Read Amalfi Echo for Free Online

later,
chewing on a sandwich.
    “We had
breakfast not 45 minutes ago,” Marion said, looking at the
sandwich.
    “If you need
to, the ship can do a little trick with time, so for me breakfast
feels like ages ago. Maybe we can talk about that later. You want
the long version?”
    Marion and
Tessa indicated agreement.
    “Actually, it’s
not so long. Essentially, there is a species, let’s call them,
‘Bugs’, simply because it is a time-honoured name for a species
like this. The bugs are a two-stage species. The first stage is a
diamond-clad pupa that hatches from a diamond egg. The second stage
is a creature that is partly organic and partly crystalline and is
happiest breathing an atmosphere of sulphuric acid vapours. It is
the second stage which has built and occupies the fleets slowly
colonising the galaxy and now they are arriving in your neck of the
woods. When the fleet gets here it’ll install atmospheric engines
which will, over several decades, transform the Earth’s atmosphere
to sulphuric acid. However, this is not so they can colonise your
planet. Their real interest in your star system are the two gas
giants, Saturn and Jupiter which will provide ideal incubation and
nursery conditions for their eggs and pupae. Their only interest in
Earth is to provide a forward base for their long-term project,
constructing and operating the nurseries on, or more properly in,
the gas giants—.”
    “They’ll kill
seven billion people just so they can build a base?” Marion said in
disbelief.
    “You don’t
exist. You don’t even figure in their thinking.”
    “Mars is closer
to Jupiter and Saturn,” Tessa said, hoping they would notice her
new research skills with the ship’s database.
    “It certainly
is,” Digby agreed, “but building an atmosphere on Mars would be a
big ask and the extra distance to Earth is insignificant. They
could also use Venus and wouldn’t have to change the atmosphere
much but it’s a dangerous place to get in and out of and they’ll
need armoured pressure suits on the surface which is not very
relaxing when you’re on R&R—they’ll get enough of that on
Jupiter and Saturn. Earth is the ideal compromise for their forward
operating base. They’ll be here in about two years if they stick to
the speed and trajectories they were following when I last looked
in on them.”
    “So you looked
in on them, huh?” Tessa said. “Cruised by. Took a few photos. Did a
little shopping.”
    “Something like
that,” Digby said. “This ship is pretty much undetectable to them
and can cover lots of ground quickly by reinventing itself light
years away. They, on the other hand, are probably only a couple of
hundred years ahead of the Earth, technologically. Although they
have enormous space fleets they can’t do better than about a
quarter of the speed of light and they are armed with huge but
basic pulse weapons and the like. It takes them many generations to
get anywhere but they don’t seem bothered by that. They don’t have
anything really sophisticated.”
    “So why can’t
this super advanced alien ship take them out?” Tessa said. Marion
was also nodding, it being the obvious question.
    “The sad truth
is that while, militarily, Earth present no threat to this ship, in
the bigger picture, this ship is little more than a lightly armed
speed boat. It was designed as a scout ship. Small, fast, get in,
gather intelligence and get out quick. The battle fleets of the
bugs are clumsy and crude but they overwhelm everything in their
path through sheer size and numbers. This ship would be shredded in
a stand-up brawl with them but it does flee really well.”
    “What happens
when you run out of galaxy to flee in?” Marion said.
    “That thought
had occurred to me,” Digby said. For a moment he looked darkly
reflective as though he had seen far too much and wished he could
forget. “Take the long sleep and find another galaxy, I suppose,”
he said.
    Tessa went to
say something.