The Weapon by K Constantine

Author:K Constantine [Constantine, K]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

The Resolute entered the yellow zone on schedule, at 1400 ship’s time and two days out from drop off at the red zone.

Rutledge told the Star Fighters that they were en route to the Baton’s last known coordinates, where they would either make contact with the other naval vessel or locate a stealth message buoy that the Baton’s captain would have left behind for them to find.

Such message buoys were used by the Navy to leave behind messages when live transmissions were impossible, and secrecy was of the essence.

They were often used to warn friendly vessels of local dangers, whether criminals, weapons or environmental conditions. Sometimes, such buoys were the last messages sent by ships that were subsequently lost or destroyed, and helped investigators determine what happened to ships and crews.

The Baton’s last known coordinates placed it in orbit around a dessert planet called The Forge. As far as natural beauty, the planet was not very appealing to humans, although when a population reaches a hundred billion, statistics guaranteed that there would be a subset of humans who found planets like The Forge to be slices of paradise.

Free liquid water was a rare occurrence over much of The Forge’s surface. There were pockets of water scattered around the planet, including a sizable sea and several significant rivers. However, the planet lacked significant rain fall, amounting to a few inches per year. Across most of the surface, water evaporated from the ground faster than it could be replaced by precipitation, hence The Forge’s desserts were long term features that persisted for tens of thousands of years.

A typical day was extremely hot by human standards, hovering around one hundred twenty degrees Fahrenheit, while nights became very cold, with temperatures dropping to near freezing temperatures.

Despite this, some plants, animals and other smaller organisms managed to make the dessert planet their home, evolving to survive the harsh conditions. The most common flora were the spindle cacti, which slowly absorbed water from the ground and atmosphere and stored it in their capillary systems, allowing them to survive the long drought periods. Fauna typically came out at night to forage for food and had evolved the ability to maximize the extraction of water from the food they ate, and to conserve it for vital functions. The desert mouse was the most common mammal on the planet, although several species of dessert birds, reptiles and insects were also common.

Philips looked up from the data screen that provided statistics regarding The Forge.

“Interesting planet,” he said, as he looked over towards Leah. She was still focused on the data screen, absorbed by the various numbers and factoids scrolling past her eyes.

“Can’t imagine anyone coming here voluntarily,” said Philips. “Who’d actually want to live on a dessert planet?”

“Oh, trust me lad,” said Wheeler. “I’ve known plenty of former Marines who loved these environments. Something about you against nature. For some people, surviving in extreme places like this proves to them that they are alive.”

Philips shrugged. “They can take their pulse to do that,” he quipped.

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