When the team first arrived with the bomb there were no bugs in sight. Then a single bug came out of nowhere. He had a stun-gun and opened up on the team. There was only the one bug with his stun-gun, probably a bug MP. Even though the stun effect wasn’t efficient on human physiology, there was considerable disorientation and paralysis. A squad of bugs soon came on the run, rolled the team up in netting material, and started to drag them toward an airlock.
That’s when Para and Roll showed up. More bugs were pouring out of another airlock a few hundred feet away. Those had lethal weapons, like the energy weapons we had witnessed at the Capital Mall. Even Para couldn’t handle a shot from one of those. The bomb timer was not flashing. The team had been laid out before they had a chance to activate the nuke. Para pushed the trigger button.
10, 9, 8 ... Para grabbed the netting and started to run. Two of the bugs were stubborn and refused to let go of the net. Para can run fast when she’s inverted. But she wouldn’t be able to outrun the blast of a 50-megaton nuclear detonation. 3, 2, 1-
END.
Roll and I were having a terribly hard time. Poor Roll. He had seen the situation, but still had to port back to base since he didn’t have a suit. We both felt completely helpless. Roll crumpled into a chair, elbows on knees, face in hands. I was sobbing. Roll got up and said he was going back to get the team, suit or not. I grabbed his arm and told him to stop and think for just a second. We needed a better plan than that. But Roll pulled away. He was going to port to Mars for another look.
Then they were back. Rock had managed to overcome the stun enough to initiate a port. He was already in contact with Mr. T and Muncle, enclosed in the netting. Rock strained to grab Para’s ankle and ported the team back before the nuclear blast effect could mess up the quantum entanglement. It was a rough ride. A rough entanglement. Whatever. But they made it! Everyone on the team was okay, as were the two bugs that had come along for the ride.
Para hit one bug so hard he did a complete summersault in the air. The other bug took off down the hall. Dead end. The bug turned around. Para was stomping down the hall to finish him. He dropped his helmeted head to the ground, front legs splayed out, feeler hands open and extended. It was obvious as could be. Submission. Surrender.
Para stopped mid step. She kept her focus on the bug. But she asked an open question. “What should I do?”
I jumped ahead of Para, between her and the bug. “Prisoner of war. Don’t hurt him. Please.”
Mr. T joined in. “Viz is right. The storage vault is empty. It will hold him. It looks like his friend is waking up too. Tough bug. The vault can hold both of them. I’ll call the general.”
We hustled the prisoner bugs into the storage vault, gave them a bowl of water, and locked them up tight. Talk about being wiped out and tired. Drained. We dragged ourselves back to the little kitchen for a snack and some tea. I think Mr. T had something a little stronger. Para turned up an Intelinet news broadcast.
The news report was blaring. “Shockwave hits Mars ... hard. Bug base destroyed by super team with super nuke.”
I turned to Para. “Why did you push the trigger? Didn’t you know you would all get blown to atomic dust?”
She just shrugged. “What was I supposed to do? The base had to be destroyed, no matter what!”
How brave is that? Brave, but there was a niggling question rattling around in my head. “But there was still the Moon base, and the stargate.”
Para shrugged. “You and Roll would have handled that.”
I was about to object. Could we have managed that? I don’t know. I’m glad we won’t have to find out.
The news report continued. “The military has taken the war to the bugs. In the last four days, so much has happened. The invading force on Earth has been eliminated. A primary off-world base of the enemy, on Mars, has been destroyed. Stay onsite for...”
That was a lot to accomplish in four days. Four days? I guess that’s right. No wonder we’re so tired. Well, right now I’m not tired. Adrenalin rush with a twist of caffeine. Fast reporting too! It’s been about 20 minutes since the base was destroyed.
Mars is relatively close to Earth right now. With the changing orbital positions of Earth and Mars, it can take anywhere from about 4 to 24 minutes for light to reach Earth from Mars. So, if something happens on Mars, you won’t be aware of it for at least that long. Well, you won’t know unless you do some quantum traveling. I asked Rock how far Mars was from Earth, right now. He seems to always just know stuff like that.
He even understood what I actually meant. “It would take light about ten minutes to reach Earth from Mars,” he said.
So, if you think about it, that’s fast reporting.
There must have been an information leak. A government-type may have talked to an Intelinet news reporter, or a scientist talked. It sounds like the Shockwave name is official now too. Even the news feeds know the name. Nice video too. Some powerful telescopes must have been pointed at Mars. They caught the big flash.
Para is surprised there wasn’t some
