The Tears of Alectrona

By Philip J. Johansen

Major Dan Sutton is commissioned to fly to the edge of the solar system. Deemed a scientific mission, the military arm of Space Fleet has their own veiled agenda. An unexpected encounter with an alien race causes international conflict on Earth and the threshold of intergalactic war.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503520530

Philip J. Johansen

Philip J. Johansen is a graduate of Penn State University. Philip has written articles that have been published in National and International Magazines. His other literary works of fiction include The Tournament, The Option, The Boardwalk Existence, and Treachery.

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Copyright © 2015 by Philip J. Johansen.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014921027

ISBN:      Hardcover    978-1-5035-2052-3

                Softcover     978-1-5035-2054-7

                 eBook         978-1-5035-2053-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 02/20/2015

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Contents

Preface

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Epilog

This book is dedicated with love to my mother.

Special Thanks to Dr. K. Anthony Hoover, Nigel Trask, and Adam Lukas for allowing me the use of their names.

PREFACE

In the late twenty-second century, Earth culture began a shift towards a new world order. The decadent metro-sexual West clashed with Islamic Theocracies and once again Europe became a battleground. The Muslim War, as it was called, united the Arab world and the Neo Byzantine Union was formed to confront the United States and its NATO allies. The Union consisted of the African Continent, and the Middle East. After 14 years of war, both sides were exhausting their resources.

A cease-fire agreement was arbitrated in Moscow. In order to restore peace, the Neo Byzantine Union demanded that the nation of Israel be disbanded and reformed as the nation of Palestine, which would be admitted to the Neo Byzantine Union. Heavy losses persuaded the western powers to finally accept the terms of the treaty, and the conquered countries of Greece, Italy, and Spain were ceded back to the West along with many Jewish refugees. Shortly after the end of the war, the Western Commonwealth was formed as one nation that was comprised of North and South America, Australia, and Europe.

In the middle of the twenty-third century, a Sino conflict erupted and China flexed its muscles, conquering roughly half of the Asian continent, including the eastern part of Russia, the former countries of India, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Pakistan, and other smaller nations. Because of the war-drained economy, the Western Commonwealth could not intervene, and the Chinese Empire was formed. It became the dominant society on Earth, controlling the world’s strongest economy and boasting the largest and most advanced military on the planet.

In the early twenty-fourth century the western half of Russia joined the Western Commonwealth. The West had developed into a hedonistic society with an if it feels good, do it attitude. Citizens of the Commonwealth maintained a higher standard of living and most of the population worked in service oriented jobs. There were no more factory jobs, and most products were imported from Russia. The Commonwealth thrived on developing and selling new technology, and was on the verge of overcoming the tremendous debt that had been accumulated when inflation peaked at thirty seven percent. Western Russia had become a bastion in producing the luxuries demanded by the Commonwealth population. It only made sense for the broken nation to join the Commonwealth. In the past, their dominance, along with the former United States in space exploration produced the very first space stations to orbit the Earth. After Western Russia joined the Commonwealth, Space Fleet was formed. The Chinese Empire feared attacks on their territories from the heavens; however the promise of peaceful exploration and a sharing of any scientific breakthroughs eased the tension, along with the assurance that members of the Empire would be allowed to participate in the program.

Consisting of three large countries, the Earth was one step closer to becoming a united world. The World Confederation was established on Earth as a peace keeping body that could intervene when problems and disputes surfaced between realms.

Well into the twenty-seventh century, Space Fleet worked hand in hand with the three realms of the Earth sharing technology and discoveries in an effort to better mankind. Despite religious and cultural differences, the agency was able to maintain its unbiased nature. This cooperation enabled Space Fleet to reach out into outer space building several orbiting space docks and small underground cities on the lighted side of the Moon. After placing the first space dock in orbit above Mars, underground bases were constructed with the help of the World Confederation to support continued development of the Red Planet.

Space Fleet was comprised of two factions. A civilian and scientist workforce from each of the three nations of the Earth handled research and development as well as the construction of space docks and space ships. The left hand of the agency was a military division separate from any of the armed forces of the Earth. Space Fleet academy was constructed to train applicants for service in the fleet. It was instituted to supply qualified pilots for the organization’s vessels, provide a sense of order and coordination of projects and was responsible for acting as a police force in the allegiance free areas of space. In time, Space Fleet worked with The World Confederation who contributed currency and personnel to aid in the construction of cities and bases for the military on the Moon and Mars.

ONE

Constructed in the John Glenn Space Dock orbiting Mars, the Specter was a one of a kind ship. She was sleek, fast, and extremely maneuverable. She was equipped with a proton beam defense cannon and an experimental deflector system. Both additions marked the first time a ship carried defensive equipment for the protection of a craft’s hull. Because he was an experienced pilot with over seven years of space flight, Major Dan Sutton had been selected to captain the vessel. Sutton was 37 years old, with a muscular frame and an amiable personality. He stood six feet tall and sported a military haircut. Sutton could not believe his good fortune. He was in a position that would place his name in the company of historical figures like Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon and Thaddeus Cerchenkov the first man to walk on the surface of Mars. Sutton was going to be the first Earthman to fly a ship beyond the solar system.

The Specter was outfitted with a nuclear pulse engine; however the distance the ship had to cover required that both he and Captain Sean Gallagher would need to be placed in cryogenic stasis to reduce the need for food and other supplies. Gallagher had a slim build with a sandy complexion and wavy red hair. Dr. Karl Hoover’s theory of Ion propulsion was on the drawing board, but the agency needed a successful mission if it hoped to obtain the funds necessary to keep that program active. The mission called for Sutton to remain conscious for the first part of the mission in order to navigate the asteroid belt. After placing the ship on the correct trajectory, he would enter his stasis tube where he would remain frozen until the ship approached Neptune. The Specter’s computer system was designed to monitor its flight as well as the controls that would regenerate the two astronauts when it reached the designated coordinates.

Both men had received extensive training for sixteen months prior to the mission. Both he and Gallagher had been put to sleep in the cryogenic tubes ten times to check for any side effects that might result from the freezing technique that would slow their body’s metabolism. Once the doctor’s had OK’d the men, the mission was given a green light. Sutton rather enjoyed the procedure; he always felt that it invigorated his system, providing him with more energy and alertness. On the other hand, Gallagher disliked being treated like a Popsicle. Although he put on a brave front, each time he entered the tube, he did so with apprehension. To avoid any setback the two men were confined to the base one week before the ships departure. Sutton was a career officer with no attachments; his love in life was piloting vessels through the cosmos. Gallagher spent an hour of each evening talking with his wife on Earth via two way visual satellite transmissions. Married for just two years, his career was always interrupting their lives. He wanted to have children, but something always came up to delay his starting a family. The men were going to be gone for over four years and even though he loved her dearly, the lure of space exploration superseded the demands of his relationship with her.

On the morning of the flight’s departure, the astronauts were prepped and lead to their ship. Once on board, the attendants positioned Gallagher into the stasis tube and activated the freezing devise before exiting the craft. Sutton took his place at the console and made a last minute check of the ship’s systems. Given a go, Sutton fired up the engine and the Specter glided away from the space dock towards the asteroid belt. Sutton had trained on a simulator for months learning how to operate the proton cannon. He hoped that his skill as a pilot would negate blasting any rocky orbiting bodies, but when the time came he planned to activate the cannon’s video scope and keep his finger near the trigger. Mounted on the top of the craft’s hull, the cannon could be rotated 360 degrees, in addition to a 90 degree vertical movement. It was equipped with full color illumination and had 4X magnification to aid in targeting any obstacles. The computer system could detect objects that interfered with the ship’s flight path and a warning light would flash if anything came within two thousand meters of the ship. This would give Sutton time to distinguish if the body posed a threat. Sutton was relying on his skill as a pilot to prevent more than one body entering the danger area at the same time. As the ship approached the asteroid belt, Sutton turned on the deflector system. The force shield was capable of deflecting smaller debris that might cause damage to the hull.

Mission control barked a greeting and wished Sutton luck on the journey. He acknowledged the transmission and steered the vessel towards a relatively vacant sector of the belt and slowed the ship to one eighth impulse acceleration. He veered left, right, and down to avoid bigger chunks of rock and was amazed at how much actually being in the asteroid belt resembled the conception the simulator afforded. All of a sudden the warning light flashed waking him from his daydream. A huge rock was heading towards the starboard side of the ship. He swerved the ship port side and dove under the massive hunk of rock, but he hadn’t counted on facing the boulder that lay straight ahead of him. Using the guidance control of the cannon he swiveled the unit up twenty four degrees and squeezed the trigger. A white beam jutted from the weapon and decimated the asteroid into small fragments. The deflector system repulsed the tiny particles that remained and Sutton returned the ship to its previous course. The near miss seemed to shake his confidence a little, but he composed himself and settled his nerves. As a precautionary measure he reduced his speed to one sixteenth impulse to allow himself more time to react in a similar situation. Sutton kept his eyes glued to the panel and successfully avoided two other stone bodies. The warning light flashed again and he looked at the scope to see the unthinkable. Three massive bodies traveling in a triangular formation were headed for the Specter. It was impossible to avoid all three, so he positioned the cannon and blasted the lead rock. At the same time he steered the craft port side and climbed while executing a pirouette to turn and fire on the second boulder. Remarkably lucky, he veered under the third asteroid and guided the vessel back into safer space. Beads of sweat had formed on his forehead and he wiped them with his sleeve, never taking his eyes from the video scope. The warning light flashed again and Sutton saw a rock the size of an automobile headed for the port side. He thought about blasting it, but decided to gun the engine to one eighth impulse power while steering starboard. A shudder passed through the ship as the rock nipped the hull. Sutton assumed that the rock had been slowed by the deflector shield; because the