Escape from Chara Prime

Escape from Chara Prime: A short story by Michael Selden, edited by John Hudspith

Chara Prime: an Earth-like planet orbiting the yellow main sequence star Chara, or more formally: Beta Canum Venaticorum, located in constellation Canes Venatic, using an ancient stellar reference.

Chara is approximately 27.3 light years from the Human Origin, Sol, another yellow dwarf star around which the planet formerly known as Earth once orbited before its complete destruction during the first rebellion.

Locally, Chara Prime is known as Giddeon, and was one of the first worlds settled by humans—in fact the very first Earth colony. It currently has a population of 8.7 billion inhabitants. The primary economy of Giddeon includes agriculture, food processing and storage, as well as the mining of rare elements among asteroids found in the system. The local government consists of a constitutional monarchy that can trace its beginnings back to when the colony was first founded.

—

Report from Admiral Koort to the Imperial Board of Regents:

We've arrayed ships of the fleet in a concentric spherical formation throughout the system at distances ranging from one standard Astronomical Unit to one-half light year from the system's star.

As the planet still retains significant defense capability, assault ships are orbiting at longer ranges, on hold until the planetary defenses can be reduced

and military supremacy achieved. I anticipate this will take twenty to thirty standard rotations, assuming we are trying to avoid inflicting major ecological damage to the planet itself.

As ordered, we await the arrival of a Praetorian task force to lead the actual ground assault. I advise that this task force stay well away from the planet until I can guarantee its safety.

We've eliminated most of the planet's remote sensors and inserted robotic mines into orbit around the planet to deter and destroy any vessel attempting to leave without permission. Communication channels from the star system had been eliminated before the fleet appeared on their sensors. I cannot guarantee that no signal was transmitted prior to this, but communications have been denied to the planet since the fleet arrived, and we believe that escape from the surface is not possible.

Gharam Koort, Commander, 7453rd Imperial Fleet

—

Giddeon Defense Headquarters

The chamber was several kilometers beneath the surface of the planet and Colonel Alireza Karimi, formerly of the Imperial Navy, could almost feel the intense weight of rock above him. Chara Prime was his ancestral home, and after serving in the Navy for more than fifteen years, the Colonel decided he'd had enough—enough of the brutality imposed by the Council of Regents' controlling of the galaxy. Bad timing, he thought. The Colonel had returned just last year to begin working the family farm when thousands of ships had appeared in the system. He'd rushed to volunteer for the planetary defense force, and his experience was welcomed right away without question.

"Another wave inbound, General," Alireza said.

"Number and Time till impact?"

"It looks like eighty-one objects . . . no, make that eighty-five. Estimate to enter the atmosphere in . . . ten rotations." "Composition?"

"They appear to be natural—asteroids. I detect no artificial signatures."

"Okay. We'll keep the arrays quiet for now. Are there any other remaining anti-ship weapons out there?"