The Peacekeepers. Books 7 - 9 (The Peacekeepers Boxset Book 3)

by Ricky Sides

  “Well done. Do you need any assistance?” asked Tim.

  “Sure, you guys can come help scrape them off our base. From here, they sort of remind me of a fly that has been killed on a wall.”

  “Tim laughed and said, “That sounds like fun, but we have other business to attend to at the moment. If your emergency has passed, we have to get to Base 1.”

  “Have a safe flight, Captains. We appreciate the effort, but we’ve got it under control now.”

  “We’re going to Base 1?” Evan asked Tim over the radio.

  “Yep, Jim just sent me the message to get both our ships there as soon as the Nebraska situation was resolved. He didn’t say why.”

  “He told me last night that with the loss of the fighters, we’d have to be careful what we say on the radio,” Evan stated.

  “That’s another consequence of the loss of the air assets, yes.”

  The flight to Base 1 was uneventful. Evan opted to fly alongside the Peacekeeper, despite the fact that doing so made the trip take twice the time it would have taken had he flown at the top speed of his fighter escorts. He did so at Tim’s request so that the fighters accompanying the Valiant could provide air cover for both ships. This was necessary because the Peacekeeper’s escort had been flying for twelve hours straight, and they needed to take him aboard before he fell asleep and crashed.

  The two ships settled to the ground at Base 1 at 2:49 p.m. In the hangar bay of the Valiant, Evan stood beside the rest of the assembled crew as the bay door lowered to form a ramp. When it stopped at its resting place, Evan led most of his crew outside. They formed two lines on the ground in alignment with the outer edges of the ramp.

  Sergeant Ralph Maroney and five of the strike force members carried the pine box that contained the remains of their crewmate. The primitive coffin was covered by a large flag. The Stars and Stripes concealed most of the box, but everyone at the base who saw the formal procession knew that the twin rows of peacekeepers were saluting a fallen fellow peacekeeper.

  The crew of the Peacekeeper joined ranks with the crew of the Valiant. They too saluted the dead cook, as the body progressed across the grounds, toward the open grave in the cemetery. Ordinarily, the peacekeepers tried to find nice coffins for their dead, but since the plague, there were none to be had. Therefore, the peacekeeper would be buried in the simple pine box.

  Two APCs and six fighters escorting them landed on the grounds between the funeral procession and the cemetery. Evan saw Jim and Lina, as well as Maggie, emerge from one of the APCs. They were followed by crewmen who had trained with the cook for duty aboard the new battleship, but hadn’t had a berth in the smaller Valiant. The other APC had delivered the remainder of the large crew it took to operate one of the massive warships. Had Evan known they were coming, he would have delayed the ceremony, but they were keeping the Admiral’s travel plans off the radio for fear that the enemy might have learned how to tap into the system passively with the stolen fighters.

  Evan had never delivered a eulogy, but today he had the responsibility of doing so for the first crewmember he had lost under his command. The cook, Corporal Earnest Glover, had no living family and he had requested burial at Base 1, as was his right. He had also requested that his commanding officer give the eulogy. Although he was nervous about speaking before so many assembled peacekeepers, Evan did a passable job of it.

  Chapter 8

  “How are you holding up, son? Jim asked quietly an hour after the funeral when he had a moment alone with Evan. They were sitting in the base mess hall. Jim had arrived a few minutes ahead of the rest of the party that was en route to join them.

  “All right I guess,” Evan replied, but Jim could see the truth in his eyes.

  “You’re blaming yourself for the cook’s death,” Jim said. “You can’t do that, son. I’ve read the transcripts of the orders in the moments prior to the attack. As you know, that’s required when a captain loses crewmembers.”

  “Yes, sir. I understand.”

  “Nothing you ordered violated protocols. You even launched the drones to act as guards in a remote area, far from traffic lanes or groups of people. Half the captains in the fleet wouldn’t have taken that precaution.”

  “Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.”

  “No, no, son, it wasn’t,” Jim said with a sigh. “But the sad truth of the matter is that sometimes things happen, no matter what we do.”

  “I want to go back out and find them,” Evan said.

  “I know you do and you will, but not aboard the Valiant. Your battleship is being turned over to you tomorrow. The crew will finish the last of the interior work tonight. Some of them will also be repairing the Valiant. I’ll be taking her out tomorrow. This latest set of raids has to be addressed.”

  “Has our ship been tested, or will we be testing it on our mission?”

  For the first time that day, Jim smiled. “Son, I don’t think any ship in the fleet has been tested as thoroughly as yours. How in the world the construction crew got it ready five days early is beyond me, but they did.”

  “Where is it? I’d like to see it?”

  “I’m afraid that’s not possible. The schedule is so tight that if a mouse boarded the ship tonight it could delay your launch tomorrow. Of course, if you’re willing to wait a couple of more days for a ship...”

  “I’ll wait and see it in the morning,” Evan responded quickly.

  “One flight with you, and already Evan has picked up your insatiable curiosity,” Pol said to Tim. They had just approached and sat down beside Jim and Evan.

  “Are you coming to the barbeque at the house tonight?” Tim asked Pol, and then he grimaced, as he tasted the coffee.

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  “Good. I’ll cook your steak,” Tim said with a devilish grin.

  Pol laughed and responded, “You always say that, but my steak is always cooked to perfection.”

  “Oh, hell, Patricia would kill me if I burned it.”

  “She’s such a sweet friend,” Pol replied.

  “By the way, Pol, old friend. Can you tell me why the Peacekeeper is still restricted to three hundred miles per hour?”

  “Actually, yes I can.”

  “All right, let’s hear it, and make it good.”

  “Are you willing to let your ship stay here at Base 1 for a month?”

  “No.”

  “I just need the battleship module, so you can still use the original Peacekeeper.”

  “In that case, let me rephrase that. Hell no!”

  “Now you know why,” Pol said with a smug grin and a shrug.

  As the men were talking, Maggie turned to Lina and in a quiet tone of voice, she asked, “Have you told him yet?”

  “Not yet. I plan to tell him tonight.”

  “You’d better tell him soon. I want to tell Pol, but I’ve been waiting for you to speak up first.”

  “Feel free to tell him tonight if you like. Just give me a couple of hours.”

  “Thank you, I will, but just so you know, if you don’t tell him before you board the Valiant, I have to tell him.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  “I’m afraid I have no choice. If you attempt full force accelerations in your condition, I’m afraid you’d lose the baby.”

  “But you said I had a good chance of carrying the baby to term and that you’d just have to do a cesarean.”

  “That was when I thought you’d be stationed aboard the Damroyal, flying an APC occasionally, and with no real need for such accelerations. The Valiant is a far cry faster than an APC. Frankly, I’d feel better if you returned to the Damroyal with me.”

  “No, Maggie. I’m going to fly the Valiant,” Lina said, raising her voice more than she intended.

  Jim looked around Pol who was sitting next to him and said, “Of course you are. Who else would I have flying me around in that ship?”

  Maggie stared at Lina intently, but Lina sat back in her chair and
just stared back at her stubbornly. While looking Lina in the eyes, Maggie said, “Jim, before you leave in the Valiant in the morning, I’d like to speak to you privately. It will only take a few minutes of your time.”

  Lina’s facial expression took on a momentary angry cast, but then she sighed and relaxed.

  “I have the time now if you like,” Jim said in reply to Maggie.

  “That won’t be necessary, Doctor,” Lina said formally. Turning to Jim, she said, “We need to have a little talk, Hon.”

  “Okay, but here comes Lisa. Can we discuss it later?”

  “Well I guess we... Owww Maggie, damn that hurt,” Lina said rubbing her shin.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I accidently kicked you,” Maggie said affecting an air of innocence.

  “Accident my ass,” Lina muttered under her breath. Then she turned to Jim and said, “No dear. It’s important. We won’t be gone long, and then we’ll rejoin the others.”

  “All right, in that case, I’m ready.”

  “We’ll be right back, Lisa,” Jim said when he and Lina passed her as they walked toward the exit.

  “Is something wrong? Jim asked when they got outside.”

  “Not really. Well, not from my perspective. You see...”

  ***

  “Why are you watching the door so intently, my dear?” Pol asked Maggie.

  “I’m waiting for something to happen,” Maggie said cryptically.

  Pol opened his mouth to ask her to clarify her statement, but at that precise moment, they all heard a loud shout of joy.

  “She told him,” Maggie said smiling.

  “You don’t mean...”

  “Let’s not spoil their surprise, Love,” Maggie stated evasively.

  A moment later, Jim and Lina walked back into the room arm in arm. They stopped before their assembled friends, and Jim said, “Folks, we have an announcement to make.” Then he shouted, “We’re going to have a baby!”

  “Congratulations, Dad,” Evan stated. “Now ours will have a playmate.”

  “Yep, and we can teach them to hunt and fish,” Jim said.

  “And skip rocks,” Evan added.

  “Isn’t it funny how they just assume the children are going to be boys?” Lina asked.

  “It won’t matter to Evan. He plans to teach a girl to hunt and fish, too,” Lisa explained.

  “And skip rocks,” Evan added with a grin.

  After everyone congratulated Jim and Lina, Maggie said, “This brings up a point we need to address.” Looking at Lisa, she said, “Dear, don’t you think it’s time to consider coming to the Damroyal until after the baby is born?”

  “We agreed on a schedule, Mom. I have another week to go before it’s time for me to take a medical leave.”

  “I know, Honey, but with the current situation, don’t you think it best to fly back with me when we return? Think about it. The new ship is going to be the fastest in the fleet. Evan will probably have to execute some wild maneuvers when he locates the enemy.”

  “What do you think, Evan?” Lisa asked hopefully. However, when she saw the troubled expression on her husband’s face, she knew that he was about to side with Maggie.

  “I’m afraid Maggie has made a good point. The only way I can assure you and the baby aren’t injured during maneuvers would be to limit the ones we employ. Doing that during a battle puts the ship and crew at risk.”

  “It’ll be okay, Lisa. We can talk about how unfair life can be together. Jim asked me to return to the Damroyal too,” Lina said unhappily.

  “He’s right. If these raiders keep hitting us, it’s just a matter of time before we locate them with our ships. I know I wouldn’t want Patricia aboard if she were pregnant and I had to execute full force accelerations,” Tim stated.

  “You mean you haven’t told him yet?” asked Pol.

  Tim noted that he was staring at Patricia. “Told me what?!” he demanded.

  “Nothing, Dear. Pol’s just getting even with you for some of the pranks you’ve pulled on him over the years,” Patricia stated.

  “Yes, of course,” Pol said looking down at the table quickly.

  “Now wait a minute,” Tim said, thinking that Pol had let something slip before Patricia was ready to tell him. Then Pol started laughing at Tim’s reactions.

  Shaking his head in disgust, Tim said in a deadpan voice, “Oh, you just think I’ve pulled pranks on you in the past.”

  ***

  Evan stood with his crew as the new ship settled to the ground with her windshield facing the spectators. A huge round of applause greeted her landing.

  For Evan, it was the first time that he had seen the ship. He had been aboard the Damroyal or on a mission with his crew in the Valiant during her construction. Her sheer beauty left him speechless.

  “Oh my, it’s beautiful,” Lisa said beside him.

  Evan stared at the graceful curvature that encircled the front, port and starboard sides of the giant ship, giving her a sleeker appearance than the Constitution. The two tail fins also gave her a unique appearance. Nothing else in the peacekeeper fleet had that modification.

  “The tailfins will aid in stabilizing the ship during extreme maneuvers,” Pol explained. “And the curved aspects of the outer edges will help her slice into the wind better since the design is more aerodynamic. Namid tells me that it can perform the slip maneuver, and that, though not as graceful as the Valiant, the ship performs it well.”

  “Oh my God!” the pilot, Corporal John Dutton, exclaimed.

  Evan turned to Pol and embraced the scientist. “I’ll never be able to thank you for this wonderful surprise,” he stated.

  “It was my pleasure,” Pol replied.

  “Captain, are you ready to address the crowd?” Jim asked.

  “Yes, I am,” Evan replied.

  Turning to the microphone, Evan walked up to it and said, “From the time I was a boy, I dreamed of one day becoming a man and serving aboard a ship in the peacekeeper fleet. All of you good people made that dream come true. Working together, you have exceeded my wildest fantasies, and for that, thank you just doesn’t seem adequate.”

  “When I was told that I was going to follow in the tradition begun when the first battleship, the Constitution, was named by Captain Young, I followed his example. Like him, I thought long and hard about what I should name the product of your labors. It wasn’t easy but last night I reached my decision. There was once a tradition in America’s navy of naming battleships after cities. I decided that I wanted to do this to honor a city because we have lost so many. One city stood out in my mind, and that was the city where the original peacekeeper base was located. It’s also where all of our ships have been built. Therefore, I decided to name the new ship the Athens, both to honor the original peacekeeper base, and the shipyard workers who have built our fine fleet.”

  The crowd cheered their approval of the name that Evan had selected. The residents of Base 1 stood a little straighter as they applauded. They were pleased that their hard work on behalf of the peacekeeper organization was being recognized.

  When the applause ended, Evan thanked the construction crew, and then he ordered his people to board their new ship. As had been the case with the launching of the Constitution, the base speakers played a musical version of Anchors Aweigh. Evan’s crew surprised the audience when they sang the lyrics to the song as they boarded their ship with military precision. Anticipating this moment, Evan had encouraged the crew to learn the song, which they had secretly practiced as a group upon several occasions.

  When the Athens left the base, they headed west for the Damroyal. Jim had asked Evan to rendezvous with the ship to drop off Lina, Maggie, and Lisa. Pol’s APC was following and would arrive several hours behind the Athens, because Pol was now aboard the Peacekeeper. Tim was resuming the hunt for the raiders.

  For the trip to the Damroyal, Evan had the pilot slowly accelerate to their maximum speed in order to prevent g-forces from causing issues for Lisa and Lina.
Once his charges had been safely delivered, Evan was then to take the ship out over the desert for a one day shakedown run, during which they were to execute several training simulations to acclimate themselves to the new vessel and get to know her handling characteristics. Although, Evan had wanted to return to the hunt immediately, Jim had insisted that he first execute his training mission.

  As they flew to the Damroyal, Evan toured the ship from stem to stern. He was pleased to see that the interior of the Athens was almost identical to that of the Constitution, because he loved the layout of that ship. He quickly noted that the main differences between the two ships were his cabin configuration and the crew seating.

  Due to the extreme acceleration capabilities of the ship, Pol had opted to install Aircraft style seating for every member of the normal operating crew. The seats were fused to the deck, mounted with their backs against a wall. They were oriented so that the occupants would be facing the bow of the ship during acceleration. Evan decided to drill the crew on getting to their acceleration chairs until they could do so in the least amount of time possible. Such seating was available in every cabin, and there were additional chairs in the cargo bay to accommodate the strike team because so much of their time was spent there. Like the Constitution, the Athens had a three-man mess hall team, consisting of a cook and his two assistants. There was acceleration seating for them in the mess hall.

  Of course, like the Constitution, the Athens had been built to house a large contingent of peacekeepers, should they need to be transported into battle. There were not enough acceleration chairs for those personnel. Therefore, full acceleration from a dead stop wasn’t advised when the ship was transporting troops, but it was deemed safe if the ship was already flying at three hundred miles per hour.