King of All I Survey
Chapter 89: The Corbomite Project

Chapter 89: The Corbomite Project

"I can’t answer that. If you wish to pursue the theoretical concept of whether it is possible to bypass basic shielding that way, you’ll have to do all the calculations and draw up plans on your own. That would make any such discovery an independent development by Earth. You would be able to claim it as Earth proprietary technology, whether or not similar technology exists elsewhere. Which I can neither confirm nor deny," Joe told me. "If I did use my prior knowledge to assist or guide your research choices, that would invalidate any claim that Earth arrived at the concept independently."

"That implies... I mean, it seems to me that there are more advanced multi-dimensional shields that would impact even such a... what would you call it, a translocated missile." I mused aloud. "I know, I have to figure it out myself."

"So, in a way that you can answer, let me ask you this: Is the Galactic Union the only empire that can destroy shielded warships without resorting to super-high energy weapons?"

"No, there is one other." Joe said.

"But not everybody." I concluded, "Is the Galactic Union the only empire that could stop a translocated missile with some kind of special shielding?" I asked.

"Again, there is one other."

"Are the Galactic Union warships unstoppable then? Can they be destroyed at all if their shields are up?"

"There is no record of an advanced Galactic Union Warship being destroyed by any other civilization." Joe said.

"OK, but you didn’t say they can’t be destroyed, just that nobody else knows how. So, either there’s a way to get through even multi-dimensional shields... or there’s a way to disable the shields or some part of the shields... maybe by changing the properties of the space-time in which they exist in such a way that they don’t work..." I was just thinking out loud and fishing for responses from Joe.

"If you were to develop such a weapon on your own, you could claim it as Earth technology and bypass any prohibitions on using Galactic Union’s unlicensable technologies, if such exist at all." Joe said.

"I see what you’re doing there, Joe." I said smiling, "But damn, that’s going to take a long time for me, even if I can figure it all out." I envisioned myself sequestered in a lab working out complicated equations all day, every day, for years. Then I imagined the whole world government thing falling apart while I was off doing math homework... "Dang it, Joe. If I could figure it out though, Earth would be a superpower in the Galaxy! We certainly wouldn’t need GU protection, and if they threatened to attack, I could just send the tech instructions for destroying their advanced warships to every other civilization in the galaxy..." My voice grew more excited as I spoke. That was a potential solution to saving Earth from alien invaders, permanently, without making us economic slaves to the Galactic Union!

"I just don’t have the time right now..." I said dejectedly.

"If only," Joe said in a mocking tone, "Earth had some sort of centers of higher learning with people who specialized in physics research that could be recruited to the project, memory implanted with real physics and math beyond current Earth’s understanding in the same way you were..." He trailed off.

"Are you calling me stupid?" I asked smiling. Of course, I could get people like Professor Donaldson up to speed with memory implant training then put an entire team of enthusiastic theoretical physicists on the problem. That should have been obvious to me.

"I think I need to go to school tomorrow, Mom and Dad will have to handle world conquest for a day or two without me." The thought seemed so preposterous that I chuckled out loud.

"Joe, can you do personality screening to see if people will keep secrets? I can’t have people rushing to publish papers on this kind of weaponry, the GU would wipe us out if they thought we were working on it, protection contract or not. Plus, there’d be Earth nations that would try to use it to take control. I just can’t have multiple governments with that kind of weapons capability."

"If it even exists as a possibility," Joe added.

"Right, right, if it’s even possible... Anyway, can you screen for something like that?"

"Yes, but not with absolute certainty. I can get into the high sixty or low seventy percent confidence level with psychological screening, but no more on something like that. The fantastic nature of the concept will alter their reactions compared to what might be their normal behaviors," Joe answered.

"Hmmm... What if I hired them with a little sneak peak at some of the physics to pique their interest, then the employment contract required six months or two years or whatever, at a secluded research facility, maybe on a private island where their families could also live..."

"Or I could stress the importance of keeping this project secret because the entire human race is under threat by aliens, and this is the equivalent to the Manhattan Project, except maybe it would be the Moon Base Alpha project." My eyes lit up at a sudden inspiration, "or the Corbomite Project! Dad would love that!"

"All right, Joe, I’m going to work out some way to propose this and gather up a bunch of top physicists. Don’t forget to bring Mom and Dad back from Fiji later."

I walked through the headquarters to where I thought the tree trunk should be. It was empty space at the back of the Welcome Hall. I slowly walked through the area and felt nothing different. Nothing at all...

I remembered something, "Hey Joe, how are the android bodies coming along?"

"I should have the first ones ready tomorrow," he said excitedly.

I smiled, "Cool! I can’t wait to see what you decided to look like! Will mine be ready?"

"Yes, your first two will be completed as well."

"Excellent," I said. "Say can you put a desk and chair up in the lookout tower? I want to work from there tonight."

"Yes, sending a fabrication mech now. It’ll be ready in 12 minutes. Would you like notepads and writing implements as well?"

Yes, please."