CHAPTER 1
Fourteen months later
Pirates.
He hated them. Captain Winslow Price, captain of Her Majesty’s Spaceship Indefatigable, was assigned to this quadrant of the solar system for the very purpose of deterring piracy, which had been a growing problem for the burgeoning space economy since, well, nearly since its beginning. Whenever people engaged in commerce, it seemed there were people engaged in schemes to steal what was not theirs. On Earth, most thought that piracy was something from ancient history and imagined it in almost a reverential, idealized sort of way. Captain Hook, Blackbeard, pirates in fiction and fictionalized reality, were almost larger-than-life characters. Of course, the real pirates of old Earth were nothing but scum, and the space pirates were no different. He knew this intellectually, and the events nine months previously had given him personal experience. The events on the Grandiosa had been a turning point, of sorts, with pirates getting more daring and brazen.
The spacefaring countries of Earth built and maintained space navies for waging war. Thankfully, in the years Price had been in the navy, there had never been a war. But there had been sporadic engagements with pirates, and they were getting more deadly. The pirate ships that raided interplanetary shipping and the growing number of incoming and outgoing interstellar cargo ships were getting bolder and more aggressive thanks to however they were gaining access to the latest weaponry. A few years ago, pirates could, at best, have a few missiles to either disable or threaten their ponderously slow targets—or board, and try to take them over, as they did on the Grandiosa. Today, or more accurately, two months ago, pirates based God-only-knows-where raided an outgoing freighter and when they apparently didn’t find on board what they were looking for, they killed every member of the crew. After that, it was decided that the warships would now become more of a coast guard, assuring safe passage through the shipping lanes of space—all gazillion square miles of it.
That was the mission upon which Price and the Indefatigable were now engaged. They were escorting the outbound freighter, Hudson Cavalier, on its way from Mars to Nikko, one of the settlement worlds, where it would unload whatever cargo it was carrying and then make the return trip home, or to another colony, filled with goods from its current destination. Unfortunately, there were not enough warships to escort every ship in the solar system and there were certainly few, if any, at the settlement worlds to escort the ships once they arrived there. But it was a start.
Price was into the second month of his current deployment and was very much looking forward to its end. He loved the navy and being in space, but he also loved Anika. The events of fourteen months ago changed his life—for the better. In an ideal world, they would be here together, but life was far from ideal and it certainly was not fair. His relationship with Anika had moved very quickly, and they never seemed to have enough time together. Her deployments were as long as his and their time together was limited to when those deployments did not overlap. The result was a series of brief, passionate, and intense interludes that left them both longing for more. Someday . . .
Hudson Cavalier was about two thousand miles from the Indefatigable and had been for most of the last two days. The ships traveled together as they made their way outbound to the orbital radius of Jupiter where in two hours the freighter and the Indefatigable would activate their Hawking Drives and make the jump to the Nikko settlement. Jupiter’s orbital radius of five astronomical units was the closest to the sun that one could safely use the Hawking Drive. As a stardrive that relied upon warping spacetime to allow nearly instantaneous travel across light-years, the massive gravity wells of stars proved to be a noise and disturbance source from which one had to be a safe distance. Stars significantly warp spacetime and the designers of the Hawking Drive said that “bad things would happen” if you activated the drive too deep into a gravity well. There was some margin in the required Jovian distance requirement, but not much. The minimum safe distance was known as the Oppenheimer Limit. So far, the trip had been quiet and uneventful.
“Nelson, is there any nearby traffic?” He was speaking to the ship’s AI, Lord Nelson. For simplicity, Price left off the “Lord” part. To him it was a bad name for an AI. The last thing people want to feel is subservient to a machine intelligence and calling it “Lord,” even if it was only an honorific bestowed upon the AI’s namesake, just felt wrong.
“Nothing of note,” said Nelson.
Price noted that and breathed a bit of a sigh of relief. Maybe their increased show of force was having the desired effect and the pirates were standing down. Maybe. Maybe not. But it looked like this assignment would be a quiet one—at least for this leg of the journey. He once again reviewed information about their destination, confirming that they would arrive within a few light-seconds of Nikko’s shipping station, the Hakudo Maru, located near that system’s Oppenheimer Limit.
What kind of day will I have today? Governor Saito asked him himself as he emerged from his aircar that had just autonomously parked itself atop the landing pad reserved for himself and his lieutenant governor, Riku Ito. The pad was on the roof of the newly completed capitol building that had finally replaced the one first erected after the founding of the Nikko settlement nearly one hundred years before. He and his staff had just moved in a little over four months ago, and he wasn’t yet tired of its newness and all the amenities lacking in their previous office. Saito wondered how he had ever been able to survive without the sauna that adjoined his office and the onsen in the courtyard. The architects had selected the location of the new capitol building, so it could take advantage of the area’s natural hot spring to fill the onsen. Civilization finally arrives to Nikko!
The day was glorious, with bright orange starshine and little humidity, and he could see things with clarity not possible on a normal day. From the snow-covered peaks of the New Suzuka mountains to the east and the coastal basin to the west, he again realized what a blessing it was to be on a new world that would never be despoiled like Earth was before the development of cheap, abundant energy and nearly one hundred percent recycling of, well, nearly everything. He stopped briefly to scan the mountains for signs of hikers, but then decided that no matter how clear the air might be, his vision would never be able to distinguish individuals from the trees and rocks at this distance.
Nikko was one of the first extrasolar settlements established and, as such, it now had one of the largest populations other than Earth. With nearly half a million residents, about five percent of which were on farms scattered throughout the countryside near the capital, Nikko in no way felt crowded like Tokyo and Kyoto, which Saito had been able to visit once, just before his selection as governor. In old Japan, there were still too many people crammed into too little space for his liking. During that trip, he had put the uncomfortable claustrophobia that he felt at being among so many people aside so that he could attend to the matter for which the Nikko Corporation had summoned him. He had known he was a candidate for the job of planetary governor, but he didn’t expect being named to the position while he was there. When the announcement was made, Saito actually had second thoughts about accepting it, doubting his ability to effectively run a planetwide government that was really part of the Nikko conglomerate. His talent was in being a CEO and making money. Assuming the responsibility for the trash being sorted into the correct categories and picked up on time was not on his resumé at the time. Now it was. That was what made his days most interesting. He never knew if the day’s most pressing issue would be civil or corporate. On Nikko, these were intertwined since its inception.
Nikko, the planet, was settled by multiple ships sent from Japan over a nearly seventy-five-year time span. Named for both the corporation and the city from which its founding family originated, Nikko was a rich and prosperous world, made so by manufacturing many of the goods needed by the smaller and more recent settlements being established through the growing sphere of human expansion into the galaxy, and by its innovation. The integration of government and corporation—with the traditional Japanese commitment of workers to the company and vice versa—resulted in new technologies and consumer product ideas being developed here and sold, with quite handsome profits, back on Earth. Earthers seemed ever eager to buy and use the new neuro-sim implants that were designed and developed just a few kilometers away from the capitol building. These, and the injectable nanobots that had single-handedly increased the human life-span by more than a quarter of a century due to their ability to repair cellular telomeres and stave off senescence, had made the company and the settlement quite wealthy. Saito had, of course, shared in the profits.
He made his way to his office, passing a few other people and the ubiquitous cleaner bots winding up their overnight tasks making sure the office space was clean, neat, and fresh each morning for the hundreds of employees that would eventually arrive and begin their workday. As was his custom, he was at work at least an hour before most of his colleagues and staff.
He entered the office and immediately got to work by reading the various flash reports provided at the end of yesterday’s workday, summarizing the issues that would need his attention or involvement, or at least awareness, as the week continued. One in particular caught his eye.
Five large ships had emerged in the outer solar system late yesterday afternoon without any advance warning and without any of the standard beacons that usually included the ship’s registry and cargo manifest. Since they had emerged not far from the Hakudo Maru, Nikko’s shipping station in the system’s asteroid belt, their arrival seemed ordinary enough. That was the first stop of just about every ship bound in-system. It was highly unusual to have more than one ship arrive at a time, let alone five, and none identified themselves. Probably some sort of communications glitch, he thought. Perhaps on our side. We’d better do a system check. Saito assumed it was unlikely that all five ships had their beacons fail or turned off, so where other than in their ground systems could the problem be?
Saito made a mental note to ask space traffic control at the Hakudo Maru if they had been able to make contact. He would bring that up at the staff meeting. He moved on to the next flash report about, of course, the drainage problem on the eastern side of the city. The recent heavy rains had flooded a few residential blocks and they were clamoring for a fix to the problem. My work never ends, he thought as he immersed himself in sorting through the electronic to-do list that was his morning, pre–staff meeting, routine.
The Indefatigable and Hudson Cavalier made their jump to Nikko without incident, with both ships arriving less than five thousand miles from the Hakudo Maru. Price was looking forward to visiting Nikko, even if he would only see it from high orbit. Earthlike worlds were few and far between and he relished seeing as many as he could.
Lieutenant Carlin Stuart, his XO, was on his last deployment before taking his new assignment as an instructor at the Commonwealth Space Naval Academy back on Earth. Price couldn’t figure out why someone as accomplished as Stuart would remove himself from the line where he stood a good chance of promotion to captain his own ship. That is, he couldn’t understand it until he met Stuart’s wife. They were a perfect match and wanted to start a family. So when the job opportunity groundside came open, he applied for it and was selected. Price was happy for them, though Stuart would be sorely missed.
“Lieutenant Stuart, send our entry report to the Hakudo Maru and give them our regards,” said Price.
“Yes, sir. Message away.”
“Captain! There are five unknown ships within ten thousand miles of our position, and they appear to be attacking the Hakudo Maru,” said Stuart abruptly.
“Go to General Quarters and bring up the tactical display,” said Price, his training kicking in without even having to think.
The image on the screen did not paint a pretty picture. Nikko’s shipping station was shown in the center, with five red bogies rapidly converging on it from roughly twelve o’clock. The Indefatigable and Hudson Cavalier were moving slowly toward the station from eight o’clock. All of the ships were well within missile range, making the current situation immediately perilous. On the top right corner of the screen was a telescopic view of the Hakudo Maru. The station was obviously seriously damaged, with a gaping hole on the side facing them—the torn structure ragged and blackened. As Price was watching, the telltale flash of a nuclear detonation consumed more than half of the remaining structure. It was highly unlikely that anyone could still be alive there. They are almost right on top of us, Price thought.
“Order the Hudson Cavalier out of here,” said Price. “Get her the hell away from here.”
“Nelson, do we have a firing solution on any of the attacking ships?”
“Yes. But the launch window closes in less than thirty seconds. Based on the current velocities of the attacking ships relative to ours, they will be well past the Hakudo Maru and out of missile range after that.”
“Launch two anti-ship missiles at whichever ship we have the best chance of hitting; nuclear weapons are authorized,” said Price. Nelson nearly instantaneously verified Price’s voiceprint, as was required to authorize the use of nuclear-enabled missiles. Moments later, the two missiles were in space and accelerating toward their target.
“Captain, bogey three just launched two missiles toward the Hudson Cavalier,” Nelson said.
Price could now see the flowing yellow dots on the tactical display showing the gently curved path the enemy missiles were flying toward the unarmed cargo ship the Indefatigable was there to protect. “Nelson, put us between those missiles and the Hudson Cavalier, flank speed. Launch decoys and bring the Gatling guns to bear.” Electromagnetically actuated, the Gatling guns could spew a relatively thick wall of depleted uranium pellets in the path of the missiles as they neared the ship, with a high likelihood that any missile getting that far would impact one of the pellets and be damaged or destroyed by the kinetic energy released during the impact.
The timing would be tight. Price could see the location and trajectory of the slowly accelerating Hudson Cavalier, the missiles, and the more rapidly accelerating Indefatigable on the screen. Ahead of each was an estimated trajectory, showing that the Indefatigable would meet the incoming missiles just seconds before they would otherwise impact the Hudson Cavalier. The seconds ticked by, simultaneously seeming to move at a glacial pace and at breakneck speed. Finally, Price heard the thrumming of the Gatling guns being activated. He knew that next thing he and his ship might feel would be either nothing, which would mean they successfully intercepted and destroyed the incoming missiles, or a likely lethal explosion ripping the ship to pieces. Tick. Tick. Ti—
“Missiles destroyed,” said Nelson, as the yellow blinking lights on the tactical display winked out and Price exhaled, not realizing until then that he had been holding his breath.
“Is the Hudson Cavalier clear?” asked Price.
“If the enemy vessels don’t have more capable systems than ours, then yes. However, based on the brief engagement, it is impossible to say with any certainty what their capabilities might be.”
“Lieutenant Stuart, order the Hudson Cavalier to immediately reverse course and return to Sol. Tell the captain that he is to contact the Commonwealth Space Navy via the SOS network and fill them in as soon as he returns. We are going to remain here to see what we can do, if anything,” Price said.
The display showed the five rapidly departing bogies, the slowly accelerating Hudson Cavalier, and one very damaged Hakudo Maru.
“Bring up the radar at full power. Let’s see what we can learn about these ships using the best sensor systems the Commonwealth can muster. It will also let them know that a warship is in-system. Maybe that will give them second thoughts,” said Price. He knew he was likely engaging in willful self-delusion, but when there was little hope, long shots were worth trying. “Take us over to what’s left of the Hakudo Maru. Maybe by some miracle there will be survivors.”
Today was not a day for miracles.
Governor Saito was on his second cup of coffee when the door to his office opened and his minister of defense, Eichi Hayashi, entered hurriedly, bowing as soon he crossed the threshold.
“Saito-chizi, we received an urgent message from the Hakudo Maru and then abruptly lost contact with the station. They reported being under attack,” said Hayashi.
“Under attack? Are you sure?” asked Saito as he rose from his chair.
“Yes. Before we lost contact, the Senchō reported that several missiles were launched from the ships that arrived late yesterday and that two had already hit vital areas of the station,” said Hayashi, again bowing as he delivered the bad news. “Routine telemetry from the station ceased at the same moment. I fear they are destroyed.”
“Fifty crew. Were there any survivors? Do we know anything more about the ships? Did they make contact and issue demands?” asked Saito.
“Unfortunately not, Saito-chizi. However, our radar confirms they remain inbound for Nikko,” said Hayashi. “We also have confirmation that the Commonwealth warship Indefatigable arrived at about the time of the attack escorting an inbound cargo ship. Her captain is looking for survivors at the wreckage of the Hakudo Maru.”
Saito looked at the clock and saw the Council of Ministers meeting was to convene in about an hour.
“Inform the ministers. I want to know everything we can about the incoming ships, what happened to the Hakudo Maru, and our options,” said Saito.
“Yes, immediately,” said Hayashi as he again bowed and backed out of the room.
Saito knew that his options were few. There hadn’t been a major war on Earth for nearly 150 years, and he knew of no escalation in tensions between Japan and the other major power blocks. If war had broken out, then they would surely have received word via some sort of drone message or a fleeing ship. Furthermore, he knew that none of the other settlements had the resources to build five ships, let alone warships. So, who were these attackers and what did they want?
Saito’s hour passed quickly as he, in a whirl of activity, cleared his calendar, personally contacted several of his key advisors beyond those who would be in the meeting of the Council of Ministers, and began forming the basics of a plan.
When he entered the council chamber, the various members rose, bowed, and then returned to their seats. Saito took his customary seat at the head of the table and wasted no time in starting the discussion. The ministers had already been briefed by Hayashi.
“Hayashi, when will the five ships arrive? More precisely, based on what we know of their attack on the Hakudo Maru, when will we be in range of their weapons?” asked Saito.
“Five days and twelve hours,” replied Hayashi, his tone simple and matter of fact.
“And they still do not respond to our radio and laser comm messages?” asked Saito.
“No response. We are broadcasting in every major Earth language, trying all known frequencies, using digital and analog signals, as well as Earth-standard laser wavelengths,” replied Hinata Maeda, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. She was the newest member of the council and one of the most energetic. It was the twenty-second century and still Japanese women had to struggle to gain acceptance at the highest level of industry and government. Maeda never let it deter her ambitions and never raised sexism as an issue. Saito liked and respected her.
“What about commercial shipping? Are there any interstellar-capable carriers in the system that can get here before the Kurofune arrive?” Saito asked, giving the interlopers a name for the first time. It was a name that would resonate with the council and the general populace. Saito was shrewd and always chose his words carefully and with forethought. Kurofune were what his Earthborn ancestors and countrymen called the ships belonging to European vessels arriving in Japan in the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Kurofune, or “black ships,” forever altered—Saito would say destroyed—the Japanese way of life.
“Yes, Saito-chizi. There is one cargo ship in the system, the Asama Maru, it departed yesterday bound for Earth,” said Ryusei Aoki, the Minister of Interstellar Trade and Industry. Aoki had served on the council for many years and was one of Saito’s most trusted confidants. “And then there is the Commonwealth warship, the Indefatigable. It arrived during the attack on the Hakudo Maru.”
The ministers all looked up expectantly with the hope of salvation stemming from the arrival of the Indefatigable showing on their faces.
“It would be best to not place too much hope in what the Commonwealth ship can do. I spoke briefly with her captain and he informed me that that even if he were to boost at maximum acceleration, the soonest his ship could arrive at Nikko would be at least a half day behind the Kurofune. And he was reluctant to commit even to that. One ship against five are not good odds,” said Hayashi.
“He cannot simply do nothing!” blurted one of the ministers.
“He also cannot risk his ship in a futile gesture that would likely end in failure and the loss of his ship,” said Hayashi.
“And what of the Katori?” Saito asked.
“The Katori is in orbit and ready to go,” replied Hayashi. “But it is a rescue ship, not a warship. Though the crew are technically soldiers, the ship has only a point-defense laser system and in their annual training exercise, they use it on derelict ships, not to . . . to . . . well, shoot at someone.”
Saito remained silent and, out of respect, the rest of the council sat patiently awaiting his response. The world had changed since he arrived at work this beautiful morning and he knew that the most difficult decisions of his life would be made in the next five days. Perhaps the most important, those affecting the lives of the people on Nikko, might be decided in the next few hours.
“We will immediately begin transmitting on all available communications channels the unconditional surrender of Nikko. The gaijin showed no mercy to the crew of the Hakudo Maru, and we can expect them to act similarly when they arrive here. We don’t know what they want, but we do know they kill without provocation and with impudence,” said Saito. “Maeda, see that the message begins transmission as soon as this council is adjourned.”
“Yes, Saito-chizi,” she said.
“See to it that the outbound cargo ship is immediately ordered to return to Nikko. The ship’s cargo holds are to be emptied and filled with as many evacuees as possible. Priority is to be given to children and a few caregivers. I want them outbound to the Oppenheimer Limit opposite the arrival trajectory of the Kurofune ships. They are to proceed to Earth with haste. And coordinate everything with the captain of the Commonwealth ship,” said Saito.
“Saito-chizi, a cargo ship can carry a few hundred people, at most. There are more children than that in this prefecture alone,” said Maeda.
“We must save who we can. The Ministry of Home Affairs should come up with a plan to select the children and caregivers who will evacuate on the cargo ship. The next step is the orderly evacuation of the cities. Please provide a plan by the end of the day. I will address the people tonight. Please alert the ’net providers that I will be preempting all of their programming for an important announcement.”
“And the Katori?” asked Hayashi.
“I will let you tell me how to best deploy the Katori,” said Saito. Like the captain of the Commonwealth ship, he did not want to send the crew of the Katori to their deaths, but if they could find a way to use the cruiser to slow down or weaken the Kurofune, then he would do as he must. At this time, he had no idea how to use the small ship. He would leave that to his experts, Hayashi specifically, to provide a recommendation.
Four hours later, after recovering no survivors from the wreckage, Price was in the CIC with Lieutenant Stuart and his tactical officer, Lieutenant Ashley Gold, to review what they had learned so far and to discuss options. Nelson, as usual, was also in attendance.
“I need options,” said Price. “My gut tells me we should boost for Nikko at maximum thrust to do as much damage as we can. My head tells me that would be a suicide run and that the strategic move would be to remain here, observe what happens, and then return to Sol with as much intel as we can gather. What am I missing?”
“Sir, based on the damage to the Hakudo Maru and what we learned in their missile attack on the Hudson Cavalier, it appears that their missile tech is at least comparable to ours. From their drive signatures and trajectory, I would say the same for their propulsion system. Combine this with their tonnage and the fact that there are five of them, I would say your head is giving you the best course of action. To follow and engage them would be a suicide run and likely not alter whatever intentions they might have,” said Gold. She was not one to mince words.
“I agree,” said Stuart. “We need to gather as much intel as we can and then return to the solar system as quickly as possible. We don’t know if this incursion is part of a larger attack or an isolated event. As we speak there could be dozens of these ships inbound toward Earth or attacking other settlements.”
“If this is part of a larger, more coordinated attack, then we should consider departing now in case we are needed elsewhere—with better odds,” added Gold.
A surprise attack on an unsuspecting Earth was a terrifying thought and a risk Price was not prepared to take.
“Very well. I will inform the governor that we are departing for Earth and assure him that we will be back as soon as we can—in force,” said Price. He knew that the promise was hollow and would be perceived as such by Governor Saito. Nikko would be on its own.
Six hours later, the Indefatigable was at the Oppenheimer Limit and jumped for home.
Five days passed quickly. Too quickly.
The Kurofune were only minutes away from what Hayashi and his experts had calculated would be the outermost reach of their missiles—if they were to attack and used the same weapons that destroyed the Hakudo Maru. The people of Nikko had no idea of the hostiles’ real capabilities or intentions. Saito was in the council chamber, which had been converted to a war room from which he and his ministers had spent the last several days planning their response to the incoming ships. There was not much they could do in terms of defense. Their strategy was more disaster preparedness and response planning.
The population of Nikko City had taken the news with surprising collective calm. Some people and families evacuated to the countryside, but most decided to remain in the city. The Ministry of Home Affairs used a lottery system to determine which families, mainly their children, would be evacuated. The ship carrying them was now underway on its voyage out of the star system and toward Earth. Hopefully, he would soon be able to give the recall order and reunite these children with their parents. The ministry also established a plan similar to what the British did in London during Earth’s World War II and evacuated several thousand children from the city to willing families living on the many farms away from town where they would be presumably safer than in the city itself.
In the event the Kurofune, whoever or whatever they were, decided to occupy the planet, the Ministry of Defense organized each prefecture in Nikko City around appointed civil defense chiefs who were responsible for assuring that their regional populations remained stable and responsive to any directives issued by the civil authorities, while simultaneously organizing resistance wherever and whenever possible, should the need arise. Armed resistance would be exceedingly difficult since there were virtually no personal weapons to be found on the planet outside of the police. With no predators on the planet that had ever posed a threat to the colonizing humans, there had been no need for self-protection in the populace.
Hayashi’s plans for the Katori were similarly weak, though it was not for lack of trying. Saito knew there wasn’t much the cruiser could do to stop the Kurofune, but he had held out hope that the Ministry of Defense would come up with something useful. They did not. Rather than commit the crew’s lives to any sort of useless defensive maneuver, he ordered it to proceed to the Oppenheimer Limit but in a direction opposite to that from which the invaders were arriving. It was to remain there until called home or it became apparent that it should make its jump to Earth. The Kurofune were not displaying any performance, speed, or maneuverability beyond what human ships could achieve, so Saito felt reasonably confident that the Katori and the cargo ships were safely out of harm’s way.
Saito was extremely concerned about the lack of a response from the hostile ships. Every possible means of communication with them had been tried, continuously, for the past several days. Their response: silence.
Saito sat with his ministers as they watched the projection of the Kurofune ships’ trajectories cross the line they thought to be the outer range of their weapons. Saito realized he had been holding his breath and then released it after the ships were noticeably across the line. Maybe . . .
His hopes were soon dashed by Hayashi.
“Missile launches detected,” he said, his voice deadpan.
Saito cringed and asked, “How many?” He knew the number of missiles launched was likely immaterial. From what they could tell, the Hakudo Maru had been destroyed by nuclear weapons, not kinetic projectiles. Whoever the interlopers were, they had used nuclear bombs without hesitation.
“Five. The computer projects they are bound for Nikko City and the surrounding region,” said Hayashi.
Saito wondered how many of the people in the city were able to find shelter that would protect them from a nuclear explosion. He also wondered if they should even try. The radiation and devastation that would accompany such an attack would be horrific, especially since there were precious few areas on the planet where any form of civilization existed that could provide post-attack relief. He knew that there were scattered settlements around the planet that were not technically under the government’s control, but they were sparsely populated and mostly organized around subsistence farmers—without any sort of infrastructure. Perhaps it would be better to die in the initial attack than during its aftermath.
“How long do we have until the missiles arrive?” asked Saito, again just going through the motions. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.
“One hour, Saito-chizi,” Hayashi replied.
Fifty-nine and a half minutes later, five twenty-megaton fusion bombs exploded in the air over Nikko City, one after the other, instantly killing Saito and nearly everyone in a twenty-five-mile radius and millions more within hours.
After detecting the explosion, the Katori activated its Hawking Drive and jumped to the Earth’s solar system.