Storming Heaven Read Free

power spike…”
     
    The display seemed to blur as the Killers went to work.  The rocky planet was struck by beams of powerful energy, rapidly disintegrating into an asteroid field.  Chiyo watched in terror and awe as the Killers wove their gravity net around the asteroids trapping them and slowly funnelling them towards the star.  The sheer power left her speechless; the Killers hadn’t just rendered the world uninhabitable, they’d torn it apart!  It made no sense to her at all.  The system had plenty of asteroids they could have used without destroying an entire planet.
     
    “They may have required additional resources,” the AI suggested, finally.  It would have been monitoring her physical condition and would have known that she was on the verge of going into shock.  She relaxed slightly as her implants fed more calming drugs into her system.  “Human theorists suggested, at one point, destroying Mercury in order to use the presence of Sol to assist in working the released ores.  The Killers may have evolved a similar concept.”
     
    Chiyo said nothing for a long moment, watching as the Killers continued their task.  “We may even be on the verge of discovering another Killer shipyard,” the AI added, in hopes of raising the human’s enthusiasm.  “The construction of Icebergs certainly requires considerable resources.”
     
    “Maybe,” Chiyo said, slowly.  “They could still have mined the asteroids for a hundred years and not run out of material to produce a thousand Icebergs .”
     
    The next few hours passed slowly.  The Killers were wrapping the entire system in beams of gravity, somehow using the star as a source of power.  Beams of gravity reached out across the star system, catching the newly formed asteroids and pulling them in towards the star.  The Killer starships broke off as the beams of gravity took over and headed towards their next target, the second rocky world.  Chiyo watched as that world, too, was shattered, the raw material released pulled towards the star.  The sheer scale of their power kept her focused.  She couldn’t believe that anyone, even the Killers, would destroy an entire star system just for fun.  There had to be a deeper purpose in mind.
     
    “I am picking up additional power fluctuations from the star itself,” the AI said, as new icons appeared on the display.  “They do not seem to confirm to any previously observed Killer activity.”
     
    “They’re not planning to rip apart the star ,” Chiyo said, in flat denial.  It seemed impossible…but with such command of gravity, it might just be possible.  It would also mean certain death for her.  Without the star’s gravity, her scout ship would be hurled away on the wrong course and she’d never locate the carrier again.  She would have to risk a transmission, which might bring the Killers down on her.  “They can’t…”
     
    “Apparently not,” the AI agreed.  “Power fluctuations are coming from an installation orbiting the star at ten thousand kilometres.”
     
    “It should have melted,” Chiyo said.  Ten thousand kilometres was nothing on a cosmic scale.  If she took her scout ship so close to the star, it would be destroyed.  “Show me; direct optical observation.”
     
    The image appeared in the centre of her display, dimmed to protect her eyes.  The star was a massive white globe; the installation, a massive hexagon seemingly floating just above the star, was a black shape.  The AI put up a scale for her without even being asked; the hexagon was over a million kilometres across, huge beyond imagination.  The Killers had built vast structures before, but this…Chiyo felt, not for the first time, the huge gulf between humanity and their tormentors and felt afraid.  How could anyone hope to stand against power like that?
     
    “What is that?”  She asked, finally.  “Are they trying to enclose the star?”
     
    “Uncertain,” the AI replied, flatly.