The Weapon

Dr. Robert Greening hurried through the dark halls of the institute. It was late at night, very late. He had been working at the institute since the early morning and had not left at all, except for a quick lunch break with his colleagues. Then they had returned to the institute for more tests, experiments and researching. This was his life until the weapon was finished.

While being a Defense and War Behavior scientist was a well-paying and rewarding job, it was also a demanding one, especially in wartime. Their enemy had shown themselves a formidable and intelligent opponent. They were a highly advanced civilization and capable of completely obliterating his people. The enemy had many experienced fighters equipped with amazing weapons of mass destruction. They led coordinated aerial, naval, and infantry attacks. Only the strong patriotism, the collective defense of the nations and their armies had kept the enemy from completely taking over. But they were running out of armies and reserves. Conscription had been put in place to try and keep a pace with the ever-growing need for soldiers. Even so, they were in danger of losing the war and with it their culture, their way of life and their liberty to the dreaded and evil enemy.

That was why it was so important that Dr. Greening and his colleagues succeeded in creating a weapon that would give them the upper hand and end the war. That was why he was running on coffee and only three hours of sleep, trying to fight the effects of exhaustion. He sighed and pushed open the doors of the test lab. Inside a handful of scientists like him were bustling around, carrying out the last minute details before the final test was preformed. As Dr. Greening entered the room, another scientist approached him.

"Good Evening, Robert." The man said.

"Hello Mike. Here are the samples. I hope it's enough." Dr. Greening said.

Dr. Mike Callis examined them, "It the perfect amount. Thank you. I would have sent one of the undergrads to get them but Jake sent them all home a couple of hours ago and since you were returning with the coffee, I thought you would be able to get the samples."

"It was no problem and speaking of coffee, here." Dr. Greening said as he handed his friend some coffee.

"Ahhh........ Thank you, my friend. There's nothing like caffeine and sugar to get your blood pumping." Dr. Callis smiled.

"You bet. So it's just us left, all the students went home?" said Dr. Greening to clarify.

"That's right. Only us grisly, old professors left. Oh, the joys of being a student. You got eight hours of sleep, five hours of classes, and the rest all your own. If only I could return to such days." Said Dr. Callis with mock fondness.

Dr. Greening smiled, "You may return if you like, but I think you will miss the recognition of your accomplishments."

"Even then I received recognition."

"Oh? Who from?"

"My mother." Said Dr. Callis with a feigned air of seriousness. Dr. Greening just shook his head and smiled again. Then a voice called them altogether.

"Alright gentlemen, if all go as planned we will finally have reached our goal; a weapon that will give us the upper hand in this war. So cross your fingers and let's get to work." Said Dr. Wayes. Once he had explained the necessary details and procedure again, everyone got to work finishing the last minute details. When everything was ready,  all the scientists got behind the protective shield to watch the experiment. Dr. Jason Keening sat at the controls and began the count down.

"3....2....1...." then as he reach zero, he pressed the button. For a moment nothing happened. Then there was a brilliant, blinding flash that lasted for a minute then was gone as suddenly as it appeared. Nothing was left behind the glass, nothing to show what had happened. For a while there was no sound, just a stunned silence. Suddenly, all of the scientists burst into cheers. They went around congratulating each other and shaking each other's hands. The experiment was a success.

Six months later, a powerful weapon capable of planetary destruction was built. It was created based on the data gather by the Institute of Military Defense and Offensive Technology. It was loaded into the fleet's most powerful starship. The target was the enemy's home planet. A little blue and green planet with an oxygen-rich atmosphere. A lovely little earth.

The Captain turned to his lieutenant. The target loomed before them.

"Ready, lieutenant?" asked the Captain.

"Ready sir." Answered the lieutenant. He flicked open the protective covering over a large, blinking red button.

"On my mark then," the Captain took a breath, "Fire."

The End

"Now I am Death, Shatterer of Worlds."

- The Bhagavad Gita