Fighting for Melbourne

by Saxon Andrew

  “I’m no longer the Prime Minister, John. Use your pulpit to play to the mob and make sure you’re elected. And before you do anything, ask the computers what will result from your actions. You must keep the colonies hidden and safe. Take no chances! I’ll handle this as best I can.”

  “Then take your ship and land on the roof of your house. It’s coated and shouldn’t be visible from street level. I’ll have a guard platoon posted outside your home to keep you safe. Wait there and I’ll let you know what happens next.”

  “Thanks, John… and good luck.”

  • • •

  Over the next three weeks things turned nasty in the colonies. The Parliament was surprised that Abby resigned and most of their focus was temporarily diverted to possibly running for Prime Minister or securing a position in the new government. It was a brutal election, but John Fowler won with a fifty-one-percent majority. Once he was sworn into office, the attention of the mob turned to Abby. Three days later, things took a turn for the worse.

  Rory was watching the news channel and yelled, “Abby, get in here!”

  Abby ran into the living room from the kitchen, “What’s going on?”

  “There’s a huge gathering five blocks from here that are working themselves up. They started screaming for you to die.”

  The communicator started beeping and Abby activated it; she saw John on it, “You need to leave New Melbourne now!”

  “Where will I go?”

  “Abby, the only safe place for you and Rory is on New Britannia. Get in your ship and leave now! You don’t have much longer to get away.”

  “We’re leaving. Thanks, John, I hope this doesn’t cause you problems.”

  “I’ll handle what comes from this. Now get out of here!!”

  • • •

  Abby ran up the stairs to the roof and ran to the Roo Rabbit, “Is everything ready?”

  Rory nodded, “I loaded all our things in the ship before the election.”

  Abby turned to the ship’s scanner and saw a mass of people carrying torches moving down the street toward their home. Rory lifted the Roo Rabbit into the night sky and flew it quietly away from the roof. The guards posted around the house were overwhelmed by the mob as they rushed up to the house, threw their torches, and fired the guard’s blasters into the first and second floor. The house immediately caught fire and the mob cheered as it went up in flames. Abby kept the scanner on the house and wept for what was happening.

  • • •

  The next day, John appeared on every monitor in the colonies. He was silent for a long moment and it was clear he was angry. After a short time, he said, “The former Prime Minister’s house was attacked and burned to the ground by an angry mob last night.” Video appeared on every screen in the colonies showing the mob cheering outside the burning house. John waited and once the video disappeared, he glared out at the camera, “I played a role in this because of my hateful speech toward Abby Dunhan and her refusal to send our newest ships to defend Melbourne. I’ve learned some things since I’ve taken office. But I first want all of you to ask yourselves this question… where would you be at this moment if Abby Dunhan had not ordered all of Melbourne’s population moved to the colonies before the attack on Melbourne? While you’re thinking about that, you should also know that my senior fleet officers all agree that even if we sent every new ship we’ve built to defend Melbourne, they couldn’t have prevented Melbourne’s destruction. We just don’t have enough warships to have stopped it. Prime Minister Dunhan knew this and that’s why she decided not to waste them in a useless attack. However, she did everything humanly possible to delay that attack until everyone on Melbourne could be moved to safety. You just showed her your appreciation for saving your lives last night.”

  John abruptly ended the speech and every monitor in the colonies returned to normal programming. John refused to speak to any of the news reporters. His spokesman said he was disgusted with what happened to Abby and Rory and he would not discuss it further. The colonies were stunned by what the new Prime Minister said and soon, the people in the colonies began to feel shame. Two weeks after the fire, colonists on New Melbourne began going to the burned-out house to lay flowers in front of it. The Prime Minister ordered that the house would not be touched or changed in any way. It would be a testament to one of the darker moments in the history of the colonies.

  • • •

  Abby listened to John’s speech and Taffy said, “He’s a really good public speaker.”

  “He’s had plenty of practice in Parliament,” Grady added.

  “He’s the right one for the position,” Abby said softly.

  “I notice that nothing was said about the two of you not being in the house.”

  Abby turned to Taffy, “The Roo Rabbit still has its stealth coating and we weren’t detected by any of the ships above the planet. I suspect they thought we didn’t have time to leave.”

  “But the Roo Rabbit wouldn’t have been damaged by the fire,” Grady responded.

  Abby turned to him, “Only the Prime Minister knew it was on the roof of our home, Grady. Everyone must have thought we would have to leave the house to go to the spaceport to leave. It appears we are considered dead.”

  “Well, you have a home here. It’s good to have you.”

  “Thanks, Taffy.”

  Grady looked at them, “What do you want to do here?”

  “What do you mean?” Rory asked.

  “Do you want to retire and spend your time on a beach or do you want to take part in preparing New Britannia to one day take on the aliens and Fagan,” Grady answered.

  Abby smiled, “My first priority is to start a family.”

  Rory jerked his head around to her, “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”

  Abby nodded, “I just couldn’t bring myself to have children with the constant threat of Melbourne being attacked. That’s been handled now and it’s time, my love.” Rory jumped up, rushed to Abby and took her in his arms. He kissed her and after a few minutes, they sat down, and Rory looked at Grady, “I know what it means to lose everything now. I won’t be able to rest until Melbourne is revenged.”

  “I feel the same way,” Abby added. Grady glanced at Taffy and saw her shrug. Abby saw it and her eyes narrowed, “What are you nervous about?”

  Taffy smiled, “Grady, she knows us. You should tell her now and get it out of the way.”

  “Tell us what?” Rory asked.

  Grady stared at them and then said, “I don’t trust the colonies.” His comment was greeted with silence from the Dunhans and he continued, “They could turn on New Britannia just as quickly as they turned on you. Can you understand that?”

  “I guess,” Abby replied.

  “Abby, you were one of them and you saw how they treated you. You also witnessed Melbourne placing an embargo on New Britannia preventing us from getting the materials we need to build our warships. I will not put New Britannia in danger from the aliens, Fagan, Earth, or the colonies. We will keep our independence.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” Abby asked.

  “Because we could have prevented that fleet from destroying Melbourne,” Taffy said softly.

  “WHAT?!”

  “Abby, if we did, it still would have caused the colonies to be found quickly. But you should know that our warships are far more powerful than anything the Colonies, Fagan, or Britannia Aliens have in their inventory,” Grady answered. He paused and added, “And that will remain a secret. Are you going to give your loyalty to us or do you still remain loyal to the colonies?”

  “Grady, that’s not fair!”

  “Rory, nothing in this universe is fair. You do what you must to survive and sometimes hard decisions must be made. You must make your decision now.”

  Rory looked at Abby shaking his head and Abby lowered her eyes, “I can’t get the image of that mob coming to kill us out of my mind, Rory.” She raised her eyes and asked, “Rory, do you honestly think anything like that could
possibly happen here? If you say it could, I’ll go along with your wishes on this.”

  Rory looked into Abby’s eyes and turned to Grady, “I’ve dedicated my life to defending Melbourne. I’d die to keep it safe.”

  “I know that, Rory,” Grady replied.

  “But I saw the mob coming to kill me and my wife. They wouldn’t listen to reason, it didn’t matter to them. They disregarded Abby saving their lives and came to kill her. I know that would never happen here, Grady. I swear my loyalty to New Britannia.” Abby went into his arms and held him tightly.

  Taffy smiled, “Well! Now that’s done, we need to take you to see our newest warship.”

  Abby laughed, “You’ll never change.”

  Grady chuckled, “I do hope you’re right about that. Come with us and we’ll bring you up to speed on what we learned when we scouted alien territory and show you our newest ship.”

  “You scouted alien territory?” Rory asked.

  “Yes, and we have the locations of every planet they’ve inhabited.” They lifted from the roof of their home and Grady talked animatedly as they flew to the construction building.

  • • •

  Admiral Rice looked at the monitor and saw the giant formation of Defense Platforms and warships moving through space toward the enemy’s territory. She was reasonably certain the aliens had detected her fleet and were making preparations to meet it. Admiral Martov appeared on her monitor and asked, “What are your orders, Sir?”

  Kathy knew Martov was going to be a problem. The Dictator had spoken to him personally and he was showing all the courtesy and respect her rank demanded but she sensed it was all just for show. He was hoping she would fail, and he would then have to step in and take command. “Your warships will lead the Defense Platforms into enemy space and attack any warships you encounter.”

  “And what if the enemy warships are being protected by their giant ships?”

  “You will move your fleets inside the Defense Platforms until they remove the enemy’s giant ships. At which point you will exit my formation and remove any of their surviving warships attempting to surround us,” Kathy replied.

  “Yes Sir!” Martov answered.

  “Sir!” Kathy turned to her scanning officer. “I’m detecting a giant alien fleet moving out of their lines toward us.”

  “How many of their major warships are in that fleet?”

  “Four thousand, Sir.”

  “Where are the enemy’s warships?”

  “They’re holding position behind their major warships, Sir.”

  Kathy pressed a button on her panel, “Admiral Martov, move your fleets inside my formation.”

  The twelve-hundred-giant Defense Platforms were formed up in a giant cube with fifty miles between each of them. There were two-hundred platforms on each side of the cube covering an area of two-thousand-square miles. The two-hundred-thousand warships easily fit inside the cube. Kathy had spaced the cube such that the beams from the giant vessels overlapped a hundred and fifty miles out from the formation. Each odd-numbered platform would fire their beams for a second and then the even-numbered platforms would fire. That would provide complete blaster coverage for all sides of the formation. She would not wait for the enemy fleets in their main defense lines to surround her ships; she would accelerate into them at high-speed killing as many as possible once the initial fleet sent out to attack her was handled. Once her fleet managed to break through the fleet sent to attack her, she would rush forward into the giant ranks of enemy vessels holding formation just outside their territory. She would release the warships once every alien major warship was eliminated around her formation. They would be recalled if more arrived. “All ships go to battle stations. Missile crews be ready to launch on my command!” Kathy ordered.

  The crews on the thousands of Earth warships were nervous. This new Admiral was recently promoted, and they feared she would make a huge mistake just like the last new admiral causing all of them to die. But she had shown she wouldn’t accept disobedience during their training and they knew they had no choice but to follow her orders. They went to battle stations and hoped for the best.

  • • •

  The Senior War Leader commanding the fleet moving out to intercept the incoming formation ordered his fleet to spread out around the giant enemy formation and prepare to launch missiles. His Planet Killers would follow the missiles in and open fire on the enemy. This tactic worked last time and it should work again.

  • • •

  Kathy saw the giant fleet start to spread out and announced over the fleet frequency, “All Defense Platforms. Fire your beams at half-power on the missiles fired at our formation and then go to full power once all of them have been eliminated. Your weapons are free, and you will commence fire on my order.” Kathy stared at the situation monitor and waited for what she knew was coming. Then, a massive cloud of missiles erupted from the clouds of warships surrounding her formation, “Open fire,” she ordered calmly. Kathy’s giant formation was surrounded by walls of giant explosions as the missiles were hit by the Defense Platforms’ overlapping fire. She watched until the explosions stopped increasing and she ordered, “Go to full power on the blasters and keep firing!”

  The four-thousand Planet Killers were rushing in behind the missile barrage and suddenly found themselves being hit by massive blaster beams blowing through the missile explosions. The enemy formation was still outside the range of their blasters and there was no where for them to run. In less than five minutes, all four-thousand Planet Killers were vaporized.”

  “Admiral Martov, take your fleets and remove the enemy warships around my formation.”

  Martov’s fleets flew out between the Defense Platforms and fell on the alien warships surrounding the giant cube. The alien warships were heavily outnumbered and were overwhelmed. Only a thousand enemy warships managed to flee back to their lines. “Move your fleets back inside the formation, Admiral Martov.”

  “Yes Sir.” Martov was shocked at how fast the large alien fleet was destroyed.

  His warships moved back inside the cube and Kathy ordered, “Full speed ahead. Open fire on my command.” More ships were moving out of the enemy’s lines, but they had no chance to form up before the giant cube blew past them and into the alien’s defensive line. A gaping hole in the line was blasted open by the giant cube and Kathy ordered, “Turn to port and move through the middle of the enemy’s lines. In ten seconds, all ships will cease firing and launch a missile barrage. Admiral Martov, that includes your warships. In five…four…three…two…one…LAUNCH!!”

  The giant cube came to a stop and a massive cloud of missiles erupted out of it. Kathy said over the communicator, “Hold your fire until the missiles are out of range of our blasters. Steady, steady…resume fire and move to full speed ahead.”

  The Earth formation moved at high-speed through the alien’s lines destroying everything in its path. More than fifty-thousand missiles flew into the alien’s formations and many warships died crashing into each other trying to escape. This process continued for an hour.

  “Sir!” Kathy looked at her scanning officer, “I can’t see through our blaster barrage but one of our scouts has detected an enemy formation moving from the core of the galaxy toward our location; it’s sending the feed to me.”

  Kathy looked up at the situation monitor and saw a giant cloud of huge warships approaching in the distance. The entire formation was composed of Planet Killers.

  Kathy stood up, “All ships, in ten seconds launch all your remaining missiles and turn away from the enemy lines. Kathy waited and shouted, “CEASE FIRING AND LAUNCH MISSILES!!” The giant wave of missiles exploded from the formation and the giant cube turned and went to maximum speed away from the alien’s defensive line. “Commence firing blasters and go to maximum speed, now!”

  The giant cube of Defense Platforms shot out of the alien’s lines and quickly moved away. After ten minutes, Kathy ordered, “All blasters cease firing and Admi
ral Martov, move your fleets out of my formation and remove any alien warships attempting to follow us.”

  The two-hundred-thousand warships flashed out of the formation and met the twenty-thousand alien warships attempting to pursue the cube. They were overwhelmed and destroyed very quickly. Kathy sat back and ordered, “Admiral Martov, please remain behind my formation and remove any warships. If you detect any of the alien major warships, turn and rejoin my formation.”

  “What’s going on, Admiral?” Martov asked.

  “One of our scouts detected a giant formation of warships moving out of the core toward our location. I’ve estimated there are more than a hundred-thousand vessels in that formation.”

  “My ships can handle a hundred-thousand ships, Sir.”

  “Every one of them is a Planet Killer, Admiral Martov. Don’t allow your fleets to get close to them!”

  Martov’s eyes widened, “No Sir. I won’t.”

  Kathy knew the warships being sent by the enemy were ordered to slow her fleet down so the major warships could arrive in time to attack. She looked at her scanning officer and asked, “Are you able to see that formation yet?”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “Show me what you see.” Kathy looked up at the monitor and saw the leading ships in the alien formation. Her eyes widened slightly, “How do those ships compare to the major warships we’ve just fought?”

  “Sir, they’re twice as big and are moving at a much faster speed than any we’ve ever detected.”

  “Do an active scan on one of those ships, Lieutenant.”

  “Sir, active scan is complete.”

  “Are those new ships capable of catching us?” Kathy asked.

  “No, Sir. At least they won’t catch us before we arrive in our space.”

  Kathy shouted over the communicator, “Martov, get your ships out of there!! Those ships are more powerful and faster than the model we’ve been fighting! I don’t know what the range of their blasters is, and you need to run now!!”

  Martov’s fleets turned and went to full-speed away from the alien lines. Ten of the new Planet Killers came rushing through their lines and opened fire on Martov’s ships. Six-hundred warships were hit by their massive blasters and exploded. But the fleets were warned in time and quickly moved out of the giant ship’s firing range.