Intersect

by M C I Hinchliffe

  Ryan noticed that Katie was becoming uncomfortable. "Sorry Katie, let me introduce you. This is General Charles Clark, he runs the place when I'm not around. In fact he runs it when I'm around as well, most of the time....."

  "Pleased to meet you Miss Mitchell." He said as he gently shook her hand. "You must be some woman. You single handedly turned this place upside down over the past few days."

  "I was just doing my job, General." Katie replied with confidence.

  "You can call me Charlie."

  ".....and this is Colonel Adam Moore, the pilot that saved our necks back there."

  "At your service." Said Adam while performing a traditional bow.

  His antics brought a smile to Katie's face. "Hi Adam."

  "How did the bombing run go?"

  "Like clockwork Admiral, all we left was a pile of rubble. A large transporter tried to escape but we got him on the way out." Adam replied.

  "With Miss Mitchell's permission, Ryan and I have a lot of important things to discuss." Said Charlie in a noble manor.

  "Can't it wait?" Pleaded Ryan.

  "No."

  "Okay. Adam do you have anything urgent to attend to?"

  "Nothing I can think off."

  "Good I was hoping you could give Katie a guided tour of the ship."

  "My pleasure!"

  "Will you be all right for a while?" Ryan asked Katie.

  "Yes I think I will survive."

  They walked away leaving Katie and Adam alone. Adam deactivated his A.A.E.E.V. suit and was left wearing a similar suit to Ryan and Charlie, but upon his shoulders were smaller symbols to indicate his lower rank. He escorted Katie to one of the many internal matter transporter units that were stationed throughout the landing dock and the entire ship. Unlike its counterpart for external travel, this system functioned flawlessly.

  Katie was curious to what they were standing in. "What is this?"

  "It's a matter transporter, the latest in thirty first century elevators."

  An invisible voice spoke to them. "What is your destination please?" It asked in a friendly feminine voice.

  "Training centre." Adam replied.

  Their bodies energised, then disappeared.

  ********************

  Seconds later, they reappeared several kilometres away. Adam caught Katie as her senses were disorientated, causing her to lose balance. "It's a little weird at first but you soon get used to it. The trick is to stand still with your feet one shoulder width apart, then when you're at your destination you don't fall over."

  "I'll try to remember that." Katie replied. While they walked down a corridor Katie realised that they were in space and yet there was gravity. "Why aren't we floating around?"

  "The Endeavour has its own artificial gravity. Exactly one earth gravity in all areas of the ship. It makes life in space far more bearable."

  They rounded a corner, then entered a chamber that was as large as a football field and filled with students in the midst of their training. Adam directed Katie to an unusual chamber nearby. "I think we should get you some more suitable clothing. Stand inside one of the Automatic Wardrobe Units." Adam pointed to one of the cells within the chamber.

  Katie went inside the cylindrical unit and an opaque door slid closed behind her.

  A mechanical voice spoke to her. "Please state your name and rank."

  "Katherine Mitchell, but I don't have a rank."

  "Are you a new recruit?"

  "Yes, I suppose so."

  "I will produce a uniform suitable for rank of private until further notice."

  A bright light illuminated the unit and a second later Katie was left as naked as a new born baby. "What happened to my clothes?" She asked as she tried to hide her nudity from the unseen presence.

  "They have been stored under your name and body print." A thin layer of light lowered from the top of the unit to the bottom. "Subject height, one point seven two four metres. Weight, forty seven point six three kilograms. Dimensions, ninety one, sixty one, eighty six centimetres. Energising suit." With a flash of light, a silver and black uniform was beamed around her body. Katie was startled by the instantaneous process as her hands went from clutching skin to clutching an unusual, smooth material. The uniform hugged her body like a lycra suit and with just as much mobility. "Process is complete, have a nice day."

  The door slid open and Adam greeted her with a smile. "Good fit."

  "This is an amazing machine, it changed my clothes in seconds. What is this material?" She said as she ran her fingers over the surface.

  "It's a highly effective insulator that is impervious to heat, cold, has no electrical conductivity and is almost impossible to tear."

  "Sounds like a must for every woman's wardrobe."

  As they exited the Auto Wardrobe Centre, an instructor closest to them caught Katie's attention. The woman stood before six students who watched her intently as she stood upon an abnormal floor surface that was the size of a basketball court. "Remember, the Warrian's are formidable opponents. They as strong as ten men with the reflexes of a rattle snake and even with aid of the A.A.E.E.V. suit, your only advantage is skill and imagination. I will run through a number of tactics on the battle simulator that have proven effective in hand to hand combat." She pressed a button on her wrist watch and an A.A.E.E.V. suit generated about her body. The woman then pressed a button on a control pedestal that sided the abnormal floor surface and a frightening apparition appeared before her.

  Katie gasped at the horrific image that came to life and stalked the woman. The black armoured, Warrian foot soldier towered over her with a metre of deadly energy sword in its grasp and lunged at her with great speed and agility. The woman's speed and skill was surprising. As fast as the eye could see she unsheathed her own energy sword, parried the cut, then leapt from the monster's path. Simulated sparks flew as weapon's clashed in a phenomenal display of swordsmanship, acrobatics and hand to hand combat. It all moved so fast that Katie had difficulty in following her moves as she countered every strike of the larger opponent. With a finely executed series of strikes, the Warrian's weapon arm was severed, leaving a gory stump and with a final cut, the head left its shoulders behind. The image fell to the floor in a bloody heap and quickly disappeared from view.

  Adam applauded her performance." Superb swordsmanship, Captain Everly. Absolutely superb."

  As she deactivated the A.A.E.E.V. suit, the look in the woman's eyes brought a shiver to Katie's spine. The expression was a wild beast that was maddened with the lust for blood - pure hatred, backed by unyielding wrath. It dissipated quickly as a smile replaced the expression, then she gave a bow. "Thank you, Colonel Moore I hope you enjoyed the show." She returned to the instruction of her students.

  Adam turned to Katie. "Sarah Everly is one of the finest swordsmen in Intersect. I have never been able defeat her in hand to hand combat. She has an inner strength that I have found impossible to conquer."

  They continued walking across the large training centre while Katie observed numerous forms of combat and weapons training. Katie marvelled at the highly advanced weapons and training methods being used. Despite the fantastic display, her attention wondered back to her escort.

  "How long have you been with Intersect?"

  "Eight years."

  "How did you feel when Ryan told you, you could never see your family again?"

  Adam stopped and looked straight into her eyes. "Very angry. I still think of flying down to Earth and seeing them, but I am dead and any interference with their lives could be catastrophic. I could do irreparable damage to their own future, their kids and their grandkids. In a thousand years the whole of the world could have changed because of just one visit by me. The risk is too great."

  "From what I've heard the future isn't much good anyway. Changing it couldn't make things worse than they are already."

  "There is one other factor, the time space plane."

  "The what?"

  "The time space plane.
It's the plane that all of time and space exists upon and by changing the future the plane could rupture, creating giant black holes that suck all of the known universe out of existence. The Admiral estimates that the universe would be destroyed in a single century. How would you like that responsibility on you're shoulders?"

  "You've got a point there."

  "Anyway, the life that the Admiral has given me is far greater than what I could ever have back in Australia. My passion is flying; back home the best I could have done was join the Airforce and fly an F18 hornet. Here I can fly the most advanced spacecraft ever built by man and that is something that is hard to give up. I still would have lost my family whether the Admiral was here or not, but now I can live a decent life doing what I love best."

  A loud clamour from the far side of the centre caught their attention, so Katie and Adam went over to investigate the source. They entered a chamber that was connected to the training centre and it was full of large apparatuses that floated in free space. Each one looked like the front section of a small spacecraft and at one of these machines was the source of the commotion.

  A young man stood upon the machine shouting at the top of his voice. "I challenge anyone to match my skills on the flight simulator." About him was a crowd of spectators that had just witnessed his last aerial performance.

  Adam approached the Drill Sergeant in charge of the flight simulator centre. The Drill Sergeant who was struggling to control the young man upon the simulator. "What's all the shouting about?"

  The Sergeant stood to attention. "Atten-hut!" He replied as the entire room stood to attention.

  "At ease."

  All the saluting hands dropped simultaneously.

  "Colonel Moore, Lieutenant Masters has beaten the highest level on the simulator and as you can see he is a little ecstatic." Explained the Sergeant.

  Adam looked up at the man who was two years his junior. "That is quite an achievement Lieutenant, maybe you would like to challenge me to a one on one duel."

  The grin on the Lieutenant's face quickly faded away. "Sir, it would be an honour."

  Adam turned to Katie. "Please excuse my leave, this won't take long." He boarded the adjacent simulator by the means of a hover platform while Lieutenant Masters did likewise. The murmur among the crowd enticed Katie's curiosity, so she approached the Sergeant. "Is Adam rather good?"

  The Sergeant turned to her in surprise. "What rock have you been hiding under Corporal, Colonel Moore is the best pilot in the Spaceforce! If there is anybody who can bring that hot head back to earth, it will be him."

  The far wall lit up displaying the view from either cockpit as they went through the launch proceedings. The scenes of the launching bay quickly disappeared as both simulators imitated the fighters launching into space. The simulators moved around to imitate the pilot's manoeuvres likewise the scene upon the opposing wall. Katie initially assumed they were looking at the wall as a substitute for the view from the cockpit, but the windscreens on the simulators were totally black and question of how they see what is happening came to mind.

  "Are there screens inside the simulators, showing what we can see?"

  "The windows are a 3D display instead of a transparent shield. What they look at is as realistic as if they were actually fighting each other in space."

  As soon as they were away from the computer generated Endeavour, the view on the two screens shifted violently into action. Lieutenant Masters was first to sweep into attack formation and boldly let away two photon missiles to commence his usual aggressive fighting method. Upon the Lieutenant's screen a simulated starfighter furiously spiralled out of view as Adam dodged the guided missiles. The simulated missiles were unable to match the manoeuvrability of the Starfighter and overshot their target then disappeared into computer generated space. Two monitors upon the ground displayed the scene within the cockpits and underneath each display were a number of sensors indicating the vital signs of the pilot so as to monitor their stress level. The Lieutenant's vital signs were calm at first, but after a few moments under the heat of battle, they quickly became more intense as his stress level skyrocketed. Meanwhile, Adam's vital signs remained calm throughout the space battle.

  Lieutenant Masters fought with his controls to match Adam's phenomenal flying skills and within a few moments, Adam's Starfighter disappeared from his view altogether. On the monitor, his helmet dashed from side to side in an attempt to locate his opponent on the simulated screens and scanners, but to no avail. He had lost Adam. In his despair he called on the fighter's navigation computer to locate him. "Where is the target?"

  "Twelve O'clock high as is shown on left scanner screen."

  "But there is nothing there but the sun." As he spoke, he realised that the target cursor was the same colour as the simulated sun rays; therefore his target was momentarily invisible. With all the speed that his reflexes could muster, he pulled the fighter into a hard right loop to outmanoeuvre the anticipated missiles. Two streaks of fire shot across his nose and clipped his right wing that sprayed simulated wing frame in all directions. The Lieutenant fought with the controls as the onboard computer compensated for the loss of the right stabiliser. Despite the damage, he was still a worthy opponent and with eighty percent manoeuvrability.

  Adam loomed up on his tail like an eagle after its prey and with just as much ferocity. Lieutenant Masters ducked and dived while performing every trick manoeuvre he could think of, but nothing could break the hold that Adam had. Adam was too close for the use of missiles, so he went to the photon cannons. The Starfighter before him banked into his target sites and with a flick of his right thumb, a pair of deadly beams shot into the back of the Lieutenant's fighter and ignited the ship into a thousand particles.

  Two red flashing lights on top of the simulator, signalled its destruction. The two canopies opened and the pilots stepped out, one threw his helmet to the floor while the other had a distinct smile on his face. There was a cheer from the crowd and an especially large one from the Drill Sergeant.

  "Settle down Lieutenant, you still did very well. Remember we are all on the same team, the enemy is out there." Adam said as pointed to the starry scene on the wall monitor. "That manoeuvre is something you won't find in any of the simulators or computer files. It's a manoeuvre that comes from your imagination. The greatest weapon we have against the Warrant is our own minds and it will be this..." He pointed to his head. "...that will make the difference between our success and failure on the thirteenth. Now back to your practice sessions, we will need every ounce of experience we can get." Adam jumped onto the hover platform and returned to the ground.

  The Drill Sergeant approached Adam. "Thanks, Colonel. Some of these flyboys are getting too big for their boots."

  "In two days these pilots will need all the fiery spirit they can muster. For them, it may be the only thing between life and death."

  "I'll try to remember that Colonel."

  Adam went to Katie. "I think we have seen enough off the training centre. Shall we continue?"

  "Fine. That was some flying you did there, it must feel good to be the best."

  "I suppose it would if I were." He said as they walked to the exit.

  "They all seem to think so."

  "They would think differently if they saw the Admiral fly."

  "What, Ryan?!"

  "Yes, Ryan."

  "How come nobody else knows?"

  "He taught me, then I taught the other squadron leaders and they taught everyone else. I didn't invent that manoeuvre I pulled back there, it was Ryan.

  He did the same to me two week ago. Did he ever tell you how he escaped from his home planet?"

  "Not exactly."

  "He flew into the entire Warrian Fleet at maximum pulse drive, right over the top of the Emperor's destroyer, then dodged the flak from the thousands of anti-spacecraft guns and survived. Either he is the luckiest man alive or the greatest pilot who ever lived! I've battled one on one against him and I can tell you,
he has skill that I could only dream off."

  They stopped outside the matter transporter and Katie looked him in the eye. "You are really proud to serve under him aren't you?"

  "If I were his wingman, I would fly into a wall of Warrian fighters with him!"

  "He seems to have that effect on people." She said with a smile.

  They stood in the matter transporter and Adam spoke to the computer in charge. "Engine room." In a flash of light they disappeared.

  ********************

  The scene before Katie's eyes changed and again her sense of balance was violated, but with Adam's instructions, she managed to stay on her feet without his aid. They stepped out from the transporter and into the Endeavour's engine room. The room was thirty metres across, fifteen metres deep and was the control centre for the main drive systems. The room itself didn't make Katie's jaw drop but the immense chamber beyond it did. The side walls were kilometres apart, likewise the floor from the roof and its end disappeared into the distance. Inside were four massive structures, each as big as a city centre and twice as long. She could just make out some tiny specks moving over the engine structures, and soon realised that they were the engineering crew. Each of the crew wore shiny gold, armoured uniforms and helmets to protect their delicate bodies against unimaginable environment within the engine room itself. Each engine possessed a large transparent tube and within the tubes, continual bolts of lightning arched down to the far end where the exhaust ports were stationed. As each bolt went on its journey to the far end of the engine, a deep boom sounded through the complex and echoed along the great length of the engine chamber.

  One of the engineers approached Adam. "Hello Colonel, what brings you to this neck of the woods?"

  Adam saluted the engineer. "G'day Carl, just showing a new recruit around."

  "And a pretty one at that!" Katie blushed slightly with embarrassment. She had been thorough hell the past day and felt like something the cat dragged in. The one thing she didn't feel right now, was pretty.