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Back out on the floor of the docks, he looked across past the rows of empty
berths to the few craft that still remained, though they were only shuttles
and hoppers for point-to-point trips on the Moon. All of the ships were gone,
the closest evidence of the great Exodus from Earth that had taken place much
the same way as the desertion of Jupiter had. But this time it was clear that
fleeing to other planets was hardly a guarantee of safety. Most ships headed
for the Belt, the one place it would take the Phinons a long time to clean
out, but also a place where few of the refugees would be able to hold out. It
took the right kind of equipment to sustain life on a rock.
As he walked toward the shuttles (for no reason other than that they were
there), Dykstra's mind again turned toward work. Since his stay in the
hospital, he had confirmed in his mind that his best idea for a super weapon
more like a Doomsday weapon
 would work. This was something best characterized as a "Dykstra field Tesla
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coil" sort of thing which could be made large enough to cause the Hague Limit
to expand and contract in resonance with it.
He could make the sun explode that way.
That would hardly help us now though, would it?
Still, he could envision some future where detonating stars might be useful
for cleaning Phinons out of the surrounding Oort clouds.
Or other humans out of star systems.
Even if we survive the Phinons, can we survive human nature? Still, surviving
means that Samantha's genanites will have done their job, so we may never have
to face Phinons ever again. Come to think of it, as long as we infect them,
even if humanity dies out, at least their "reign of terror" in the galaxy will
come to an end. Maybe then some other race will have a chance to inherit the
stars.
He thought about all those conjectured civilizations (when he was a boy it had
been assumed there were millions of them)
that might have made it to the stars, only to be cut to pieces just as they
were taking their first steps.
The nature of the Phinons had finally explained the Fermi Paradox.
* * *
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Nieuwe%20map/KOOISTRA...EFFREY%20-%20DYKSTRA'S%20WAR
/0671319582__19.htm (8 of 17)29-12-2006 18:58:39
- Chapter 19
"Paula, it's showtime," Bob said. Without a word she got up from the copilot's
seat and went into the middeck. She suited up and then climbed through the
special docking ring that allowed passage into the mated skiff. Only after she
was in place did she say anything.
"Ready, Lieutenant. Bring us up close."
It had been a quiet flight for the two of them, and probably for most of the
pairs in the other streakbombers. The ships had taken a day and a half to fly
out and turn back so that they could come up on the lead ships of the Phinon
fleet from behind. During the trip, both Bob and Paula had been lost in their
own thoughts except for those times when they had to look over the data feeds
they were getting from Luna and the observation and tracking ships.
After Jupiter, the Phinon fleet had gradually turned around in a large arc and
the ships were now headed toward Earth from high above the ecliptic. Bob and
Paula were encountering them less than an astronomical unit from Earth. Bob's
streakbomber was one of those ships equipped with the new drive immediately
following Dykstra's confrontational meeting with Knoedler. Paula's skiff was
powered only by a standard fusion drive there had not been time to convert the
skiffs over. Still, if all went according to plan, her fusion engine would be
enough.
"We'll be right alongside our target in three minutes," Bob said. He was
looking at the Phinon ship out the bubble, her image shimmering slightly from
the effects of the Dykstra shield surrounding the
Hyperlight II.
The ship was an ugly, evil-looking thing, bulbous with odd curves and sharp
projections sticking out. The expeditionary force that had encountered the
fleet before it went to Jupiter had found that the Phinons did not fire until
fired upon, and would not break ranks no matter what. As Bob pulled alongside,
matching velocity only a few hundred meters away from the alien ship, he could
almost feel a reflex in his hand trying to reach for the fire button on the
weapons array.
Yeah, I could kill this one. His shields aren't even up yet. Then what? Only
another million plus to go
.
"You're on, Paula."
He felt a slight nudge and heard a faint clang as the skiff separated from the
Hyperlight II
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. Slowly, Paula closed with the Phinon ship. She was less than a hundred
meters away before the alien vessel turned on its shields. "Well, I really [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]