by Ricky Sides
“My fellow peacekeepers, I hereby officially name this battle fortress the Damroyal. May she live up to her namesake!”
For a moment, utter silence greeted Jim’s announcement, causing him to wonder if the crowd disliked his choice of names, but then Maggie and Lisa stepped forward clapping their hands enthusiastically and the crowd joined in on the celebration.
When the applause ended, Jim smiled and said, “I have one more announcement. My son, Evan and Maggie Damroyal’s daughter, Lisa, have decided that they wanted to get married today aboard the Damroyal. That wedding will take place within a few moments. Those of you wishing to do so may stay and witness the ceremony. I’m afraid there won’t be time for a proper reception because they have to leave for a mission immediately following the ceremony. For that reason, there won’t be time for the couple to speak to you individually.”
Jim walked away from the small podium with its built in microphone and speaker system and Chaplin Harry Turner took his place.
Lisa and Evan were then married in the briefest of ceremonies. Evan placed his mother’s wedding band on Lisa’s finger. It was from the set that Jim had given her when they had married. He hadn’t expected a ring from Lisa, but just a few moments before he had begun the naming ceremony, Jim had given Lisa the wedding band Lacey had given him. Neither of the rings were the best of fits, but there would be time to have them resized later.
After the ceremony, Evan hugged Jim and thanked him for the gift of the wedding ring. “Your mother would be so proud of you today,” Jim said, and then he added, “I’m happy for you, son. I really am. Lisa is a wonderful woman. You two are such a perfect match.” Then Jim lowered his voice and said, “Just remember that she was systematically sexually abused and tortured by Reggie. You’re going to have to be patient with her. She may need time to adjust to a sexual relationship.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Dad. That’s something I’ve given a great deal of thought over the years.”
“I know you have. I’m sorry if it seems I’m butting into your personal business. I just love her and don’t want to see her hurt,” Jim said. It was the wrong thing to say, and he realized that the moment he made the statement from the expression on Evan’s face and the set of his eyes.
“I know you mean well, but I’ve thought of little else for a good year now. I think I know how to go about things so that I don’t hurt her. The last thing I want to do is hurt Lisa.”
“I’m sorry. I know you won’t hurt her deliberately. Just forget I mentioned it.”
Evan smiled and said, “You’re not alone on that score. So did Maggie, Pol, Uncle Tim, Aunt Patricia, and Lina.”
“Well, we are all concerned, but I can see where it must get old after a while,” Jim said thoughtfully. Then he added, “I checked with communication. The storms to the west are reportedly getting worse and are already between the citadel and us. Officially, your mission is still a go, but if you are uncomfortable with some aspects of the flight through the storm then we can delay the mission until tomorrow morning.”
“That’s a tempting offer, considering the fact that I just got married, but I don’t want any special favors.”
“I didn’t think you would,” Jim responded. “Safe journey, son,” he added.
Jim moved a few yards away to stand near Maggie who was talking in quiet tones to Lisa. A moment later, he hugged Lisa, welcomed her to the family, and then he ordered the junior teams to report to their APCs for their return flight to the citadel.
As the junior teams walked across the flight deck at a rapid pace, Lina stepped beside Jim and asked, “He didn’t want the weather delay?”
“He didn’t want any special favors so he turned it down.”
“Was it?”
“Yes, but it was the same thing I’d have offered any other team under similar circumstances, considering the nature of their mission,” Jim explained.
“He’s a good man. He has outstanding leadership qualities. I do hope you and the rest of the council won’t hold him back because he is related to you and Tim.”
“You too?” Jim asked. Then he laughed and said, “Don’t worry. Evan has his advocates. Both Pol and Maggie have reminded us that Evan has a lot of potential and that we shouldn’t hold him back.” Pausing a moment, Jim then asked, “Did I ever tell you the last comment Pete made about Evan to me?”
“No, I don’t believe you did,” Lina stated.
“He said that Evan would do well. He said, quote, ‘He’d make a great strike team leader, but I hope he chooses to become a captain because I think he’d make a superb captain of a ship.’”
“Given time, training, and experience, I think that’s probably true,” Lina agreed.
Maggie was standing alone a few yards to the left of Jim and Lina. Pol, who’d been engaged in conversation with Tim and Patricia, stepped away from them to join the doctor. “Congratulations. I think they’ll be happy together.”
“Thank you. I wish Pete were here for this moment. He would be pleased.”
“He had a high regard for Evan,” Pol observed.
“I just hope he’s prepared to deal with Lisa’s special problem,” Maggie said with a touch of concern evident in her voice.
“He has thought of little else for two years now,” Pol told her.
“You’ve discussed the matter with him?” Maggie asked.
“We all have, my dear. At one time or another, I know that I spoke to him regarding the matter, as did Tim, Patricia, and Jim. None of us wants to see Lisa hurt. Living in the close quarters of the ship as we did all those years, we all formed a close attachment to Lisa.”
“I know, and I appreciate that,” Maggie responded. Then she surprised Pol with the question, “Pol, You’re attracted to me, aren’t you?”
Pol blushed and stammered as he said, “Why, yes…yes I am, Maggie. I actually have been for quite some time.”
Maggie nodded and said, “I thought so. A woman knows such things.”
She stared into his eyes and asked, “When were you planning to say something about how you feel?”
“I didn’t want to rush you.”
“Thank you for that consideration, but I’ve been waiting for you long enough. Doctor Barnes has been after me to begin a relationship. I’ve put him off for weeks, thinking you’d eventually speak up, but he’s starting to grow on me. If you’re not interested in a relationship…”
“I am!” Pol exclaimed a bit more loudly than he had intended. Glancing around, he saw that all of their friends were now staring at them.
“Look at me, Pol,” Maggie said quietly. She smiled at her friends to put them at ease, and when Pol was looking at her in a quiet voice, she said, “After dinner tonight, I’d like to take an evening stroll on the flight deck. Regulations specify that no crewmember can do so alone. I hope you can join me.”
“I’d love that,” Pol assured her.
“Good. It’s a date then,” Maggie said, and then she turned to watch the three APCs fly past at a leisurely pace until they were well away from the fortress airspace, and then they rapidly accelerated away to the west.
“What do you suppose that was all about?” Tim asked Patricia as they followed Pol and Maggie toward the entrance to the fortress.
“You mean Maggie and Pol?” she asked.
“Yes. Do you think he finally told her how he feels?”
“I think she told him she was interested,” Patricia responded. Left to his own devises, I doubt Pol would ever step forward, although he has loved her for years.”
“Years? Okay, Pete has been dead a bit over two years, but I didn’t know Pol loved Maggie until a few months ago,” Tim stated.
“Do you remember when he wouldn’t let her go investigate the plague boat alone?”
“How could I forget that? Are you implying he loved her then? She was married to Pete back then.”
“And he never acted in a dishonorable manner, but yes. I think he loved her then, but I believe h
e never admitted that to himself until after Pete’s death. Even then, I don’t think the full realization hit him for about a year.”
“Pete and Pol were close. Really close. Remember, Pete was the first of us to recognize that deep loneliness in Pol,” Tim stated. Shaking his head, he added, “Having feelings for Maggie had to have been awkward for Pol at times.”
“And Pete, I’d imagine,” Patricia observed thoughtfully. “I think he was aware of Pol’s feelings, but knew our friend would never act on them in an inappropriate manner.”
“You know, there was a time when I thought he loved you.”
“He does, silly. He’s my oldest friend in the world,” Patricia pointed out.
“I know, but I thought it ran deeper than that. Then, one day Pol came to me and told me he was afraid that I’d gotten the wrong impression. We talked for a long time that day. When that conversation ended, I had a much deeper understanding of Pol. He’s a good man.”
“One of the best, dear,” Patricia said and then she squeezed her husband’s hand.
***
Midway through the return flight to the citadel, Evan knew they were in trouble. They were encountering fierce headwinds and numerous severe downdrafts. These two atmospheric conditions combined created a serious drain on their energy reserves. The headwind caused them to lose airspeed, which would extend the flight time required to reach their destination. The downdrafts caused the lift engines to have to expend additional power to maintain flight altitude.
Beside him in the gunner’s seat, Lisa was concerned. “At this rate, we’ll run out of power long before reaching the citadel,” she advised Evan in a calm voice.
“Understood,” Evan said as he studied the approaching storm and pondered his options. He could detour to the southwest and look for a break in the frontal system that was sweeping east, turn back for the fortress, or look for a good place to set down and ride out the storm until the front passed.
All three options had their problems. As far as he could see to the north and south, Evan saw no break in the storm, so there was no guarantee that attempting to detour would help. Running back to the fortress would require them to expend almost all of their power reserves, and Evan wasn’t certain they’d have enough to reach the safety of that haven. Landing without some shelter for the APCs was dangerous because they might be light enough for a strong gust of wind to pick them up.
At the current rate of power loss, attempting just to fly through the storm was out of the question. Due to the headwinds and downdrafts, they’d run out of power before exiting to the more stable atmosphere on the other side of the front, which was reportedly thirty to fifty miles wide.
Evan began to survey the ground below in the hopes of spotting a geographical windbreak of some sort that the three APCs could use for shelter. The terrain below was a series of gently rolling hills. In the growing darkness, made even darker by the approaching storm, picking out details was difficult. For a full minute, Evan searched the terrain. He was about to order the teams to turn back for the fortress when his searching gaze fell upon a possible temporary sanctuary for the APCs.
At the top of a hill stood a large brick home, which at one time would have been classified as a mansion. Now fallen into a state of disrepair, the structure showed considerable signs of damage. Portions of the roof were caved in, and it appeared to Evan as if the home had been at least partially destroyed by fire. However, the first floor walls were still intact. If they landed their APCs on the leeward side of the home, then the structure would serve as a windbreak that would protect the ships from the ravages of the wind. It wouldn’t help them if a tornado spun up and struck the home, but it was the best option they had available.
Working quickly, Evan had Lisa relay the message for the other two teams to follow them down and land in a tight cluster behind the remains of the house.
The site he had selected wasn’t quite level and as a result Evan’s landing was a bit rough. Moments later, he saw the other two APCs touch down safely on either side of his. “Strike team leader, get up here!” Evan shouted.
Only a few moments had passed when Ralph poked his head into the cockpit. “Yes, Commander?”
“We’re going to ride out the storm here, behind this house. Even though, it has been partially destroyed, I want you to see if it is occupied. You only have a few minutes before the main line of storms hits us. I want you in and out of there in five minutes, in full gear.”
“Yes, sir.” Ralph stated.
“Ralph,” Evan said quietly as the man turned to follow his orders.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Be careful in there. I don’t want anyone hurt, but we need to know if hostiles are present.”
“Understood. We’ll be careful, Evan. Don’t worry. This is what we trained for, you know,” he said with a grin, and then he left shouting orders as he went. “Get in full gear now! Last one ready has to guard the door!” Ralph shouted.
Despite the gravity of the situation, both Evan and Lisa smiled. This was their friend’s moment, and it was a legitimate mission. By the book, they were supposed to investigate any structure near them when they were forced to land in unknown territory.
Then Lisa received calls from the other two APCs. Their strike teams also wanted to deploy. Evan ordered them to secure their perimeter until all hands could board the APCs and button up to ride out the storm.
Ralph and Harvey were the first two to exit the APC. John Harrelson, who was a seventeen year old who showed a lot of promise, followed them. Frankie Ridridge, another seventeen year old, was left to guard the door.
Because there were no doors on this side of the structure, Ralph led his team to a break in the wall of the house. Evan watched as the three men darted through the small gap in the brick wall. A tense four minutes later, he saw the team reemerge from the same spot and run toward the APC.
In a matter of moments, Ralph poked his head inside the cockpit and reported, “All personnel are back aboard, and the door is secured. The place is empty. There was no sign of recent occupation.”
“Order the other teams back inside,” Evan instructed Lisa. While she was transmitting his orders, he looked at Ralph and asked, “Does the place appear to be solid enough to serve as a windbreak in this storm?”
“I’m not certain, but it doesn’t look good. The wall we’re facing is pretty much just freestanding brick. It’s like the wood it was attached to was burned out, but the brick wall is still standing. The far wall is in better shape. There’s still a lot of the wood framing attached to that wall.”
“The storm is too close to move now. We’d never find another spot in time,” Evan pointed out.
“Then we ride it out here and hope for the best,” Ralph said with a shrug. “I’ll say this though, that’s one hell of a storm headed our way. I’d feel better if we could lock down to a good solid deck.”
“So would I, but…” Evan stopped midsentence. “Why didn’t I think of that before?” he asked. “Lisa, pull up the stress load and weight specs on these APCs,” he ordered.
Moments later, she had the information he was requesting. To save time, she spun her swivel monitor around so that he could read the information. “Great. It’ll work,” Evan said, and then he began to issue orders. Within moments, he had his APC at full altitude while the other two lifted off to ten feet and closed their gaps to within a foot and then they landed. Evan descended to a gentle landing atop the two APCs and immediately activated the locking mechanism that fused the bottom of his hull to the tops of the two other APCs.
Ralph hurriedly opened the door of the APC and checked to see how much of the roof was visible. He soon reported that as nearly as he could tell, they were sitting close to centered atop the two APCs.
From their new perch atop the other two APCs, Evan and Lisa could see the approaching storm above the ruins of the once grand home. Vivid displays of lightning seemed to erupt along the length of the approaching front in ribbons of
electrical energy, which streaked in chaotic patterns, interlacing to form insane spider web images before disappearing from view. The horizon was a kaleidoscopic image of brilliant colors that changed from moment to moment with blue, yellow, red, and the brilliant white arcs of the lightning being the most dominant. The thunder was an almost constant rumble they could dimly hear through the hull of the APC.
“If you needed vindication for your decision to land rather than try to fly through the storm, I think you’re seeing it now,” Lisa observed quietly.
From their vantage point, Evan estimated that they had a three-mile field of view of the western horizon. As he watched the approaching storm in the growing darkness, he saw what appeared to be a cloud that had descended to the ground and was moving to the east. It was situated near the southern end of their field of view. “Look there to the left, Lisa,” he said, pointing toward the strange cloud.
“Is that a rain wrapped tornado?” she asked.
“I’m not certain, but yeah, that’s what I think it is. It looks like a video one of the Tennessee peacekeepers made of a storm a few years ago.”
“It looks as if it will travel well to our south,” she stated.
“If it is a tornado, it should track to the northeast. Most do. Of course, there are exceptions, but the majority track that way. If that’s the case, then it may come near us.”
“I think you’re right,” Lisa stated a moment later. “It does appear to be heading toward us.”
“Warn the other pilots that if I give the word we will break the link and go north at best speed. If I break the link, the maneuver altitudes will be two hundred, one twenty, and seventy feet for JT1, JT2, and JT3 respectively. No spinning on their axis until they reach maneuver altitude or we may collide into each other. Then tell them what we see coming at us.”