\documentclass[12pt]{book} \title{{\Huge\sc$\overline{\rm The\, Space\, Wars}$}\\ .\\ \LARGE\bf\sf \underline{Destiny of the Droids}} \author{William A. Stein} \newcommand{\threestars}{ \begin{center} * * * \end{center} } \newcommand{\comment}[1]{} \begin{document} \maketitle \tableofcontents \chapter*{Preface} I wrote the original version of this book when I was ten years old. I am presently rewriting and expanding on the original version. If you like this book, let me know ({\tt was@math.harvard.edu}). If not, stop reading, and don't bother with criticism; I'm writing this because it makes me feel good, in much the same way that, e.g., going on a brisk walk does. I'm not seeking criticism at this point, because I'm not interested in becoming a professional fiction author, as I already have a professional career that I love. {\em A note on intellectual property:} The author, William A.\ Stein, of this work gives anyone the right to read and distribute this book in any form they choose so long as the writing is attributed to William Stein and this preface remains attached. In particular, no monetary compensation is requested. Moreover, anyone can take the text and extend it, if for some weird reason they want to, again under the condition that this preface remain attached. However, the extended text must also be made freely available to everyone. \chapter{Droid Armies} Crisp cold air sweeps across a gray sky. A sturdy black building sits in the middle of a huge red and rocky area on a freezing barren planet. Numerous other identical menacing buildings are stationed across this dreadful landscape. Each contains something that only the recently appointed president, Columbo, and a few of his trusted advisers knows about. \threestars Bill Stein recently celebrated his 25th birthday. He is about five feet ten inches tall, has black hair, and a medium build. At the moment, he is standing on a barren planet, near a dark precipice. He thinks, then looks at his watch, which, for a very brief moment, reads ``2185, August 16, 1:25, 16 and 28/1000000 seconds.'' Upon seeing the time, he pulls a gadget from his pocket and speaks into it. ``This is Captain Bill Stein on Sector 4. Bring me back from this scout mission. It's getting cold out here.'' In fact, the cold can't touch him in his heated space suit. Far away, floating in space, the beaming office replies: ``OK. I'll beam you aboard the ship.'' The beaming officer was quite unusual and harbored a deeply veiled past. In less than a second, Bill materializes aboard the ship. He removes his protective suit, exits the beaming room, and enters a hallway where he is met by a 6 foot 2 inch tall man with fluffy brown hair and sharp features. Together they step into an elevating room and are pulled through an antigravity tube. As their journey ends and the tube opens, Thom steps onto the bridge. Thom is Bill's best friend, and like Bill he is 25 years old. He stands just over six feet tall in front of his monitoring and communications array and in a few moments yells ``Bill, look at the scanning display!'' ``What exactly do you see?'' Bill inquires. ``A blip,'' Thom excitedly answers. This is Thom's 6th mission. ``There's something out there and I want to know what it is and where it is going. What is its present course?'' Bill asks carefully. ``It's on a direct course to intercept us. I may be able to bring up a visual of the blip using our ship's telescopes'', Thom suggests. ``Try,'' Bill agrees. Several barely-visible specs appear in the middle of a large black viewscreen. They wiggle a little, indicating rapid movement. ``Thom, try to zoom in further and enhance.'' The view on the screen barely changes, as Thom studies his instruments. ``Bill, those are sophisticated space ships, and they do not look friendly. Their weapons are fully charged.'' Thom fixes a concerned eye on Bill, ``I suggest we arm our lasers as a safety precaution.'' The mood on the bridge becomes tense. Officers to the left and right of Bill try to appear to relax as they study their consoles while nervously glancing at the viewscreen. ``I agree.'' Bill pauses, then turns to an officer nearer the view screen and adds, ``Dennis, arm our weapons array.'' Dennis is 24 years old and 5 feet 9 inches tall. If anyone really knows Bill, it is Dennis. Though Bill is captain of the ship, and Dennis is devastating in combat situations, without Dennis's financial wizardry, the ship would never have been allowed just the right crew. ``Laser's armed'', Dennis replies as his hands dance in the air amongst a forbiddingly colored hologram that hovers in front of his chair. A flash of light appears on the viewscreen. A single thought leaves each officer's mind as rapidly as it arrives: Will I be incinerated in a moment? The bridge shakes enough to knock Bill and Thom to their knees as a bolt of energy cuts into the ship's launch pad! ``Fire lasers!'' Bill yells. The air vibrates slightly as Dennis releases laser cannon fire at ten approaching ships. The viewscreen shows three fighter ships explode, as the shields on the other seven re-modulate in order to deflect Bill's lasers. ``I suggest I try to establish communication with them'', suggests Thom. ``Go ahead and try'', approves Bill. Thom tries, but has no luck. The enemy ignores all hails. Frustrated and worried as the remaining seven ships speed closer, Bill orders ``Ready the ship to jump to light speed.'' ``All right'' responds the lead cruise controller, a clever blonde haired young man named Chris, who sits to Bill's left. The controller and three nearby officers move their hands carefully above a smooth panel admists rotating holographic images. The ship hums and vibrates as the hyperdrive engines are activated. Just as the ship begins to jump to light speed, enemy laser fire storms all around damaging the hyperdrive. ``Captain, we're not going to be able to jump to light speed for a while. I will try to assess the damage caused by those last blasts.'' ``How long do you think it will take?'' Bill demands. ``It will probably take a few hours,'' replies the cruise controller slowly, keenly aware that he might not live more than a few more minutes. ``We'll just have to fight them off'' shouts Bill; ``keep firing lasers Dennis, Thom, and Chris!'' He mentions manuever ``alpha bravo'' to the cruise controller. As the battle rages on, it rapidly becomes clear that Dennis is the best shooter. A total of six enemy ships fall by his hand. After a while, it seems that all of the enemy ships are gone, as the ship speeds seemingly unpursued across the deeply empty reaches of space. Bill congrulates his crew: ``Great shooting Dennis!'' ``Excellent work repairing our light-speed hyperdrive, Chris.'' Then Bill thinks fleetingly about his wife Tasha, who was many light years away, who he has not seen in several months. A few tense hours pass, in which the crew carefully monitors for attack craft, and does their best to hide the weakened ship behind floating debri. Finally, Chris announces ``The hyperdrive should now be fully operational.'' ``Great!'' replies Bill, and then adds solemly, ``Let's go home.'' ``Just give the order, Bill'', Chris says excitedly. ``It's given.'' As the ship enters an open expanse of space, it hums and vibrates, and the hyperdrive safely jumps the ship to near light speed. For a moment every living thing on the ship is mildly disoriented, and the next moment the only change is that the view out the window is bizarrely distorted. Several hours pass, and then Chris slows the ship down, as most of the crew's home world appears, as a dot, on the viewscreen. ``It is fabulous to see Earth again,'' comments Thom, ``When we were attacked we fought well; I don't think we can easily be captured.'' The ship rapidly approaches Earth, shooting through space at sublight speeds that defy comprehension. As the planet grows to encompass most of the viewscreen, Bill thinks for a moment about his parents below, and wishes that his wife Tasha were also below instead of off on a research mission at Dinesta. As the ship breaks through the automosphere and glides towards Earth, a landing area appears, imprisoned on three sides by water. Thom notices that the fourth side is populated with an organized large number of people and asks, ``What is going on down there?'' ``I don't have the slightest idea'', Bill answers. ``Chris, slow our landing. Thom, run a scan on the people who appeared armed with laser cannons.'' Moments later, Thom yells in surprise: ``Those 'guys' are droids!'' ``They must be somehow connected with the droids that I discovered in the sheds on that planet's surface,'' realizes Bill. The ship jerks, knocking Bill and Thom temporarily off balance. ``What just caught us?'' asks Dennis. ``Some kind of tractor beam'', responds Thom. Before Bill can say ``ready lasers'', the ship is locked onto the landing pad, and the weapons array is covered by special mirrors, that are usually placed there to prevent accidents, but in this case make the ships weapons all but useless. ``Let's try to break free'', Bill cries. Chris tries, but the ship is held fast. ``Let's try to shoot the droids'', suggests Dennis. ``No -- with the safety deflectors over our lasers, we'll only harm ourselves,'' warns Bill. Red lights flash as the ships goes into battle alert. Droids break through an entrance and begin boarding the huge ship. Some are ripped apart by laser fire from crew members, but soon the droids produce shields which effectively protect them. Feeling betrayed by the security of their home world, eventually, Bill, Thom, Dennis, and Chris all find themselves being forceably escorted off their ship. The rest of the crew is detained onboard by ever patient and watchful droids. ``Why are you here?'' inquires Bill as he and the others are moved very quickly away from the ship in a carefully sealed rectangular black vehicle. The droids take no notice. The vehicle connects solidly with a featureless grey building, and unloads its human cargo. The human-looking expressionless droids lock our space travelers up in a medium size featureless cell. The cell walls are smooth and grey, there is a bench against a wall, and a small glowing force-field door, through which nothing can be seen. ``Thom, just moments ago you said you didn't think we could be beaten or even captured'', says Dennis in frustration. Thom stoically replies, ``we are not dead yet.'' ``We are in a big mess,'' Chris notes. ``We have to escape and get help from one of the allied planets.'' ``We had better do so,'' agrees Bill, as a droid approached the force-field door of their cell. ``Be silent'', says the guard in a monotone voice from behind the door. The sound of the guard's footsteps suggest that he walks several yards directly away from the door. ``I have a great idea!'' announces Bill very quitely. ``What is it?'' whispers Tom. ``Well, we could probably make it past several of the guards...'', he lowers his voice even more, ``if we could re-program one of the other droids. We'll make a lot of noise to draw the guard's attention. It will come in here to shut us up, and then Dennis will take him out. Dennis, I trust you were able to smuggle off of our ship something that could be used as a weapon?'' ``Of course.'' Dennis confirms, with a twinkle in his eye as he taps an almost imperceptible bulge in the corner of his pantleg. At Bill's signal, Chris, Thom, and Dennis begin talking, then yelling loudly, and even appear to be fighting each other at one point. The guard droid, who had warned them before, appears stoically at the door and says ``Be silent.'' A torrent of loud curses echo back from the small prison. The guard, devoid of fear, follows its programming; it shuts down the force door. It enters the room, then the force door is re-activated by another guard. Dennis springs from behind at the guard, brandishing nothing but a thin diamond wrench, and makes a quick incision from behind. The guard stops in midstep and falls to the ground. Everyone is silent; they must work quickly. Thom whispers, ``Assuming Dennis hasn't damaged this droid too much, I'll try to re-program it so that it will attack the other droids when they least expect it. It's too bad we don't have more time to study these droids, so we could perhaps learn their purpose.'' Because the droid looks so human, it is disconcerting to see Thom open various panels and beginning hacking through, then reprogramming the mind of the droid, using a holographic interface that he is able to produce. ``Hurry up'' Bill whispers in a concerned voice, ``I hear footsteps. The other droids will soon become suspicious.'' The force door opens, revealing two droids, just as Thom's droid stands tall and announces in a convincing monotone, spoken in the droid's own encrypted language, that the prisoners are under control, because he has just administered a sedative to each of them. Thom feigns to look tired, and Bill, Dennis, and Chris follow suit. As the droids turn and begin to leave, Thom's guard droid fires poinpoint red lasers from each thumb, which land squarely in the backs of each of the other two droids. They stop moving, then fall to the ground. ``Amazing work'' congrulates Bill. The four jump through the force door and into a hallway of Building 7, a building they all got to know well during their early years of training. ``We're near what used to be a weapons storage room; let's check to see if it still is.'' Bill leads the way, followed by Chris, Dennis, and Thom and his droid. They quickly find the storage room, while appearing to avoid detection. The storage room is locked by a black force shield. Because he is on the outside of the force shield, Thom has little difficulty breaking through it using a ``backdoor'' that he installed while in training here a few years ago. The force shield dissipates, revealing stocks of weapons lined up against the walls and a suspicious and heavily armed droid in the center of the room, who immediately begins to fire as our four fighters jump away from the door. Last blasts darken and rip apart the side of the hallway opposite the door. ``Surrender or die'' the attacking droid threatens as he emerges from the weapons room. Just as our fighters are about to run, Thom's droid makes short order of the attacker with a quick small red laser blast from his right thumb. Moments later, our fighters are armed to the teeth. They charge down a corridor, with hopes of amassing enough power to retake their ship and escape. ``Watch out behind you, Bill! Duck and fire!'' screams Thom. A laser blast barely misses Bill, resulting in a mild burn on his arm, as he fires back hitting nothing. Shots from Thom hit the attacking droid, causing it to explode. Eventually, a systematics search leads the crew to the droid's command and control center, which is located in a small tower mounted on the top of Building 7. With some difficulty, they manage to take the tower. Though Thom doesn't understand the encrypted wireless protocol used by the droids to communicate, he can send messages using it via his loyal droid, who has managed to escape harm so far. Thom sends out a message using the droid's encrypted wireless frequency telling all droids that they ``must go to landing strip 14 immediately!'' Even his own droid finds itself compelled to obey. As Thom, Dennis, Chris, and Bill reboard their ship, they find their crew mostly unharmed and in the process of mounting a rescue effort, and have successfully disabled the ship landing constraints. When they reach the bridge, Chris says, ``The controls appear to be intact. I think I can get us out of here. Just give the order, Bill.'' ``It's given,'' says Bill, and the ship shoots quickly into the sky, as their view of the base disappears behind clouds, and the whole planet appears to them as little more than a dot. As some droid-controlled ships begin to fire on them, they engage their hyperdrive and are gone. ``That was very close,'' comments Thom. ``Let's drop out of hyperwarp, then approach the nearest allied planet and explain to them what has happened to Earth.'' ``That's just what I had in mind,'' agrees Bill. Chris slows the ship down, as Thom determines their exact location in the astromap database. After a few tense minutes, Thom announces ``The closest planet is Drizzt. Unfortunately Bill, my scans suggest that Drizzt is crawling with droids, just like Earth was.'' Just then a squadron of small agile attack ships is detected by their sensors. The approaching ships are barely visible by the light of Drizzt's sun. They are mostly black with sharp streaks of silver running from their front to back. Each ship carries several huge red laser canons mounted on top and bottom. These ships have one purpose, to destroy. Dennis yells, ``They're firing at us!! Fortunately our shields are fully charged, and have held so far.'' ``Return fire!'' Bill commands. Two attacking ships explode moments after Dennis targets the attack ships and causes his weapons to release a few blasts. ``What happened to the lights? Ouch!'' yells members of the crew. The remaining attack ships had simultaneously released a huge torrent of lasers and struck a direct hit on the ship's primary power reactor. Thom says in frustration, ``Our weapons likely won't be operational for the next hour.'' ``No! I won't give up so easily,'' responds Bill, ``Dennis, switch to secondary power. Are any of our weapons now at least partially operational?'' ``We still have two of our laser cannons'', replies Dennis, as he prepares to fire one of them. ``Bill, you may want to fire the other cannon.'' A small explosion rocks the ship. ``Damn!'', yells Dennis, ``I had an enemy ship targeted and just as I fired my cannon failed!'' ``Use mine'', Bill replies. The lights re-appear, but are dim. ``Thom and Chris, how close are we to having enough power to engage our hyperdrive?'' ``Probably a few more minutes'', responds Chris as he puzzles over a holographic image that floats before him. As three enemy ships close in for a final assault, the ship activates its hyperdrive, and, as far as the three ships are concerned, is gone. The droids who control the remaining attack ships fly back to planet Drizzt. \chapter{Sundance Galaxy} Now that we survived the fast-paced present-tense first chapter, the author has elected to switch to the past tense. After the crew got some rest on board, and attended to their wounds, they partially repaired the ship. They then slowed from hyperspeed as they entered the Sundance galaxy. Several of the ship's top officers gathered together in the strategy room, a cool expansive high-ceiling room constructed in the ancient European style, with genuine stone floors and walls, and detailed woodwork decorating the walls. The holographic computer terminals, which looked out of place mounted on the walls, gave off a noticeable glow in the dim light. When Dennis, Thom, Chris, and a few other officers had arrived, Bill spoke up: ``We have lost all contact with the people or military forces of Earth. We don't know what happened to our people, if they are alive, or if they are being held captive. The worlds neighboring Earth appear to have met a similar fate. One thing is for certain---we must retake the Earth!'' ``We could try to convince some of the powers based at the planets in Sundance to help us,'' Dennis suggested. ``It would be in their interest, because their worlds might be attacked by the droids next.'' Thom added, ``I made some preliminary scans, which suggest that perhaps the droids have not yet infiltrated Sundance.'' ``Repairs on our ship are proceeding well,'' noted Chris. Bill turned to the chief engineer, a short and clever man, and said ``Good work on the repairs, Nathaniel.'' He paused, then said ``Dennis, Thom, and Chris, meet me on the bridge.'' The meeting ended. ``Thom, have you been able to establish communications with any of the leaders of nearby planets?'' inquired Bill. Thom responded affirmatively: ``Davitt, leader of an influential nearby planet named Orbis, has agreed to speak with us in one hour. In the past, Orbisians have been sympathetic to human problems; moreover, they have a historic distaste for droids.'' The hour passed uneventfully as repairs on the ship continued, and the crew did its best to review the place of Planet Orbis in recent Sundance Galaxy history. Finally, Davitt appeared on the viewscreen. The ship and Davitt communicated via a high-bandwidth encrypted link, which kept Davitt's location quite vague. What they saw on the screen did not look anything like a human. Daviss was quite a bit larger than a human, and wore a black and mirrored suit that allowed him to hover gently above the rough floor. His head hid behind a helmet that betrayed nothing of his facial expression while keeping him extremely comfortable in almost any atmosphere. Davitt began, his words automatically being translated to Earthlish, ``My secretary has informed me that an army of droids have attacked Earth. This is consistent with reports we've received from our intelligence officers.'' ``Orbis could be next,'' responded Bill, very much to the point. ``A droid army once attacked us, and almost managed to imprison and slaughter much of our population. Fortunately, most of the planets of Sundance were united, and we were strong enough to repulse them. They must have retreated towards the Milky Way. At the time, we were not strong enough to follow them and destroy them completely.'' He paused for a moment, ``I have to wear this suit at all times because I was greviously injured when a spy droid attempted to assassinate me. These machines are terrible; they're a virus.'' This recent-history lesson from Davitt served to chill Bill's crew, as their thoughts turned once again towards their families and questionable futures. ``I will send forces to rendevous with you,'' said Davitt to Bill, then he terminated the communication. Davitt, the absolute leader of Orbis, contacted his favorite and most trusted general, ``Jerrisons, the time has come for us to launch a counterstrike against the droid armies. I have strong evidence that the droids have taken Earth; if so, they once again pose a supreme threat to us. We must strike now. Lead several rapid-action squadrons of our best fighters and rendevous with the Earth ship that you've no doubt detected by now.'' After a few hours of preparation, four elite squadrons take flight, breaking through Orbis's gravitational pull, and begin flying towards the Earth ship. Half way into their journey, and without warning, the two lead ships are attacked!! ``Watch out fighter K713, there is an unidentified fighter approaching you from behind!'', warns Masas, one of the fighter pilots, ``I don't detect any life signs on board, so maybe it's a droid scout ship. Permission to destroy it?'' ``Granted'', replies the occupant of K713, as he opens fire. Div-div-div-div-div-boooom!!! yell the lasers of K713, as the attacking ship is fragmented into millions of pieces. ``Watch out Masas!'' yells the occupant of K713. But he is too late. Masas's ship is ripped apart under the assault of scorching merciless laser blasts, which issue from a second droid scout ship. The second ship then fires on K713, which spins and jerks as a laser blast glances off one of its stabilizer arrays. ``I've been hit,'' shouts the occupant of K713, as he sends out a distress signal. The droid closes in for termination. $$*\hspace{1in}*\hspace{1in}*$$ Back on the ship, Bill was concerned. ``I wonder why it is taking Davitt's forces so long to reach us?'' ``I just detected a distress signal!'' replied Thom, ``It appears to be coming from one of Davitt's ships.'' ``There's been recent laser fire,'' chimes in Dennis, ``it looks like one of two point fighters have been destroyed, and the other, K713, is disabled. I recommend we beam the pilot of K713 out immediately.'' ``Do it!'', shouted Bill; the ordered propogated to the mysterious beaming officer, and, as a droid laser blast ripped apart K713, the pilot materialized in the beaming room, pleasantly surprised to be alive. ``Dennis, try to destroy the droid fighter, before it attacks any more of Davitt's forces,'' commanded Bill. ``Yes, sir.'' Dennis launched an expensive unmanned craft, which, within ten minutes, efficiently sought and destroyed the loan droid scout in a kamakaze attack that resulted in its own destruction. Within 20 minutes, Davitt's four squadrons came into view, illuminated by the distant warm glow of Sundance's trio of suns. The huge recently-saved occupant of K713 stepped slowly onto the bridge. ``I am Jerrisons. I owe you my life.'' ``It is honor to meet you,'' shouted Bill. Jerrisons's imposing stature and thick black battle armor made it difficult to avoid speaking loudly to him. ``Let's discuss our plans to regain Earth.'' The two stepped off the bridge, followed by Thom and Dennis, and began to discuss the possibility of using the ship's hyperfield to transfer the Orbis fighter squadrons near Earth. The Orbis military had not successfully deployed hyperdrives, because they chose to keep focused on their home world and neighboring planets, instead of scattering their attention throughout the Universe. Thus they were able to temporarily stem off the droid invaders but were not able to arrest their retreat. Earth, on the other hand, had the exact opposite focus, and had quickly fallen to the droids, as ship's such as Bill's would sadly discover as they returned home from fantastic voyages and were imprisoned by the droids. $$*\hspace{1in}*\hspace{1in}*$$ ``Position your fighters at the following coordinates ...'' commanded Colum, the supreme droid master whose thin stature towered over 9 feet high. He was the creator of the droid armies. He looked somewhat human, despite his height, and that his smooth hard skin was perfectly black. ``Yes master,'' answered the droid in an encrypted transmission that is best described as an obedient monotone by those who frequently listen to such transmissions. Colum, who was born several hundred years ago in a distant ancient world, wanted to be present at this supreme moment of victory. Finally, Earth and any planet near enough to matter, would be completely under the control of the self-replicating droid army that he had built over a hundred years ago to help him liberate a new place for his people. All that remained was to take care of the last of Earth's remaining annoying Space Voyagers, the Stein Ship. Being here was one of the greatest risks Colum had ever taken, but he needed to be certain of success. Every so often a stroke of cosmicly bad luck visits a very powerful being. It would soon visit Colum. Colum knew that Bill's ship must pass near here in order to return to Earth, because this was the only safe stargate into the Milky Way. (Bill's ship could activate its hyperdrive anywhere, but had to exit at a stargate.) Colum knew that Bill must come soon, as he had received a signal from two of his droid scouts ship. I will finally have them, Colum thought to himself as he rubbed his perfectly black four-fingered hands together. Bus, Colum's officer and friend for hundreds of years, sent a signal: ``Colum, there's an asteroid storm heading straight for you!!!!'' ``What??'' Colum's ship was impacted repeatedly by a flurry of huge and pebble-sized ancient rocks which, billions of years ago, had started on just the trajectory that would eventually lead to a surprise attack on Colum's ship. Colum's ship was ripped apart as Colum let loose a last angry scream of supreme anger and frustration. Bus was unharmed, and realized this was his chance to take command of the droid armies, which is something he had longed to do for many many years. Bus brought his eight finger tips together and smiled. ``What amazing luck.'' There was just this small matter of the renegade human ship to take care of. Bus opened a communication channel to the nearby droids, who had stopped forming their trap when Colum's ship was destroyed: ``Colum was terminated by an asteroid storm. Droid tactical squads, resume moving into ambush formation.'' ``Yes, yes, yes, ...'', responded the countless droid fighters, in a lifeless monotone. Bus extended his communication to all droids; his messages would quickly propogate throughout the galaxy: ``Droids, in the last moment before Colum terminated, he made me supreme leader of the droid armies.'' The droids believed him, though what he said was a big fat lusty lie. \threestars ``We should exit the stargate very soon'', announced Chris, ``the hyperdrive is functioning perfectly, and we can already begin to see outside of the stargate.'' Bill turned to Thom, ``Jerrisons has told me some of what he knows about how the droid army operates. Using only a skeletal force, they enter a galaxy and conquer a distant sparsely populated planet or moon, then spend a few years creating a droid army manufacturing facility that turns the raw resources of their base into droid fighters. They then have a constant supply of reinforcements. The Orbisians were lucky to detect this operation in Sundance Galaxy and head it off before it was too late.'' Thom responed, ``We however, did not. The droids must have established such a base somewhere in our galaxy. I'll immediately set a crew to search for where the droids have hidden their operations base. Perhaps they have become lazy in hiding it, because they seem to have all but taken complete control of our galaxy.'' As the star gate drew closer, Bill said, ``Jerrisons, make sure your squadrons are ready for battle. It's likely that we will encounter hostiles near the stargate. All fighter squadron, red alert!'' On the viewscreen Bill could see a huge field of slowly-moving asteroids on the other side of the stargate, along with a mysterious shiny silver planet called Josh. Though many scout ships and probes had landed on the planet, it was believed that none had ever returned nor even sent back data. The ship shook and vibrated firmly as Chris gently guided it out of hyperspeed and through the stargate. Bill's forces entered the Milky Way. Bus sent an encrypted signal to his forces, ``Droids, wait until the humans are half way through the asteroid belt before attacking. They will fall into our red hot hands!'' ``We are ready,'' the droids replied obediently. \chapter{Tai Stargate} ``Thom, what have you found?'' asked Bill, ``Have our scans picked up any droid ships?'' ``Oh yes,'' responded Thom in a deep voice. ``They're everywhere, though I can't get a visual on any of them. They are hiding in the asteroid field.'' Bill replied, ``So, they mean to ambush us. I wonder if they expected us to return with several squadrons of rapid-action Orbis fighters?'' From the bridge of Bill's ship, Jerrisons was in constant communication with his squadrons, who had by now separated from the ship and were carefully flying in tight formation very nearby. Dennis had errected a powerful force shield near the ship, which protected both it and Jerrisons's fighters, but which would reflect any weapons Dennis fired back. They were relatively safe from laser fire as long as the shield held out; unfortunately, the effect on their weapons was like the effect of lodging a piece of lead in the chamber of a gun. Bill tried to break the tension as he inquired, ``Thom, now that we are a back in the Milky Way, has your team had any luck searching for a droid manufacturing station.'' ``Let me check.'' There was a pause. ``Maybe'', responded Thom, ``there's a planet called Roxy near the Tai Stargate. My team's searches of Galaxynet suggests Roxy is the most likely home of a droid manufacture point. I think Chris will agree that we could re-enter the stargate and make a jump to Tai.'' ``Let's wait,'' responded Bill. ``Dennis, raise shields around both us and Jerrisons's forces. Thom, any sign of the exact location of our 'welcome party'?'' Bus sent the signal: ``Attack!!'' Laser bolts exploded from several directions. ``Our shields are holding,'' reported Dennis. ``I could hyperwarp us towards Tai Stargate in only a few minutes,'' added Chris. ``Droid ship 6K7, kamakazi into the Stein Ship,'' commanded Bus, as he began to test his enemy's defenses. ``Yes,'' replied the droid occupant of 6K7 obediently as his ship dived towards Bill's ship. Bus suspected correctly that Bill's ship's shields would deflect energy bolts, but not a fighter ship. Expendible pilots and a self-generating army provided a formidible advantage against even the most cunning foe. One of Jerrisons's fighters, the 7th Falcon, broke from formation, and shot out from the shield, intercepted 6K7, and destroyed it, then took heavy fire as he retreated. The integrity of 7th Falcon began to fail, as it re-entered Bill's shields. The pilot ejected, then was beamed aboard Bill's ship, just before the 7th Falcon imploded. ``Bill, I think the droid leader's is part of this ambush,'' shouted Thom. ``And, I bet I've located it. What a brilliant stroke of luck. '' Bill responded, ``Or a brilliant trap? I think not. Chris maneuver our ship towards the coordinates Thom gives you. Dennis, prepare to lower the shields and launch our photon disintegrators.'' The mood on the ship was tense. Combat always made Bill uneasy. His crew's primary mission was exploration, not combat. They would much rather understand the universe than save it. ``Fire!'' yelled Bill, as Dennis unleashed a torrent of photon disintegrators at a nearby asteroid. As the asteroid turned to dust, Bill's crew saw a terrifying black and flourescent orange ship appear before them. It dwarfed Jerrisons's rapid fighter ships, but was in turn dwarfed by the Stein Ship. Then it vanished, as the Stein Ship raised its shields. Dennis summarized the situation, ``Bill, that ship's activated some sort of alien cloaking device. Even if we lower our shields, I probably won't be able to lock any of our weapons onto it. If Jerrisons's fighters start shooting wildly for it, they'll be picked off by the other droids.'' Dennis stood up from his chair to say something, but then changed his mind. ``Dennis, what is it?'' inquired Thom, concerned. ``Oh, nothing,'' answered Dennis, as if he had just awoken from a deep sleep. Dennis escaped Thom's scrutiny as he began manipulating the rainbow of holograms that danced before him. Chris interrupted, ``Several droid ships are launching kamikazi attacks on us.'' ``Jerrison, reattach your fighters to our ship. Chris, get us out of here! Let's go to Tai Stargate as soon as possible.'' The droid ships caused some damage as Chris piloted the ship towards the stargate. Two of Jerrisons's fighters and their pilots were destroyed defending the strategic retreat. ``I'm ready to activate hyperdrive, Bill,'' said Chris, ``just give that sweet order.'' ``It's has just been given,'' said Bill as the ship jerked then fled through the stargate. Bus's ship frustratedly decloaked. ``That was good thinking,'' praised one of the best-constructed droids. This droid believed it also could think. ``It was not good enough, I'm afraid,'' responded Bus in what might be interpreted as a deep alien voice. ``I should have never considered your suggestions during the battle. Perhaps droids can't be programmed to really {\em want} victory.'' ``What is the problem?'' inquired the droid. ``These remaining humans are probably going to destroy our droid manufacturing sheds. If you would have monitored their Galaxynet traffic you wouldn't have to ask. I only hope we can stop them. It is a shame that Columbo's ship, which was destroyed, was equipped with hyperdrive technology, but ours is not.'' \threestars Chris broke the silence on board the bridge, ``We will arrive at Tai Stargate very soon.'' The ship slowed as it approached the stargate exit. Every eye on the bridge was fixed on the viewscreen as the ship exited the stargate and Roxy came into view. They saw a redish planet appear on the view screen. Chris didn't maneuver the ship too close, in hopes that they cold avoid being detected. Roxy was not pretty; she had a deadly atmosphere and her surface was colder than the coldest glacier capped polar regions of Earth. Bill wasted no time, ``This planet has ideal resources for a droid manufacture plant, and our sensors seem to have found one. Thom, Dennis, and I will beam down and try to sabotage the manufacturing facility.'' Bill turned and said, ``Dennis and Thom, meet me in the transporter room after you put your life-support suits on.'' Bill left the bridge, and passed Nathaniel on the way, ``Nathaniel, you're going down to Roxy with us.'' Bill and Nathaniel both entered the antigravity tube, dawn life-support suits and arrive at the transporter room. ``Is everybody's suit operational?'' asks Bill, who added, ``Enter the life-support test chamber.'' Thom, Dennis, Nathaniel, and Bill entered a special room that simulated conditions on the planet. It was imperative that if one of their sophisticated bulky suits was not defective or not configured properly that the mistake be discovered on the ship rather than off. Everbody's suits checked out, and each person stepped, somewhat clumsily, to the transporter pads. Thom said, ``We should now exchange maximally secure public encryption keys so that we will be able to communicate during the mission with minimal chance of being understood.'' He then clumsily turned his helmet enclosed head towards the beaming officer and asked, ``Are you ready to beam us down to the planet's surface?'' ``I'll be ready soon,'' replied the beaming officer as he manipulated the multi-colored holograms that floated above his control panel, ``I don't want to beam any of you into something solid, you know.'' Bill, Thom, Dennis, and Nathaniel prepared themselves mentally for their critical mission as the beaming officer made a few last minute calculations. Finally, all was ready. The beaming officer slowly moved has hand through the hologram which caused one spatial dimension of Bill's team to change ever so slightly. They vanished from view, just as the square leaving Flatland vanished. With that spatial dimension adjusted, the bizarre curvature allowed their usual position to be almost immediately altered. It was good that the movement occured so quickly, so that their bodies didn't begin to break down. Transporting this way was OK for relatively small distances, but a voyage across a galaxy would destroy the voyager. The team soon appeared on Roxy's inhospitable surface. ``This place is creepy,'' said Nathaniel as he surveyed the rocky red landscape of the windswept freezing planet. The harsh expanse of scenery was interupted by a large mostly featureless black buildings. ``Abe, can your hear me?'' inquired Bill, sending a signal back to his ship. Abe Burns, who was in charge of the ship in Bill's absense, replied ``Yes, your signal is very strong. We'll try to keep the transporter system locked on, and the ship ready to jump through Tai Stargate.'' Abe, who stood just under six feet tall, was the same age as Dennis, and had studied with him many years ago on Earth. A concerned look swept across Abe's face. He was more comfortable and happier while engaged in his research than when commanding a space exploration ship. Nonetheless, Abe was a superb and brilliant officer and Bill felt he could rely on him. Back on the planet's surface, the landing party planned their next move. Thom reported, ``My sensors suggest that the entire planet can potentially activate a shield if danger is suspected. Thus if we move the ship near the planet and launch a volley of weapons, they will probably have no effect. Moreover, we'd be attacked by droid defense ships, of which there must be many as this is where they are manufactured.'' Nathaniel inquired, ``Why don't we simply beam a collection of time-actived megabombs onto the surface of the planet?'' Dennis responded ``Extensive research has shown that they would probably explode the moment their other spatial dimension is modified, and our ship would be destroyed. Our equipment and bodies are able to stand a slight bit of spatial distortion but it's far too risky to ask the same of a megabomb. I'd love such a weapon, but alas.'' Thom then suggested, ``Nathaniel, if we can get you safely into one of these buildings, do you think you could cause it to self destruct?'' Nathaniel responded, ``Sure. Not only that, but judging from the way our scans suggest these buildings are connected, I might even be able to start a carefully timed chain reaction, which would result in all of the buildings exploding almost simultaneously. That might even rip this god-forsaken planet apart!'' This last sentence was pronounced with an almost disturbing sense of glee. Dennis, Thom, and Bill were stunned. Bill asked, ``Do you think you can really do that, Nathaniel?'' ``Yes, I bet I can,'' affirmed Nathaniel, ``make sure our ship is ready to get us off this planet quickly.'' Abe's studied some sensors on the bridge. He didn't like what he saw. ``Bill, you might be in trouble. The planet's shield is activating.'' ``I'm surprised, but a few droids are headed our way. Somehow they must have detected us. Try to keep our communications channel open,'' responded Bill. Unfortunately, Abe's reply could not be heard because of Planet Roxy's shield. ``Take cover behind this ledge, which leads to that building!'' commanded Bill. ``We'll hold off these droids as we approach the building, then try to get inside so that Nathaniel can work his magic. Thom, keep trying to contact our ship. Dennis, take out as many droids as you can.'' Bolts of energy flared by Dennis's head, as he peared through his hand-held shield over the ledge, took aim, lowered the shield for a moment, and fired. A droid exploded in flames just as his shield re-appeared in time to protect him from another volley. ``That was a little too close,'' whispered Dennis as he became more cautious in his defense of the group and pulled from his pack his most advanced weaponry systems. Soon Nathaniel, Bill, and Thom arrived at an entrance to the large black building, as Dennis continued to set up various high-tech defenses to hold of the droids. The entrance to the building was guarded by a black force shield, which was similar to but much stronger than the one that had imprisoned them on earth long ago. Thom tried directly to open the door via the control panel but was unsuccessful. ``We're heavily armed. Let's just blast the door away,'' suggested Nathaniel, ``Thom, stand back.'' Nathaniel blasted away at the door several times, then Bill and Thom both joined in for a moment. The dark entrance didn't appear to change, but Thom informed them that its strength had diminished approximately 10 percent. Dennis noticed the situation and yelled ``Stand way back and raise your body shields!'' For a moment he turned from systematically picking of the droids, who were by now mostly pinned down in some cracks in the ground, adjusted his angry black and silver rifle, and fired one extended red bolt of energy which sailed slowly through the scorched atmosphere and injected itself into the portal. Dennis turned back to continue laying down defenses as the portal disolved. ``I've got you guys covered out here. You can enter the building. I'll let you know if the situation changes or if the droids send serious reforcements.'' ``Let's move in,'' agreed Bill, as he led Thom and Nathaniel into the mysterious building. As the three passed through the door they entered a very dark corridor whose lights had all broken because the door had been ripped apart so badly that much of the atmosphere in the building had violently escaped. Fortunately their space suits were euipped with various lights that their face shields enhanced. They turned left and proceeded down the corridor. After walking for several minutes, worried at every moment that they'll be attacked, Thom says: ``This is strange. My sensor suggests faint signs of life nearby. Perhaps we are somehow throwing off the readings, or there is a native life form on this planet that thrives in this building.'' The corridor turns right and they continue to follow it. As they pass two heavy black force doors, Nathaniel boasts quietly, ``After I get through with the control room we'll be able to catch a glance in there on our way out.'' Finally, ahead on the right, they spy what must be the control room. Four tense droids are just visible inside, and there is no door. Thom says to Bill, ``Droids don't seem very intelligent. Perhaps if we make a noise they'll all come out and we can shoot them. They're expecting us anyways.'' As Thom speaks, his sounds are completely muffled by his helmet. The sounds are received by a small microphone, encrypted, and broadcast via a weak signal that is usually lost to an eavesdropper in the ambient radio waves. Dennis's signal is a little stronger---``Bill, this is Dennis. The situation out here is becoming critical! At first the droids were easy to hold off, but they seem to be quickly adapting. I've only able to maintain our defense this long because of our superior weapons technology. You're team better hurry up. Also, I've not been able to re-establish communications with Abe.'' Bill had little time to consider other possibilities and decided to follow Thom's plan. They're shots exploded towards the control room. As the smoked died down, there was no sign that the droids had relinquished their position in the control room, which deeply puzzled Thom. Suddenly a searing laser bolt ripped through the air from behind, and burned Nathaniel's right arm. Thom and Bill returned fire as the approaching Droid tossed itself through the air shooting two laser pistols, an automated version of the Hong Kong action superstar Chow Yun Fat. A cursed escaped Thom's lips as he dodged to the ground. Time slowed as laser fire exploded everwhere. At last the droid's shocking technique succumbed to Thom and Bill's superior weapons. It shut off. A similar scene ensued as the three desperately fought for the control room. As droids jumped through the air firing, the droids were eventually merciless ripped apart by Bill and Thom's scatter guns. Nathaniel swore the droids fought for their ``life''. ``Something is wrong, very wrong,'' he commented, as he began his work on the master control center. Just as promised, even with his right arm badly burned, he was able to shut down power to the droids in the building. He worked further on engineering a chain reaction that would hopefully destroy the planet while also allowing them to re-establish communication with Abe and beam to safety. After many very long tense minutes, Nathaniel at last announced: ``I'm done. Once I set the reaction in motion there is no turning back. Probably this will allow us to contact Abe and get out of here. Just give the order Bill.'' A worried look hung to Bill's face as he reassuringly spoke his trademark: ``It's given.'' Nathaniel moved his hands innocently, there was a warm buzz, and It began. ``This planet will be history within 15 minutes,'' said Nathaniel solemly, ``let's hope that we aren't also.'' Just then, a pale but strong chinese woman stumbled out of the hallway and into the control room. She coughed and spasmed as she breathed the thin air, then wrapped her arms around her slime-covered unclothed body. Looks of astonishment and fear mixed with guilt escaped the space suits of the three, as the single word ``help'' escaped her lips. ``Abe here. The planet's breaking apart and its shield is gone. We have a fix on you. Permission to beam you out of there? Instead of hearing the expected ``It's already been given'', Abe received a nervous reply, ``Five to beam back---we'll help you to get a lock on the human near us. Have our best medic there!'' In under a minute, Bill, Thom, Nathaniel, Dennis, and the mysterious woman appeared in the transporter room. The ship jumped into Tai stargate, safely escaping the huge explosion that followed. \chapter{Kelly Wong} [[This is a new chapter that explains the droids method of using their prey, and also life on board the starship. Kelly Wong is the name of the human that they found at the droid manufacturing world.]] \chapter{Deceived} [[I'm reading page file:/home/was/papers/fiction/droids/scans/small_danger_of_droids044.jpg]] \chapter{Escape} \chapter{The Final Battle} \bibliography{biblio} \end{document} NOTES: [[Plot spoilers: They'll set the autodestruct system up and activate it. This will open all of the doors. Some crazed people will emerge and then die from the lack of atmosphere, just as they are leaving the building. It will destroy places on the other side of the planet. Abe will come back. They'll beam out.... disturbed.]] [[Upcomming plot spoiler: Where are all of the humans? Are they dead? Why were Bill and the others captured and not killed the first time? Why are the droids getting SMARTER? Because they encase the humans (and other life forms they've previously captured) in little prisons nearby and use them to help make decisions, slowly getting smarter as the expert system ``learns'' about its enemy with the help of the human problem solvers. Bill and the others discover this just before the planet blows, but after it is too late to stop the explosion. An untold number of human slaves, who are encased in the droid manufacturing stations, are destroyed in the explosion. Chilling thought---maybe the many droid ships that Dennis has destroyed so far contained a human ``mind''. Human shields. The reason the humans aren't all located on Earth is because of communications lag time. This will make the rest of the book that much more difficult to write, and the thought process of the enemy will become increasingly chilling.]] [ danger\_of\_droids\_033.jpg ?? goes for a bit, then resumes with danger\_of\_droids020.jpg, I think. I'm changing details and order a lot at this point, so it makes more sense.]