The ARK was disengaged from its launchers and was approaching the orbital hook.
The manoeuvre was performed by AI, but manual control was still possible.
Tanner was in his seat, as was the rest of the crew, watching their world slip away. It was the last time they would see planet Earth in their lifetime.
Many wept or confessed to loved ones who had stayed behind. Others promised to meet again using a cryogenic unit. One company specialised in cryonics. This was strictly forbidden except in this very specific case.
The ARK climbed at an incredible speed towards the orbital zone and from there we could see a glass belt filled with fields and drills in orbit but with limited gravity, lower down.
This artificial belt was based on 'The Line', Saudi Arabia's mega-project that has made it possible to live without too much heat due to global warming.
The "Belt" also provided permanent shade for the Equator, thus limiting the "belt of fire" and halting the advance of the desert, which is burning everything.
As a result, the flora and fauna have been able to go back in time and redevelop.
The genetic arks were thus able to reintroduce species that had disappeared and halt the mega-extinction that had begun.
But for Tanner, these problems were a thing of the past.
He checked everything before the big jump
The whole crew would be going into cryonics, a science that was still new and had never been tried for more than 20 years.
That's why there would be rotations. 4 Cryos were planned, with 2 less duty and medical examinations.
The trip would have been pointless if old people were sent to die in space or on arrival.
With young people, in the event of a major crisis, they would still be strong at 55 or 60 and still able to reproduce. But that was not the solution. They would have starved to death, died of boredom or killed each other. Putting 1,000 people in an isolated cylinder was not something that was healthy for the mind, even with the best facilities and leisure activities on site.
The Ark was still a city-sized transport vessel, but it wasn't a worldship. It would have needed to be 10 times bigger, but resources and finances would not allow it. Not yet.
Vidocq, the second-in-command and general, representing the armed forces and also the guarantor of security, would also have to ensure that there were no mutinies, or anything else that could jeopardise the mission.
He had experience of long voyages to IO and Jupiter with a view to setting up a colony in orbit, then on IO. It all ended in a bloodbath, and only a few officers were able to keep their cool in the face of scientists who either went berserk or found God in their enlightenment. After investigation, a hallucinogenic mushroom was the cause. It must have mutated under the cosmic radiation and proliferated on the scientists.
All these unfortunate experiences enabled the scientists to guard against this kind of accident.
Maxime and Sacha were with Kim, their best friend, and they were installed in the ARK.
As the ARK finished its farewell tour of the Earth, the messages came thick and fast and those who were panicking were injected with painkillers.
The pressure was terrible and heartbreaking.
"Calm down!" ordered Tanner from his microphone, especially to the young children, most of whom were 12 years old and of all ethnicities. A few adults would accompany them, but perhaps not until the end of the journey.
They would be trained during the awakening phases, a hundred at a time.
But they had been chosen as elites and their knowledge at the age of 12 was at the level of higher education. The best of them already had the knowledge of graduates or basic engineers.
We didn't know what was waiting for them over there and sending trained marines or soldiers was impossible. The only result would have been senile, gun-toting grandads on arrival.
The engines were roaring and Sacha was scared. She shook hands with her friend Maxime, sitting next to her, while Kim looked out of the window screen.
A shock followed by a "Klang" signalled to everyone that the mating rail had been engaged and the ARK was about to combine with the city ship Artemis.
Several hours later, the Artemis launched its engines towards Mars to take advantage of a gravitational catapult.
The journey to Mars would last 2 months and would allow everything to be tested before the final jump and leaving the solar system forever.
Everyone was redirected to their quarters. Everything was mixed. Everything had already been tidied up before departure and naturally our friends headed for the cafeteria. Of course, alcohol was reserved for officers and pilots.
They drank water with flavours like coke and fruit juice and listened to the adventures of Maniac, an ace fighter pilot. A real fighter pilot.
He was surrounded by 2 pretty instructors and his cup flew in pursuit of the saucer or saucer saucer to explain aerial manoeuvres during the Civil War.
He was in his forties and he was now teaching that everything had been quiet for 20 years and that the war and the nations had been pacified except for the Commonwealth and the USA, which formed a separate bloc for the wealthy. But there was peace! Now they had no dollars to spend.
Days and courses went by.
From time to time, we went on holiday to the 'beach', a sort of immense lake that also served as a salt reservoir for aquatic species to be captured and as huge greenhouses for oxygen, cultivation and also to have a peaceful spot for a stroll. Access was reserved and shared under strict conditions.
There was also a complete isolated area where experiments could be carried out and where repairs could be made and recycled in the event of a major accident.
With such a long journey, anything could happen.
There were also huge workshops where everything could be repaired and parts of the ship rebuilt, and other areas were military and classified as defence secrets.
A huge axis was installed here and, theoretically, it was an atmospheric converter to make the atmosphere breathable. It was also a weapon of mass destruction capable of suffocating an entire planet to eliminate a threat.
A true conquistador ship.
So the journey to Mars was trouble-free, with no incidents to deplore.
Then the cryogenic systems were activated and put under automatic control. For a year, everyone, including the captain, was cryogenically frozen. The controls were still under Earth control in case of trouble. Robot drones could intervene if anything went wrong.
Meanwhile, on Alpha...
"I exclaimed when I saw the best alchemy lab in the world.
It was all a jumble, with parchments mixed in with books and quill pens lying around next to various chemical oddities, salts and impure oxides.
I started screaming and summoned Maxime and Sacha.
They were trembling in front of me but I reassured them.
"Don't be afraid... You see the mess just as I do... it's not jumping out at you???"
Sacha : "Yes, Sire Mir..."
I smile without showing my teeth.
"You are misunderstood Heroes and I know that you have hidden gifts... We're going to exploit them. You have the gift of teaching, don't you? "
Sacha smiled at last. "You are the first to consider our powers..."
With a raised claw and the curved side, I stroked his hair.
"You've had chemistry lessons, I presume?"
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
The 2 earthlings nodded.
"Organise me a real chemistry laboratory and teach the alchemists... no... the goblin shamans the basics... You and I both understand!"
"Yes, Dragon Lord... the spies. The humans don't trust you... they stay out of fear alone."
"I know all about that..."
The next day, Sacha and Maxime had melted down the glass vials, proceeded to purify them and turn them into Pyrex. The tubes, pipes and modular systems began to be blown.
Tremendous progress had been made.
Then the clocks, chronometers and various tools were brought in.
Meanwhile, the Orc and Military chiefs were worried.
"The wyvern. We don't understand. He has steel cubes made, intricate spinning tops and copper knots all over the place!"
"Yes, and he has the jewellers make gold and bronze plates to put in glass tubes and he makes us sort out the grains of sand... He's crazy!!!! and meanwhile, the northern dukes have joined the coalition. They're amassing an army 10 to 20 times bigger than anything we have, and on several fronts. "
"The Demon Lord is going to get killed and I'm sure he's going to get torn apart by the other Demon Lords or the heroes otherwise. Besides, he didn't stand a chance against Zalar!!!"
"Yes, you're right... even a hero from the North or an elite soldier from the Northern Duchy could kill him while the armies are busy!"
Goblin Lord :" He trusts us more than the humans... but I have a bad feeling about this. He hasn't yet launched the champion recruitment campaign, started collecting artefacts or secured access to the other towns. We'll implode and a few small armies of a few reinforced units, and the capital will fall."
Orc Shaman: "Yet he has just harvested water of death but the enchantress and her spies must have followed him. They'll take corrosion protection, a few enchantments and simply leather skins and it will have been for nothing!"
Goblin Lord: "But the explosion! It looked fearsome!"
Warlord Enclin (human): "Yes, but that was dragon saliva! Let's say they all gorge themselves on chilli, a few litres won't make any difference on the battlefield.
At best, they'll kill twenty or so soldiers... and then what????
Meanwhile, the dwarves had been working day and night on the first steam engine.
That evening, I was amazed at the meticulous work, the bronze and the cuts.
I asked Maxime to check the dimensions and everything had been respected. The dwarves were curious.
I was in the industrial research hall while the wyverns, with Sacha, were making the first explosive mixes to make cotton and military explosives.
First of all, everything was made of wood and nothing could produce sparks.
They were assisted by goblins and lots of little silver coins were dangling.
I insisted: "It's a secret, but death prevents its coming with money. If the money turns even the slightest bit black, flee! and ventilate! but don't breathe! it's death!"
Basically, toxic gases would turn pure silver black in the event of a leak, for example, of hydro sulphuric gases.
The goblins would work on explosive mixtures. The wyverns on the purification and extraction of sulphuric acid and the manufacture of nitric acid.
The room was deliberately bathed in the deadly mixture to protect it from spies.
Tension was mounting within the army and I could feel it.
Then I invited the goblin lord into the technical area.
On a table, there was a strange mechanism with wheels and metal boxes. Next to it was a brazier and boiling water.
There weren't many people there, except the dwarves, some goblins and a few curious technicians.
"Sasha, show them!"
She closed a tap on the lid of the boiling water tank and a needle began to move, indicating the rising pressure.
A whistle with a spring regulated the excess pressure and she opened a small tap leading to a piston mounted on wheels and ... miracle, they began to turn!
The dwarves applauded and so did the technicians, but the chefs wondered what the trick was.
"Lord Dragon, we know how to make a wheel turn with magic!
An accomplished smile to put me in my place spread across their faces.
"Good... you've got a point... But if you have to transport 1,000 tonnes of ore on a journey that takes 15 days... how many mages will it take?"
"1000 mages???"
"My solution is 0 mages with this!... And when will the other Lord demons attack? The enchantress and the other mages, what will they do first????"
Enclin :" They're going to cast debuffs, spheres of silence or use their divine tear to block the empress's magic and attack in numbers."
Me: "Sacha, keep going!"
She stopped the wheel and replaced the cauldron with a smaller one with a magic crystal inside, encased in iron;
Only the water was in contact with the crystal.
The wheel began to turn faster and with greater force and the whole thing was halved without the big boiler.
Me: "Now, cast an anti-magic spell!"
A Shaman vocalized a guttural chant incomprehensible even to me and... nothing happened.
A magic lamp was brought nearer and everything went out.
I said again: "You see... the possibilities... This is a primitive engine. I know engines a thousand times more powerful, but we don't have the time.
The trick is that it resists magic and can continue to generate movement even in the event of a powerful magical attack.
Enclin: "But what good does that do us?
In 10 days, the Duke of the North will surrender, begging me!
Sacha, please continue! "
Everyone was astonished that I respected a hero normally destined to kill me.
She stopped the secondary wheel, a clutch and put the square block with copper knots.
She lowered a lever and the axle began to turn at high speed.
She then picked up an electroscope, a needle system with a magnet and coils.
"250 volts, Lord!"
"Lower the speed with the weights."
And the indicator went down.
"Perfect!"
Heat, water and fire feed the generator! The signal indicates that lightning is being generated!
Be careful, it hurts and it can kill!"
Wanting to make his presence felt, Enclin pulled on his chain mail glove and as soon as he touched the 2 wires, he screamed, his hair standing on end as he was ejected, slammed against the wall, half-stunned and holding his sore arm.
The shamans detected no magic. It was compact, small but dangerously deadly.
They had just discovered electricity but nobody understood.
Me: "I can see that you don't understand a thing... but the spies understand even less!"
The shaman opened his eyes and watched the little hero.
She cut the power with a switch and plugged in a glass tube.
It lit up.
"As you can see, this science is 2000 years ahead of you. But this is just the beginning. Unfortunately, we're running out of time.
There are many applications... By redistributing energy, it is also defensive...
Go on, Sacha.."
she plugged a tank of water with a wire in it into a "sugar", a sort of wooden socket, and when she plugged the current back in, the water started to heat up...
Then she plugged in 4 motors, all 4 of which started to turn at the same time. And finally a stinking block of acid, lead and copper sheets squeezed like a book into a black glass container.
The electroscope showed energy, then she switched off the steam engine and connected the electric motor to the battery.
The motor also started to turn and the lamp lit up.
"As you can see, we can use a central system like the dam, transport the energy over miles and redistribute it in a lighting system, spotlights to light up the sky at night and the streets. So we can live at night and set up underground dungeons.
We can heat ourselves, heat water and cook, and use the engines to turn tools to mass-produce metal, alloys, barbed wire and weapons.
You can transport large quantities of minerals, but also troops and build tunnels very quickly. The possibilities are endless.
The generals were talking amongst themselves, confused by this mysterious marvel.
The Orc Shaman asked: "But the system, if the enchantress pays for it, they'll get the same thing!
"The system is unique to Alpha. This technology is unknown even to the Gods here! It's an aberration to them and without guidance, it's death!"
I nodded and Sacha connected a cylinder with 2 balls.
As soon as she plugged in the power, lightning flashes sounded.
"Lightning!!! without magic!!!"
Sacha, like any good assistant, removed a cloth from a table and revealed a model.
A model of a castle with a water belt was displayed with metal grills on the walls.
Hungry rats were released and scurried up the walls with cheese on the edge.
They were instantly electrified and died instantly!
Another model was discovered showing pylons and a cross-section of an underground passage.
A mouse approached the high-voltage line and was struck by an electric arc. The same happened in the underground passage.
"I dare you to cut the cable!
All were perturbed but not yet convinced.
Enclin resumed.
"Your Majesty, these are marvels you are showing us. We are speechless but all this will not be able to stop 2 armies of 50,000 men.
You will resist a little more but we will be overwhelmed. We're running out of time!
"You're right, we're running out of time and we've never had any!
Then a page arrived!
"Lord! there's been an accident! some soldiers have died near the dragons' pit".
We left the palace and headed for the "dragon pit", an ingenious system for storing explosives in the early days.
Officers and inspectors lay in the low corridors.
The page wanted to approach and my tail prevented him from advancing, the silver plates being black.
"Remove the magic!"
A goblin shaman cast a dispelling spell and a red uniform appeared on the soldier.
"They used their authority to inspect under my name and place spies or artifices for the Enchantress. They breathed death!"
I wasn't going to tell them how to escape!
Indeed, the Enchantress could no longer see what was being done in the premises protected by iron powder, the excuse being to bring in ore to smelt tools.
Next, we visited the underground workshop, starting from a huge cave near the castle;
Hundreds of rolls of fabric were latexed and fixed to a wooden and metal framework.
Hundreds of rolls of fabric were latexed and attached to a wooden and metal framework. A number of thin sheet metal cylinders were filled with a powder that stung the nose, mixed with glass globes with metallic powder inside.
The work was titanic and hundreds of goblins and dwarves were at work following Maxime's instructions.
A giant tent? In the shape of a tube?
But everything reeked of latex and fermented sauerkraut.
Just to be on the safe side, we stayed away.
Then the seat towers were dismantled and the components recovered.
Pulleys, pulleys and pulleys.
Enclin asked, what are these?
"Pulley bows, here a counterweight, and here a ring for aiming. The stupidest will still hit his target".
"And what's this crossbow? There's a ring at the base and a crank."
"General Enclin, put your foot here, and turn the crank!"
The bow bowed but the pressure was formidable.
He put a bolt in and aimed at a flat piece of armour on a base.
The bolt penetrated the armour and came out the other side.
"I've never seen such a powerful crossbow!
I motioned to a frail goblin to use the crossbow and he attached it to a rod and swung it around.
blin!
"Use the charge!"
In place of the tile was a glass bottle with a quartz at the bottom.
"aim for the stone wall"
The goblin aimed at the low training wall 50 metres away and as soon as the projectile hit the wall, it exploded, sending blocks to the generals' feet.
"Orc: such damage for such a small goblin!!!"
Enclin: "But the quantity! How? When? In 2 weeks, it will be an invasion!
"Yes, you're right, but 100,000 men will eat! And to gain time, we have to destroy their farms and reserves!
Enclin nodded.