Table Of ContentAPOCALYPSE 2073
The Complete
24-Part Series
Volumes 1 thru 3 In The Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Series
Published By:
Parker James
Copyright © Parker James 2013
First Edition
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or means without the written permission of the
author, except in cases of brief quotation.
The Alien Message
“Time serves no man.
Make of it what you will
in the time allotted.”
Prologue
The Apocalypse; Doomsday; Armageddon. It had been called so many things,
always an ever-present possibility in the back of mankind’s collective psyche.
Our story begins in the far distant future; Erin Conyers suspended in animation
for over 52 years, farther out in space than any had ever been. Ten years prior to
the catastrophe that changed the face of the planet forever, mankind had been
forewarned by an unknown intelligence of an impending disaster. One of the
relatively few to survive, these are her remembrances of those very dark days,
when the world collapsed in a hail of nuclear destruction occurring on an
unimaginable scale.
Table of Contents
The Alien Message
Prologue
Table of Contents
Episode 1: “The Immortals”
Episode 2: “Apocalypse 2073”
Episode 3: “Into the Bunkers”
EPISODE 4: “Precipice”
Episode 5: “Armageddon”
Episode 6: “Journey”
Episode 7: “Rescue”
Episode 8: “Arrival”
Episode 9: “Eve of Destruction”
Episode 10: “Nuclear Holocaust”
Episode 11: “Darkness Falls”
Episode 12: “Aftermath”
Episode 13: “Damage Control”
Episode 14: “Restoration”
Episode 15: “Crisis”
Episode 16: “Truth Be Told”
Episode 17: “Grindstone”
Episode 18: “The Dome”
Episode 19: “Descent”
Episode 20: “The Sanctuary”
Episode 21: “First Contact”
Episode 22: “Surface Recon”
Episode 23: “Ultimatum”
Episode 24: “Ceasefire”
Epilogue
From the Author
Additional Works
Episode 1: “The Immortals”
“Time serves no man. Make of it what you will in the time allotted.” That
was the alien message received in the year 2064; 155 years ago. In the
beginning that was true, as true as anything. Certainly Erin Conyers knew it.
The year was now 2219. Against all odds through her many decades of life Erin
had survived catastrophe upon catastrophe and somehow despite everything still
survived. She was one of the few, most of mankind having been literally wiped
off the face of the earth. Yet technology had continued to march on; ever
forward. In the late twentieth century mankind had conquered space, or the
beginnings of it, if you could call it that. If one were to look back on those early
years of exploration it was as far removed today from the first flight at Kitty
Hawk compared to the International Space Station. For now, in this year, man
had truly conquered the stars.
Mankind was also at a crossroads. Footholds were established on various
planets and habitable moons with the ability to support life within the confines
of humanities’ ability to survive, yet resources were scarce and an ever present
problem. Captain Erin Conyers’ mission, at least on paper, was a simple one -
“Locate other forms of intelligent life, specifically those encountered in the year
2064.” The Alliance had given Erin control over the vessel “Discovery,”
launched in the year 2167. The ship was technologically state of the art, no
expense having been spared. Its primary propulsion system consisted of
polarized magnetic drives complimented by a rocket fueled propulsion system.
With a small contingent of fourteen, she and her crew embarked upon their
journey; the mission directive clear. What the outcome would be was a
complete unknown, yet this much was a certainty; the future destiny of mankind
depended upon their success.
Once leaving the solar system she and her crew had been travelling in the
Outer Territories for more than 50 years, locked away in retention chambers
suspended in animation. Despite her many years of life Erin Conyers looked
beautiful, having aged only one week for each year spent in the chamber; a slight
tradeoff all things being considered. The chamber certainly carried risks,
especially in those early years when they were first brought into use one-hundred
and fifty years ago, but they were risks that Erin was willing to take. She had
taken them many times before. On this journey she would be called Captain for
the very first time during her very long career. Recruited into the Alliance in
2137 at the tender age of nineteen, much had taken place during the prior two
centuries. Despite being in the retention chambers during most of “The Great
Upheavals of 2073,” she had personally been witness to much of it only to once
again retreat back into the chambers in times of peril. The year of her birth
coincided with one of the greatest discoveries bestowed upon mankind; that we
are not alone in the universe.
It had been known for some time that intelligent life had existed in the
universe, and what was once thought to be a “fluke” of nature was in fact
commonplace. Life existed in many forms. Not only was life not a rarity, life
was more of a commonplace. Appearing to be perhaps in her mid-twenties, she
was in fact 32 years old according to universal adjustment standards. This
adjusted for the time spent in the chambers; aging only one week for each year
spent in stasis due to the reduced metabolic rate. Technically, in linear years she
was 155 years old; perhaps the oldest human being in existence. Often she
would hear the words “you look good for your age.” She got used to it. For
those who came after her it would be difficult for them to fully comprehend.
Mankind would not have been in the desperate situation it now found itself
in except for its vast excesses, using up earth’s limited resources at an
unsustainable rate inevitably leading to a global nuclear holocaust. Where once
there had been over nine billion inhabitants on earth alone, only 900 million
remained on that planet. On the other planets and orbiting space stations,
perhaps another 200,000 souls existed. Somehow mankind had survived the
nuclear holocaust and once again gained a foothold.
Although her mission appeared simple on paper after the original short-
lived encounter with the unknown alien intelligence, mankind had virtually no
contact with them, the original encounter being as brief as possible. A simple
message - “Children, we are watching you and our concern is great. Look into
yourselves if you wish to avoid the future that is inevitable, for it is upon you.”
It was an electronic message sent by a circling vessel; human kind not even
knowing what the aliens who sent that prophetic message looked like. Their
predictions had come to pass, and at this point, this crossroads, mankind
desperately needed assistance from any and all sources available; no matter what
the risks involved. It was deadly serious business. Over eight billion human
beings had been wiped out almost two centuries earlier, what would it take to
wipe out the remaining one billion? The best Allied Space Command could
hope for was that the Discovery had been sent in the proper direction; that in
which the alien vessel had taken upon its departure.
As Erin “slept” in the suspension chamber, she also dreamt. Dreaming was
such a rarity; so very few were capable of it. Perhaps it was due to her many
times in the chambers, four in all, many having been for extended periods.
Perhaps it was due to her original method of suspension. She let her mind
wander back to her birth prior to the “Great Upheavals of 2073.” The ensuing
years were a series of catastrophes the likes of which earth had never before
witnessed; nuclear war, famine, and death on such a massive scale that the face
of the planet had been changed forever. She had survived the great upheavals
due in large part to her parents. She was one of the lucky ones. The retention
chambers were a new technology at the time and no one knew what the ultimate
outcome of their use would be. Their construction was rushed and fully three
out of every ten individuals placed into those first chambers hadn’t survived
regardless of age, although the younger ones seemed to fair slightly better. Erin
had. She hadn’t only survived, she thrived. While most lacked the ability to
dream, the chambers had the opposite effect on Erin. Her ability to expand her
mind and direct her thoughts served her well in the decades to follow. She was
thankful for that. Some woke after many decades feeling as though only one
single day had passed, while Erin felt as if she had lived every moment. And as
she dreamt she often imagined she heard a voice - “Come child, I await you.”
Was it a dream? She couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t just her mind playing tricks
on her, simply passing away the time in any way possible. Sometimes she felt as
if she could even sense the presence of her crew. Including herself there were
fourteen individuals in the vast chambers of her ship. While five of the crew
members were located in close proximity to her, another eight had been placed
lower in the bowels of the ship for the sake of safety. Many improvements to
the chambers had been made over the years, and Erin fully hoped and expected
that each member of her crew would awake intact and healthy. All were
veterans and had survived the rigors of the chambers several times before. She
expected no different this time.
Fifty years in deep space could wreak havoc on a ship; time taking its toll
on both man and machine. Continuing to dream she thought to herself that “it
won’t be long now.” Was it her own inner voice she was hearing, that they were
close to their destination and soon it would be time to wake and continue with
their mission? She sensed that the time to wake was close at hand. Yet she
dreamt on, back to her youth when it had all began. Had she not been in the
suspension chambers during those extended periods of time, she would long ago
have been forgotten; a footnote in history. Despite being one of the oldest living
human beings in existence, it was not a particular source of pride for her. Born in
the year 2064, her parents were terrified when the extraterrestrials’ ship first
appeared on NORAD’S radar. Her father, Mitchell Conyers, was a Professor at
MIT and had been deeply involved in special projects for the military. Together
with his wife Anya, they were the ones who for all intents and purposes invented
the chambers. Having a young child only fueled their drive to complete a fully
functioning chamber; the alien’s message having been extremely clear. A
catastrophe was coming; one that would drastically change mankind’s future, if
not in fact eliminate human beings for all time. Their daughter was their
primary concern, giving them the determination required to complete their task.
The prototype was simple. With all of its wires and diagnostic equipment,
it looked more like a glorified toaster oven in its earlier stages than what in fact
it truly was. That would change quickly. Originally their timeframe to
completion was 15 to 20 years to produce a fully functioning chamber, complete
with testing at minimal risk. At the behest of the military these risks were
pushed to the limit
In her early years Erin had a relatively normal childhood; the only
additional knowledge common to all was that mankind was not alone in the
universe. Being the age she was that knowledge seemed as normal to her as
someone who had grown up with a telephone when first invented; it seemed as
though it had always been known. Daycare and then kindergarten at the age of
five; only four years and the great upheavals of 2073 would be upon them. But
that was unspoken by her teachers. They preferred to talk of other things; basic
education and the enlightenment of knowing that humans were not alone in the
universe. Occasionally she did catch an inkling of a more dire situation;
sometimes her parents would argue about one technical aspect of the chambers
or the other, what course of action to take, what might potentially work and what
was not working. She was a little ahead of others her age, having possessed a
knowledge that they did not.
With over nine 9 billion people on the planet, food, gas, housing, clothing;
the cost of anything and everything required to live a basic existence was
astronomical. Erin was somewhat relieved of this burden. With her parents’
positions at MIT and most especially working on special projects financed by the
military, the normal worries of life were somewhat alleviated. Her parents and
General Phillip McCreary, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had one goal;
the General making his expectations of the Conyers’ clear – “get those damn
things up and running, and get them up and running fast.” That was their
objective, made even more imperative over their concern for their daughter and
her future survival should the worst occur. They had no desire to have any more
