Blue Sky of Mars

by Christopher R Wills

  “How long will it take Brains?”

  “About an hour, sir. During that time we’ll be sitting ducks because we must reduce power to the standby system, although the guns have their own independent power so we can shoot back, but that’s about it. Oh, and there’s no guarantee it will work.”

  “That’s not my problem,” said Jethro. “That’s your problem.”

  “Thanks for that,” said Mac. “I’ll have that put on yer gravestone; ‘Here lies Jethro Tull, gave his problems away and died without a care.”

  “Touching eulogy Mac.” Jethro enjoyed his dry wit. “Let the Bridge know the moment you’re ready to go into Hyper-drive.”

  Jethro returned to the Bridge and briefed Conrad.

  “A whole hour. We might not last that long. We can only score a hit when they fire at us and their shields are down and your Gunny thinks they are learning. He says they are getting together in groups of three and switching positions so rapidly that we can’t always see which one fired and has its shields down.”

  “If we could delay them, maybe some kind of bait or trap,” Jethro suggested. “Like back in history when maritime ships used to fire chaff to lure missiles to the wrong place.”

  “A trap.” Conrad agreed. “That’s exactly what we need.”

  Conrad and Jethro discussed their options and came up with a plan.

  “It’s bloody dangerous,” said Conrad. “But if we do nothing, we will get blasted out of the sky soon, anyway. They have far too many ships for us. Let’s do it.”

  Jethro went around the ship and briefed everybody, including Mac and Brains, who were hard at work. He returned to the Bridge to tell Conrad they were ready.

  The ship was hit again and immediately all the main lights went out leaving just the battery-powered emergency lighting. The life support system also went down, although the crew were by now dressed in their space suits complete with helmets. The Bridge team lay on the deck or slumped in their chairs giving the appearance they were dead and Jethro took up his position in a tiny room next to the Bridge with Raja and Jones. They waited.

  Jethro saw on his communicator which was linked to the main computer that the alien ships had stopped circling the Methuselah. They were stationed together, maybe having a conference. Whatever they were doing it didn’t matter as long as they had stopped firing.

  Jethro hated waiting but it was necessary as every moment of delay from the aliens attacking was precious time. After some minutes Jethro saw a much larger ship had arrived. That was unexpected. The larger ship remained on station with the others. Maybe it was taking part in a conference.

  More minutes passed. Then Jethro saw on his tiny screen that the large ship had moved away from the smaller ships and was moving towards the Methuselah. Was the large ship going to blast them out of the sky? There was no need because the smaller attack craft were already well on the way to achieving that.

  Jethro had told Conrad that the aliens he had seen in action appeared to recycle everything they could so he was relying on the fact that they might want to recycle the Methuselah and everything on board. The large ship was getting ever closer. Were they just going to rip the Methuselah apart in space?

  None of this really mattered because the Methuselah could simply recommence firing at the aliens and then get destroyed so at least the plan was gaining them precious time but would it be enough? The large ship stopped and took up station only a few hundred meters from them in space.

  Where they warming up some kind of supergun at this moment to blast the Methuselah into stardust?

  Jethro wished he could open his helmet and wipe his face down and he saw that Raja and Jones were having the same problem. The helmets had internal air flow, which was supposed to keep the transparent visor clear, but it wasn’t designed for tense times like this.

  Jethro noted some small craft leaving the large ship. He communicated this to the crew of the Methuselah in whisper mode in case the aliens had some powerful communication technology that could listen to internal communications.

  We know little about our enemy.

  The small craft came alongside the Methuselah at the docking pad end. Jethro switched his communicator to the external cameras and saw that one of the small craft was extending a protrusion towards the docking pad and it was changing shape as it got closer to the docking pad. It looked like it was made of some rubber able to metamorphose, until just before it touched, Jethro could see that it was exactly the right shape to dock with the Methuselah.

  Amazing.

  He explained what was happening and reminded the crew to remain on station and in silence until he gave the order. He switched to the internal cameras just shy of the docking station entrance.

  I wonder how Mac and Brains are getting on.

  The docking door airlock opened and Jethro watched a Squid float into the Methuselah. He relayed the images to everyone’s communicator. Another Squid followed then Jethro noted that one of the other small craft had docked on the back of the craft that had docked with the Methuselah. The two Squid waited in the passage which suited Jethro and then another two Squid entered through the airlock. Finally, the third small craft that had left the large ship docked on the back of the second craft and two more Squid floated through the airlock.

  Jethro typed a message to the gun crews who had left their cockpits to hide out of site from external view. He sent the message on compressed burst whilst monitoring the six Squids floating in the passageway. At the instant he pressed send, the Squids all jerked as if it gave them an electric shock, but then they settled and remained still.

  Somehow, they must have detected the transmission, but hopefully they would have put it down to a random electromagnetic anomaly or something. Whatever. They appeared to relax.

  Jethro wanted to delay his attack as late as possible. The Squids presented no realistic danger to the crew of the Methuselah as the Doc had inoculated them all including the prisoners with his blood, so the Squids could not enter the crew’s bodies and possess them, and out of their Spiderbots the Squids were easy to kill with the weapons the crew had.

  By his reckoning, Mac and Brains had taken well over half an hour, so if all was going to plan, they should be nearing completion. There was the possibility that even when they had completed the Hyper-drive it wouldn’t work, or it would blow them up saving the aliens the bother.

  The Squids were on the move and Jethro could follow them through the ship’s internal security cameras. They appeared to be heading for the Bridge. They must have been on board other EMV type ships and learnt the layout. Jethro message the Bridge and noted the Squids again must have picked up the message but this time they appeared to pay no heed to it.

  The Squids were at the other end of the passage leading up to the Bridge; the passage where Jethro, Raja and Jones hid, in a room next to the Bridge. He primed Raja and Jones and waited until the optimum moment when the Squids were just shy of the door Jethro was stood behind. He held his gun firmly in his right hand already aiming at the height he knew was necessary and his left hand hovered above the override button preparing to open the door to Hades.

  “Now.” Jethro shouted into his comms device.

  chapter 40

  Jethro leapt into the passageway and started firing immediately. He took out the front two Squid and heard a shot from behind that took out at least one of the other Squid. He continued firing, joined by Raja and Jones and within an instant all six Squid were dead on the deck of the passageway.

  The sound of firing from all the Methuselah guns was heard, along with return fire from alien craft. Jethro was thrown off his feet and managed to get up again so he could head for the Bridge.

  He heard Conrad on the intercom talking with Mac.

  “How long Mac?”

  “Minutes sir, minutes. It would help if we weren’t being thrown about.”

  “Yes Mac. Noted. Shall I ask the aliens if they will stop shooting at us?”

  He got white noise as
a reply.

  Jethro asked for a sitrep from the guns.

  “Top gun. We’ve hit the big ship and I think she’s out of the battle but the fast attack craft are splitting off. We’ve taken down two of them. Out.”

  Conrad asked for a damage report.

  “Some on target but nothing functional damaged yet. The old girl can take a hit.”

  “Jethro?” asked Conrad. “What do you think?”

  “We’re a sitting duck whilst the engines are offline.”

  “True. Why don’t you have a look at the alien craft?”

  “Great idea Captain.” Jethro knew his friend was trying to occupy him.

  It is not a pleasant experience for an action person to be an idle member of a ship’s crew during a fire-fight. Having no control over events, meant one has the freedom to think troubling thoughts.

  Jethro grabbed Jones and strode through the passages towards the docking bay. At the docking bay doors he stopped.

  “Are you happy to come on board the alien craft Jones?”

  “Do I have to sir?”

  “No. What are you worried about? There are no aliens on board.”

  “I’m worried that if I touch something, I could accidentally disengage the craft from the Methuselah sir.”

  “That’s a great point, Jones. I’ll remember that. OK. You stay here.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Jethro entered the airlock and let it equalize the pressure. He switched to helmet air because he presumed the Squids didn’t need to breathe the same air as humans and he checked his headcam was set to record.

  The outer door slid open, revealing the tube to the alien spacecraft. The tube was rubbery and was giving and flexing like an animate being. Jethro didn’t want to pierce it so he waited until an opportune moment and he propelled himself through and straight into the alien craft.

  It was a tiny space but judging by the use of the craft it was only a short distance transfer craft, like the space pod he had rescued Colonel Baskerville from. It was claustrophobic inside and reminded Jethro of the time he spent on death row in his tiny cell, only the alien craft had no bed to lie on and no chair to sit on.

  The craft was almost spherical inside but part of it narrowed and curved like a toilet pan so that Jethro couldn’t see around the curve and he wasn’t going to stick his arm around the bend. There appeared to be no control mechanism other than a sphere about the size of a basketball that looked like a calcified brain. Brain Coral. Jethro remembered seeing it on a documentary he had watched at school about the Great Barrier Reef before it had died. The basketball thing looked just like a piece of Brain Coral.

  Did it move? Jethro was sure he saw the Brain Coral move. Coral can move but only slowly. Maybe this was an advanced and developed type that could move faster.

  The Methuselah must have been hit again because Jethro was almost thrown against the Brain Coral but he put his hands out against the interior walls to prevent himself from touching it. Brain Coral was an animal, and it has tentacles which unnerved Jethro. He didn’t enjoy being in a space about which he knew nothing.

  Was the Brain Coral the control panel? Jethro was not a Squid, and he remembered Jones’ warning so he made sure his hands went nowhere near it.

  “Engineering here. Two minutes to Hyper-drive.”

  Jethro was glad of a reason to leave the alien craft and return to the Methuselah. He didn’t want to go back into the alien craft again now that he believed there was a living thing inside it. He shut the airlock doors and strapped himself into one of the chairs in the docking bay next to Jones.

  “Counting down to Hyper-drive. Ten...”

  “You were wise not to go in there Jones. I’m not going back in there by choice.”

  “Nine...”

  Jethro described the Brain Coral and the weird internal shape.

  “Five...”

  “Could it be a shell sir?”

  “Four...”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Three…”

  “Like a nautilus shell or something like that.”

  “Two...”

  “You know, you could be right Jones.”

  “One…”

  Jethro tried to relax his muscles but he didn’t need to because nothing happened except, they were hit again and the Methuselah jerked.

  “Engineering here. Sorry about that, something came loose. Counting down again. Five…”

  “Four…”

  “Three…”

  “Two…”

  “One…”

  And in a flash, nothing happened again.

  “Please remain strapped in, a few minor difficulties.”

  The Methuselah rocked again from being hit.

  Come on, or there won’t be much left of the ship to Hyper-drive.

  “Engineering here. Third time lucky. Three…”

  “Two…”

  “One…”

  Bang.

  Jethro was thrust back into his seat and he could feel his facial skin being pulled back and he could only see white light as the Methuselah did something Jethro had never experienced before.

  Then as quick as it had started and as quick as the time it had occupied it was over. The Methuselah was stationary again.

  Jones was unbelting but Jethro put his hand up to stop her.

  “Best wait until we’re told. We could be all dead and in heaven, or that other place, given that I’m here.”

  “Thanks for that comforting thought sir.”

  They waited. Then Jethro heard Conrad on the intercom.

  “It worked. It bloody well worked. Sorry. Safe to unbelt. Sub-Lieutenant Tull report to the Bridge, please.”

  Jethro entered the Bridge and was glad to see on the monitor the bluest and most beautiful planet in the solar system.

  Conrad leaned over to Jethro. “Mac and Brains deserve praise although I’ve no idea what fleet will make of it.”

  Mac came onto the Bridge. “I hear it was only a cheap boarding party then.”

  “Cheap?”

  “Aye, apparently it was only six Squid.”

  Groans amongst the Brits on the Bridge. Jethro explained the joke to Conrad.

  “Captain?” Jethro asked Conrad.

  “Yes.”

  “Permission to string Mac up.”

  “Granted, but wait until we land safely, we might still need him.”

  “Good point.”

  “Och you Sassenachs. You dinnae appreciate humour.” Mac left the Bridge.

  “How long before we land?”

  “Six hours.”

  “We should talk. Debrief each other before we land.” Jethro suggested. “Collect everything we know about the aliens and everything we’ve experienced on record on the ship’s log.”

  “Good idea Jethro. Just us two?”

  “I suggest we include Doc. Her input will be useful. She may be the most senior human left from Mars and she was in the capital city Uruk when the aliens attacked.”

  “OK. We ought to collect evidence from the crew.”

  “Agreed. I’d like to make copies of the log and transmit it to various parties on Earth before re-entry.”

  “Isn’t that paranoid?” asked Conrad.

  “Maybe,” said Jethro. “But you’ll probably understand when I tell you how I got these scars on my neck.”

  After the debriefing sessions Jethro was happy they had got as much detail as possible on record and transmitted it to the relevant people on Earth. He went to see Maddy.

  “When are you going to contact your parents?” Maddy asked.

  This was a difficult decision Jethro had been thinking about for some time.

  “I want to be there. I want to tell them my story face to face so I can answer all their questions.”

  “That sounds like a good idea, but difficult.”

  “What about you Maddy? What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know.” Maddy fiddled with her hairbrush. “I have two un
cles. One’s a farmer and the other’s an accountant and lives in London. I might try city life for a while.”

  Jethro could think of nothing he’d least like to do. “I hate cities. When I’m in one I feel like a rat in a laboratory being tested with no control over my life.”

  “I hate cities too, but I never got on with my farmer uncle.”

  “Why not come home with me.” Jethro immediately regretted saying that. What about Doc? He hadn’t told Maddy about his relationship with Doc, and he wasn’t sure how his parents might react given she was around the same age as Mum.

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not? Mum and Dad will be pleased to see you.” Stop talking Jethro. “And you’ll be a great help to me.”

  “How?”

  “You know. Break the ice and all that.”

  “OK. But I’ll only stay for a few days.”

  “Settled.”

  Jethro had dug himself deep into that hole. He hoped Maddy didn’t think there was anything more to the invite than friendship. But seeing Mum and Dad would be tough, and he didn’t want to do it on his own. He returned to the Bridge where Doc was waiting for him.

  “Jethro can I see you for a minute?” asked Doc.

  They left the Bridge for her quarters where it was more private.

  “There’s something I want to say to you.”

  “I know,” Jethro interrupted. “I feel the same. We can work something out. I need to see my parents first and then I’ll introduce you to them.”

  “Jethro stop.” Doc took both his arms. “Sit down.”

  Jethro could sense that she was worried in her voice. He sat.

  “There’s no other way to say this Jethro. It was good while it lasted but I didn’t expect to come out of this alive.”

  Jethro felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. “What are you saying?”

  “I tried to tell you this at the South Pole Research Center after we…”

  “After we made love,” Jethro finished her sentence.

  “The fact is Jethro. You know I’m married and I have two children here on Earth. I was on Mars as a trial separation. But what with the aliens and all that. I’ve re-evaluated my life and I want to give my marriage a second go. I tried to tell you. I’m sorry.”