Jopar estimated they had only a few weeks before they would be discovered, killed or captured and become slaves to the Yoyka masters. Their only chance of remaining free was to develop a nanite counter-agent that could reverse the controlling effects of the nanomachines on infected Qumru. Otherwise, their species was doomed to be slave workers for the Yoyka Empire.

We cannot stay here much longer, Killian, Jopar said.

I know, but what are our choices? Find another hiding place or leave the planet? Killian postulated still staring at the moon in the darkened room.

We’ll know soon enough. When the Holtu military commander returns from his trip to the city, he will tell us what we have to do.

We can’t leave the Onutu quantum computer equipment and regeneration chambers here, Jopar. The Yoyka are looking for them.

We may have to destroy them before we leave. The military already destroyed the remaining equipment and chambers in other locations on the planet. We cannot let them fall into Yoyka hands.

If that happens, we’ll never be able to save our people. Killian sounded helpless in the dark.

Well figure something out. We still have time. Besides, your brother Tumil and many others escaped on the Solruku starship. The Qumru will continue to survive on Holtu and other planets.

Their minds only survived. Not their bodies. They had to be regenerated by the Holtu androids. Even Holtu will be invaded soon by the Yoyka warships.

Jopar was becoming frustrated. Killian has a tendency to look on the darker side of things sometimes. She called it being practical.

Still, we know Tumil survived and is on Holtu even now as well as a billion others of our people. We will survive, Killian, no matter what the Yoyka do to us on this planet.

Perhaps, but the Yoyka want our Onutu mind transfer technology and will never stop until they get it. Then I fear their race will never be defeated.

We must continue to fight them here. There is still the chance we can reverse the effects of the Yoyka nanomachines on our people with the research we are doing at this facility. And Tumil is working with others on Holtu to do the same. We are the best molecular scientists left on this planet. We will find a way!

Killian sighed in the dark. She knew Jopar was right. They had to continue to fight. What the Yoyka had done to their people and to Qum was beyond horror. To enslave an entire planet of civilized people went against everything the Qumru believed in. Someone had to stand up against them; find a way to defeat them or many other alien races in the galaxy would be lost.

Killian turned to Jopar. We do not have enough quantum computer storage banks to save everyone on Qum. If the Yoyka decide to kill us all with their nanomachines, we will lose billions of lives.

We still have the hidden storage banks below this mountain. It can hold five billion mind transfers. We can initiate the upload to save as many people as we can if the Yoyka decide to kill our people.

Killian thought about that process. It would take an order from the First Chair Leader, Cleota. She was the only Qumru leader that escaped Qum and was currently on Holtu. Killian’s brother, Tumil, was also on Holtu. They had both been Regenerated on the Qumru starship, Solruku, which escaped with a billion Qumru minds stored in quantum computers on board the starship. From what they had recently learned, the Solruku made it to a new star system called Earth, which lies 10,000 light years further out in the galaxy. There was some trouble on board the starship and they were almost captured by the Yoyka. Fortunately this solar system contained a new alien race called Humans who helped the Holtu androids save the Solruku and the Qumru minds that were being transferred to Holtu.

Killian whispered to Jopar in the light of the moon, Let’s hope we do not have to choose which of our people lives or dies, Jopar. I don’t think I could live with that.

Chapter 2

Mars Colony

US Marine Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Martin, former UN Security Director on Mars and now acting UN Deputy Secretary for Mars, sat down at the conference table situated on the top floor of the United Nations Building in Haffen City on Mars. With him in a meeting were General William Bill Bradstone, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from Earth; Marine Captain Shirley Tills, Doctor James Colbert, astrophysicist currently working with Doug; and Vice Leader Di, android military leader from Holtu investigating the Yoykan Malee warship crash site. The meeting was about to convene and was certain to go on for some time.

Coffee was served and everyone was seated at the mid-sized conference room table. Doug reflected on how many times he had previously sat at this table with former UN Deputy Secretary Haruto Nakamura who had died from the Yoyka nanomachine infection. It had been over two months since the first alien starship from Qum had made contact with the human race. So much had happened since that first visit.

Welcome to Mars, General, Doug said between sips of coffee. You know everyone here. Shall we begin?

General Bradstone nodded his head and set his coffee cup down on the table. The General was in his mid fifties with closely cropped white hair, brown eyes, pointed chin, small nose, ears and mouth. When standing he was only 5 feet 10 inches tall, but he was in strong physical shape for his age and commanded respect from all who knew him. He was an Army man and rose through the ranks quickly in several military conflicts on Earth until President Mary Woodley Anderson promoted him to CJCS a year before contact with the aliens.

Just to summarize for the others in the room, General, the reason for this meeting is to update you on the situation on Mars and prepare for our visit to Holtu with Vice Leader Di. I think you will find we have made significant progress stabilizing conditions here on Mars since the Yoyka attack. We lost thirteen hundred colonists when the Yoyka Emperor initiated a kill switch" that instructed the nanomachines to kill their human hosts. Two hundred three out of two hundred twenty colonists we saved returned to Mars. Seventeen colonists decided to remain on Earth. Over the last two months, more than five thousand people have come to Mars; two thousand are military troops.

"Captain Shirley Tills has been working with our new UN Space Marines and with UN Space Strike Force pilots training on the Zoltu space fighters stationed on Mars. They are making significant progress since the fighters can be programmed to work with human mind interfaces. It won’t take long for experienced pilots to learn how to fly and control a Zoltu fighter, General.

"Doctor James Colbert is heading our team of researchers in examining the Yoyka warship wreckage. He has been working with High Leader Altek at the crash sites, which we will take you to see for yourself after this meeting.

We have greatly expanded the Haffen City Spaceport. Military space defenses are in the process of being strengthened with the help of Vice Leader Di and his Holtu superiors. The Holtu have four warships in constant patrol near Mars under the command of High Leader Altek. The next step is to work with the Holtu to train our new Space Strike Force how to fly the Zoltu fighters we’re getting from the Holtu and learn how to use their weapon systems. We will use the Zoltu fighters to protect our solar system until we can build more of them ourselves. The Holtu have offered to help set up manufacturing plants here on Mars and Earth as soon as possible. We must begin to produce the weapons we’ll need to defeat the Yoyka when they return.

Why are the Holtu so interested in helping us fight the Yoyka? Bradstone asked Doug.

I think Vice Leader Di can answer that question better than I. Di?

Di directed his gaze upon the general. Di was wearing his dark black two-piece uniform as usual, but did not have any weapons attached. His face was expressionless with dark black eyes. Holtu androids had similar features as Qumru people in appearance and shape. Android skin was light green in color, but possessed no wrinkles or any signs of aging as normal organic Qumru skin would show over time. The Holtu android bodies were built from synthetic skin and bones that were strong, flexible and highly resistant to normal biological hazards. Holtu’s were built to last, which made them far stronger and initially feared by some Qumru people.

Di spoke. The Yoyka race is a mortal danger to all races. They have defeated numerous races in the galaxy and will continue their aggressive and warlike behavior until stopped. They have advanced weapons, hundreds of warships and millions of warriors. The Qumru people are technologically advanced, but are no longer warlike. The Holtu military forces are strong and well equipped, but limited in numbers. We would be defeated in a long war with the Yoyka without human military help. Humans are more experienced in warfare than the Qumru. We need humans to help us defeat the Yoyka before they destroy all of us.

Doug let the comments from Di sink in for a few moments before responding. Di is right, General. The Holtu and Qumru have superior technology than us, but they don’t have the type of people Earth can provide to help fight the Yoyka. Besides, if we don’t join together in this fight, the Yoyka will defeat us individually and destroy our planets just to show who is boss. We can provide millions of soldiers to fight in this war, but we have to start now.

General Bradstone looked around the table. He already knew most of this, but part of his job was to determine if potential allies measured up to the task ahead and could really provide the military assistance they would need to win the war. He knew this war would determine the fate of the entire human race. President Anderson has already agreed with First Chair Cleota to help them fight against the Yoyka aliens. We are prepared to fight with the Qumru and the Holtu if First Chair Brendu will give us the weapons and training we need. That is one of the reasons I am here. I must meet with Brendu as soon as possible.

Doug replied to Bradstone, Di has already made the arrangements to meet with Brendu, General. It will take two months to reach Holtu. We leave in two days from Earth. But first, we must show you what we have learned from the Yoyka wreckage on Mars. We will take you there to see for yourself.

Chapter 3

Yoykan Malee Wreckage

The Yoykan Malee warship debris was scattered all around Olympus Mons in the Tharsis Bulge region 750 miles west of Haffen City. Doctor James Colbert, General William Bradstone and Vice Leader Di sat behind the cockpit inside a Mars shuttlecraft. Doug was piloting the shuttle and Captain Tills was sitting in the co-pilot chair.

Doug, James and General Bradstone were dressed in UN provided military spacesuits, which were light weight, flexible and designed to withstand hazardous space vacuum conditions. The suits were camouflaged in various shades of green, tan and brown and each included a dark green helmet equipped with Heads-up Display (HUD), radio communication controls, night vision and a tough protective faceplate.

Attached to the back of each suit was a small, flat, rectangular Air Support Power Pack (ASPP) that provides up to eight hours of oxygen for breathing and the removal of carbon dioxide when exhaling. The power pack also provides battery power to heat and cool the suit. They would need the suits when exploring the wreckage on the surface of Mars.

Doug landed the shuttlecraft near a large wreckage site. We’re here, General. This is the Yoykan Malee that carried Rahta, the Imperial Leader of the Yoykan Empire. It’s the largest piece of wreckage that crashed on Mars during the space battle with the Holtu warships. Fortunately for us, this piece is still largely intact. It was the Command Center.

Doug and the others put on their helmets and Doug led them down the exit ramp to the outside. The area was well lighted and human work crews from Haffen City were busy with cutting tools all around them.

Doctor James Colbert explained over the radio comlink what was happening as they walked towards the wreckage. The workers are cutting the wreckage into smaller sections for transport to military storage buildings. We have already examined most of the wreckage, but we need to do a more thorough study in our research labs.

James led the group inside the wreckage through a doorway that was cut open and then sealed from the outside. We can remove our helmets in here. This section has been pressurized.

The group proceeded down a narrow corridor that led to the main control center. Inside were several Holtu androids sent to investigate the wreckage by High Leader Altek.

James said, The Holtu scientists have been studying the Yoyka warship for days now. From what I have gathered, they seem pretty happy with what they have found so far.

Di looked around. The Yoyka warships operate pretty much as we expected. They use hydrogen nuclear fusion powered engines. We use quantum zero-point energy (ZPE) power; what you humans call Quantum Vacuum Thrusters, QVT or Q-thrusters. Our Qumru scientists started replacing all nuclear fusion propulsion systems some time ago with QVT. Quantum energy is limitless and provides all the free energy we need to power the FTL hyperdrive system.

What about their weapon systems? General Bradstone asked.

"For offensive weapons, the Yoykan Malee had high-energy particle beams for close range targets up to two thousand of your kilometers; laser beams for targets up to ten thousand kilometers that travel at the speed of light; nuclear missiles with up to fifty megaton warheads that can travel at sublight speeds; and kinetic energy railguns (KERs) that shoot high density metal projectiles at close range up to twenty kilometers per second to penetrate and destroy major targets.

For defensive weapons the Yoyka Malee used AI controlled antimissile laser defense systems and an energy force field that could protect the dreadnaught from multiple nuclear missile strikes at one time without losing shields depending on how many megatons of explosive power was used at the time of impact. The Yoykan Malee was the Emperor’s most powerful warship we know about. It took three of our warships to destroy it.

Doug watched the androids remove some electronic components from one of the command consoles. What are they doing, James?

That’s the quantum transmission link or QTL equipment for the warship. Once we get it back to the labs, we’re going to try and figure out what quantum nanomachine codes Rahta sends over the QTL to control his subjects. If we are successful, perhaps we can prevent the Yoyka from sending anymore Kill Codes whenever they feel like wiping out another race.

This is the first opportunity we’ve had to take possession of any Yoyka technology, Di said. It may prove to be a big factor in achieving victory over the Yoyka. We are convinced Rahta intends to use his nanomachine weapon against us on Holtu as soon as he can. He may even decide to kill every Qumru person on Qum just to try and defeat us.

Doug understood the importance of what they were doing. The Qumru scientists were working hard to find a way to stop the Yoyka nanomachines’ devastating effect on people’s minds and bodies. Tumil and Janice were instrumental in finding a nano-agent that could prevent more people from becoming infected with the Yoyka nanomachines, but they had not found a way to reverse the mind-controlling effects on anyone who was already infected. Uncovering and preventing the Yoyka Kill Codes would be a victory in itself.

Do you think Rahta would really do that to billions of your people on Qum? Doug asked Di.

He would not hesitate. Especially if he thought he could lose the war. We have seen it already.

Are you referring to what he did here? Doug asked.

No. Our surveillance probes and warships sent to spy on Yoyka space territories have returned with images of other dead worlds, fully intact, but without any living intelligent species left on the planets. The Yoyka harvest all the food and raw materials for their own use and leave the planet for future colonization by the Yoyka. It will be the fate of our worlds as well as your own if we cannot defeat them.

Doctor Colbert interrupted the discussion to tell them one more thing before they left. We have found several intact Yoyka bodies on this ship. They have been removed to our labs for autopsies. Perhaps it will prove useful to see what our scientists can come up with to use against them.

General Bradstone took interest in that comment. Are you suggesting we use nanomachines of our own to infect them?

Fight fire with fire. It’s what we do best, General. Don’t you think? Captain Tills said.

Doug thought it was too horrible to contemplate. But then nuclear war used to be thought in the same manner until it happened. Nothing was beyond comprehension in today’s world.

Chapter 4

Rahta

Rahta, the Emperor of Yoykan, stared out the expansive window of his palace located in the center of Vickta, the Capital City of Yoykan. The city lay deep in a lush valley ringed by large snow covered mountains in the northern latitudes. It was a clear sunny day, but Rahta’s mood was as dark as the night side of his planet. He stood 2.5 meters tall; all muscle and strength. His stout body, round head, square face, large mouth, nose and ears made him formidable. His deep set eyes were as brown as his skin. Rahta was deep in thought planning his revenge on those who almost killed him.

Yoykan was one of twelve planets revolving around a yellow star that lay 14,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Yoykan was created 5 billion years ago and life evolved slowly from its violent, chaotic birth and heavy gravitational forces. When life forms finally emerged from the seas and land, they struggle to exist and fought for survival as most species must. Under Rahta’s rule the Yoykan people became the most competitive, advanced and warlike race in the entire Orion Arm of the galaxy.

Once the Yoykans became spacefaring, Rahta colonized all the planets and moons in his star system and began expanding outwards