Belle Terre Read online

  The room now burst into talking. Some loud, some angry, some clearly just sad.

  Pardonnet felt as if someone had pounded a fist into his stomach. He had clearly held out hope that the Enterprise’s findings were wrong. But Spock and Hayes couldn’t both be wrong. The explosion was going to happen.

  So now they had to face the next question fully. He pounded on the desk again until the room quieted. “Dr. Hayes, do you have a suggestion as to a course of action?”

  “Yes. Get away from this planet inside eight days,” he said flatly.

  “No chance of stopping the explosion?” Pardonnet asked, holding up his hand to stop the room from erupting again.

  “Let me explain what you are dealing with here,” Hayes said calmly. “olivium exists in a state of quantum flux, meaning it lives both in this universe and in others, constantly and instantaneously moving in and out of our universe. It’s that property that gives it its vast energy and makes it so valuable to all the sciences. It is impossible to pick up with a bare hand, yet with the right equipment, it will be possible to mine.”

  Hayes glanced around, then looked back at Pardonnet before going on. “The moon shell containing this olivium is a very hard rock almost three hundred miles thick at its thinnest point. The quantum shifts of the olivium have hardened the inner fifty miles of this shell into a substance far harder than anything we have with us on this mission. That’s what’s keeping the intense pressures that already exist inside that moon from coming out.”

  Pardonnet finally grasped the size and problem they were facing. This wasn’t like a child’s balloon filled too full and about to burst. This was on a scale he had trouble grasping, involving forces he couldn’t even imagine.

  “Dr. Hayes?” someone in the back shouted in the silence. “What will happen to this planet when the moon explodes?”

  Hayes shrugged. “The burst of radiation will kill every living thing planetwide almost instantly. The force of the explosion itself might tear chunks out of the planet at worst. At best, hundred-mile-wide hunks of hard moon rock will plow into the planet. There will be nothing left and nothing will survive it. It will be a million years before any life returns to this planet.”

  Now the silence in the room was so intense it felt like a weight on Pardonnet’s shoulders, pushing him down, making it hard for him to breathe. This beautiful planet, destroyed. How was this possible?

  “How about we drill a hole?” another person shouted. “We could drill a hole to the core of the moon to take off some of the pressure.”

  “Yeah, good idea,” someone else shouted.

  Hayes shook his head. “As I said, the inner fifty miles of the moon are fantastically hard, due to the quantum flux of the olivium. Not even the Enterprise’s phasers could cut through it. We have nothing to drill a hole with.”

  The silence came back like a hammer on the room.

  Finally, after looking around at all the other shocked faces in the crowd, Pardonnet said, “Well, it seems we have no choice but to evacuate back to the ships.”

  “And go where?” Peter Daegal asked. “We don’t have enough supplies to get even halfway home.”

  Pardonnet stared at Daegal, who was the person in charge of the colony’s food and drinking water supplies. During the long trip out he and Daegal had met weekly to go over rations and consumption. Despite the troubles en route, when they reached Belle Terre, it was thought they would have enough to get to the first harvest with native plants and animals added in to supplement the diet.

  Now there would be no first harvest. Or even a first planting. No hunting, no fishing.

  “Is that true?” someone from the back shouted.

  “I’m afraid it is,” Pardonnet said. “But at the moment our first priority is saving all our lives. We’ll have to deal with the problems that follow after we get out of the way of the explosion.”

  His answer was easy and dodged the question completely. It caused the room to again burst into talking, and this time he let them go. There really wasn’t much more to discuss except the details of getting everyone, and as many of their belongings as possible, back on board the ships. Getting everyone to the planet had been easy by comparison to what they now faced.

  He just wished they had a choice.

  Any choice.

  He moved back and leaned against a wall of the community center, letting the flow of talking and shouting go on around him. His way had always been to fight in the face of impossible odds. The only problem now was that the exploding moon was giving them no chance at all to survive here.

  No odds. And no choice at all as to what to do.

  They had to run.

  And run fast.

  In all his life, he’d never run from anything. He didn’t like the feeling at all.

  Chapter Four

  Countdown: 7 Days, 23 Hours

  SUNN SAT in his captain’s chair, still alone on his ship’s bridge, and watched as the image of Captain James T. Kirk came on the viewer.

  Sunn and Kirk had spent a long time together on the way out here, yet had never met. Sunn had watched a dozen directives from the man, but had never shaken the man’s hand. He only knew Kirk by his vast reputation as one of the Federation’s best early explorers. And by what he had done to save the ships on this trip. So far, Kirk had lived up to his reputation.

  At first, when he had heard that Kirk was going to be giving up his admiralship and coming on this mission, Sunn had doubted it was anything more than some stunt by Starfleet. Many people had thought the same thing. But after the trip here, Sunn no longer had those doubts. In fact, as far as he was concerned, it was just plain lucky Kirk had come along. They could all be dead by now if he hadn’t.

  And now this.

  A few hours ago Kirk had announced to all the ships the discovery of the olivium, and the problem with the Quake Moon. Sunn had been stunned at the shortness of time involved. Sunn had also kicked himself for not going the next step in his sensory scans of the moon. He should have also discovered that the moon was about to explode. Of course, it made no difference, this time. But in Sunn’s line of work, missing a critical element like that could cost him and his crew their lives.

  Kirk and his crew hadn’t missed the detail. Sunn would make sure he never did again, either.

  Now Kirk was calling Sunn directly. Clearly Kirk needed something from him. It was going to be interesting what that something might be in these circumstances.

  Sunn glanced at the time. Kirk didn’t have long to talk. Gamma Night was scheduled to start in just ten minutes. Gamma Night was what the colonists called the disruption of all communication and transportation that occurred in this system ten hours out of every thirty. It was caused by a neutron star orbiting a black hole nearby, sending charged particles into the Belle Terre system with each revolution. So far no one had discovered a way to shield against it.

  And flying in it was just stupid. Sunn supposed it was possible to do, at very low speeds, using dead reckoning type of flying. But that was just flying blind, and in a system cluttered with planets and moons and asteroids like this one was, flying blind was also suicide.

  So Kirk had less than ten minutes and even less if he wanted Sunn to do something quickly.

  The main viewer showed the bridge of the Enterprise and Captain Kirk. “Captain Sunn,” Kirk said, smiling. “It’s a pleasure to finally get a chance to talk to you.”

  “Pleasure is all mine, Captain,” Sunn said.

  “I need your help,” Kirk said, getting right to the point. “Unless we can find a way to stop this explosion, the colonists have to be evacuated from the planet.”

  “And this entire system,” Sunn said. “Let me guess, they don’t have enough of anything to make it back to Federation territory. This was supposed to be a one-way trip.”

  “That’s just about right,” Kirk said, nodding. “Some of the ships were lucky to get here with the provisions they had.”

  Sunn had heard all that. It di
sgusted him that anyone could take ships into space for a voyage and not make sure they had enough provisions to get back safely. Seemed like a sure way to get killed out here.

  “Since my ship’s job is exploring ahead,” Sunn said, figuring out where Kirk was going, “what do you need me to go searching for?”

  Kirk smiled. “Glad you’re ahead of me. I need you to find another planet, suitable for the colonists at least on a temporary basis. One that is unclaimed and preferably doesn’t have an exploding moon.”

  Sunn laughed, even though he was somewhat surprised. “Yeah, I can see why not having an exploding moon would be nice. But you don’t seriously think this bunch of colonists will just jump to another spot, do you?”

  “Some might,” Kirk said, “if you find a good enough world for them. There’s no telling what the boy governor can talk them into.”

  Sunn laughed. He was glad Kirk thought the same thing about Pardonnet as he did.

  Kirk went on. “But if this colony fails, a large percentage of the people are going to want to head home. Either way we need another planet to stop at, gather what we can in food and provisions, regroup before the long trip back.”

  “Makes sense,” Sunn said, glancing at the time. Only two minutes before Gamma Night cut this conversation off.

  “You have less than eight days,” Kirk said. “I know this sounds impossible, but …”

  “Well, my job is exploring,” Sunn said, interrupting Kirk before he could go on. “I usually don’t have to do it that fast, but I’ll see what I can find.”

  “Thanks,” Kirk said. “I owe you one. The entire colony owes you one.”

  “Save the thanks for when I find a planet that will help.”

  Kirk nodded. “Good hunting.”

  Then the connection was cut.

  Sunn sat there staring at the static-filled screen, thinking about the conversation. What Kirk had asked him to do was try to find a fall-back option. Clearly Kirk and the rest of the colony were going to focus on trying to stop the explosion, and if that failed, get everyone to safety. But getting the colonists a safe distance from the exploding moon wasn’t a major problem. What followed the explosion was.

  Sunn was smart enough to know that Kirk and the Enterprise weren’t going back to Federation space with the colonists, not with a vast amount of olivium to protect. Even after the moon exploded and destroyed a large amount of it, there would still be enough of the important mineral here to start wars over.

  The Enterprise and some of the other Starfleet ships were going to be forced to stay. And the best way to safeguard the olivium and the colonists at the same time was find them another planet close by for the colonists to “rest” on until help got here from Starfleet.

  Sunn nodded in admiration at how smart Captain Kirk really was. No wonder he had the reputation of always being able to work himself and his ship out of any situation. The man covered all the angles way ahead of time.

  Sunn had no doubt that his two crewmen would be as relieved to be moving again as he was. On the main screen he pulled up what few star charts they had of this area of space and started to study them. He was going exploring into totally unknown space. This was the very reason he’d left Texas all those years ago and gone into space. He could feel the excitement building in his stomach.

  Now if they could just find the planet Kirk needed, this would be the perfect mission.

  Countdown: 7 Days, 14 Hours

  McCoy had beamed down to work with the colony’s main medical staff right before the big announcement by Governor Pardonnet. So he stood and listened to it with them. He heard the governor tell everyone what McCoy had learned from Spock on the bridge. And McCoy heard the governor tell everyone they were working on ways of stopping the explosion. But just in case, everyone should be prepared to abandon the colony. And those personnel who were needed to get the ships ready for a long trip needed to return to them now.

  “If the moon does explode,” the governor had said, “nothing will survive on this planet.”

  The doctors who had worked so hard over the past few weeks to set up the temporary hospital were angry that they had to tear everything apart quickly and move back to Brother’s Keeper, the Starfleet medical ship. McCoy didn’t blame them, but there was no point in getting too angry over something no one could do anything about. Better to just accept and move on.

  McCoy did what he could to get them started in the right direction, but after a while he had to admit he was angry too. And that they all had a right to be angry. The problem was, there just wasn’t anyone to be angry at. This wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was just some sort of ugly cosmic joke that had sent all these people through the hazards of hostile space to be met by an exploding moon full of riches.

  So, as most hardworking people did in a time of crisis, everyone let the anger show while they dug in and worked to get their minds off the problem. It wasn’t until after nine long hours of work, packing equipment, organizing planet-to-ship scheduling, deciding when each detail of the evacuation needed to be done, that McCoy suddenly realized he hadn’t contacted Dr. Audry about the bacteria. If the tests had panned out, it was critical they save samples of the little beasts.

  He flipped open his communicator only to discover there was still almost an hour left of the Gamma Night. So instead of waiting, he headed out across the main colony compound toward Dr. Audry’s lab.

  It was dark out, real night on this area of the planet, and the dirt streets and paths of the new colony were mostly empty. Only a few tired-looking stragglers moved about purposefully. He fit in with them perfectly.

  The night air had a chill to it and a freshness that helped clear his mind. He could smell the nearby ocean and the pine on the gentle breeze. How could it be that such a beautiful place could vanish in just a little under eight days?

  It wasn’t fair. Nothing about this seemed fair. But when had he started expecting space to be fair? He’d been out here long enough to know better than that.

  He stopped and glanced up at the clear night sky and the strange patterns of stars to where the Enterprise would be in orbit. He sure hoped that Spock and Scotty and Jim were finding a way to stop all this insanity. If anyone could do it, Spock and Jim could. Over the years they had beaten the universe more often than they had lost.

  He took another full breath of fresh air and let it out slowly, using the moment to clear his mind. He didn’t know if this was one of the more beautiful planets he’d ever been on, but after the long trip here, and the news about what was about to happen with the moon, it sure seemed that way.

  He shook his head and started off again. As a doctor he’d seen a lot of injustices in his life. Young babies dying when they shouldn’t have, husbands killed with young families waiting at home, his friends cut down in the prime of their lives. But never had he been witness to a planet destroyed far before its time.

  Nope, there was nothing at all fair about the universe and the more he remembered that, the better off he would be.

  He finally reached Dr. Audry’s lab and knocked loudly on the plastic shell of the structure, expecting her to be asleep. Dr. Memp answered the door almost immediately and smiled at McCoy. Clearly Memp had been working since McCoy had left.

  “Glad you could make it back,” Memp said.

  “The experiments?” McCoy asked, not even waiting to get completely inside.

  “All tested out as we hoped,” Dr. Audry’s voice said from inside.

  He went through the entrance and was greeted by her smiling face and a smell of something wonderful cooking. It was as if he’d walked into a kitchen on Earth, not a lab. On one small table there was a bowl and two plates, as if the two were just about to eat. McCoy’s stomach rumbled at the thought of food, but he ignored it.

  “The bacteria we found will be a fantastic boost to most Federation agriculture,” Dr. Audry said. “And it seems highly adaptable to most soil types.”

  “If we can save enough of it,” McCoy said.


  Dr. Audry’s smile left her face. “We heard the news and have been preparing ever since. We have to save enough. This discovery can’t be allowed to die with this planet.”

  “I agree,” McCoy said. “So let’s get started digging more samples.”

  Dr. Audry held up her hand for him to pause. “It will be light in three hours. I think we can wait that long.”

  “All right then,” he said, completely unwilling to stop and even take a break, “let’s start setting up culture environments. Getting ready for morning. When the Gamma Night clears I’ll contact some people in the medical units for their help. I want this stuff being kept alive on a dozen of the ships heading away from here.”

  “Environments are ready and waiting,” Dr. Memp said. He put a hand on Dr. McCoy’s back. “When was the last time you ate?”

  McCoy shrugged. He couldn’t remember anything but a few snacks at the hospital. His growling stomach was telling him it had been far too long.

  “That’s what I thought,” Memp said to McCoy’s shrug.

  The young doctor gently moved McCoy toward a table holding two place settings and a steaming bowl of something that smelled wonderful.

  “If we’re going to be digging all morning, we need our strength,” Dr. Audry said, moving over and putting down another plate. “Don’t you agree?”

  “If you mean getting strength from something that smells as good as that,” McCoy said, sitting down and pointing at the bowl, “I completely agree. What is it?”

  “It’s a stew, made mostly from a plant we found the first week here,” Memp said. “Tastes like a combination of fresh-cooked bread and chicken.”

  “Everything tastes like chicken,” McCoy said.

  Dr. Memp laughed. “Maybe, but not this kind of chicken.”

  McCoy took a tentative bite, then a full mouthful. “You’re right,” he said, savoring the wonderful flavor. “I’ve never had chicken taste this good before.”