Starfire and the Space Dragons: A Grennig Crew Adenture

by Christine Westhead

  “Not now, Vermillion, not now! Go to sleep.” The cockpit was silent for a moment, then Tranter said, hopefully, “Are you there Rebel?”

  “I am here, Con Tranter.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Rebel, take ‘em out!”

  “Yes, Con Tranter.”

  There was no holding back this time. The Galactic Police were the reason the whole galaxy was at war. Hal and Raan took out four ships and The Rebel another three. By then they were screaming across the planet’s surface, heading for the Trenee’s base, trading fire with the remaining thirteen wasp fighters. The Rebel threw itself all over the heavens, twisting and spinning in the atmosphere. Three more fighters went down to its guns and Tranter did a perfect barrel roll, closely followed by a wasp fighter, imitating his every move.

  “Will you trust me, Con Tranter?” The voice arrived in the cockpit and Tranter nodded, knowing the little ship could see him.

  “Go for it!” The Rebel straightened out and shot forward like a black missile. Tranter grinned. He had forgotten that the Rebel could hold light point nine, nine, six for a short period of time. The air around the ship seemed to flex and rotate and the following fighter was caught in the vortex. It seemed to stretch, then spun away and exploded.

  The Grennig was not a fighter and was taking far too many hits. Erion, hands waving across the console in front of her, looked like a demented pianist as she transferred outputs from the engines to speed, shields or guns. At the moment, Starfire demanded speed, but the corvette was nowhere near as manoeuvrable as a fighter and was taking hits on its shields as nine wasp fighters buzzed around it like lethal insects. Hal and Raan bagged another fighter apiece and Starfire yelled that they needed more shielding to the rear of the ship. The fighters seemed to be concentrating on their engines.

  “Tranter, we need you.” called Erion.

  “On my way, Major.”

  “Front shields,” yelled Raan and Hal together, as three ships approached them. Erion moved the shielding from the flanks to the front and the ship took all three hits at once. It made the Grennig look like it was flying into a multi coloured cone as their shields absorbed the impact and spread the pulse away like the bow wave of a ship at sea.

  “The shielding is weakening, Major,” said Delta Ten, calmly. The Grennig bucked hard and they would have been thrown from their seats had they not been strapped in. Hal and Raan were doing their best at their gunnery posts but they were being overwhelmed. The Grennig suddenly decelerated and Starfire called out,

  “Number two engine is on fire, Major,” The Rebel came in from the rear, all guns blazing and two more fighters went down.

  “The repair computers are off line, Major,” began Delta Ten. “We have no extinguishers.”

  “What’s the status at the Trenee Base?” called out Erion. She had moved most of the power to the shields now, but it wasn’t looking good. The Grennig was too slow and the fighters were too fast.

  “The last tanker is loading now, Major,” called Delta Ten. “There are ground assault forces heading for their position.”

  “Get us there, Starfire,” ordered Erion. “We can’t get to hyperspace now, we might as well give them as much covering fire as we can before we go down.” Starfire turned the big corvette and it set off, jerkily, followed by the last few Galactic Police fighters and The Rebel. Starfire lifted the nose up and the ship rose slowly. Her heads up showed a small range of hills a mile in front of them and she didn’t want the Grennig to plough into it. They traded shots all the way there and Hal missed two targets because the ship was bucking and shuddering. There was an explosion behind them and the Grennig shunted forward as if it had been hit hard from behind.

  “That was Number One Engine,” said Starfire.

  “Give me everything you got, Major,” gritted Hal, on the guns. “Raan, we have to take them all out before we hit the dirt.”

  “All power to the guns, aye,” said Erion, transferring as much energy to him as she could spare. Hal scored a direct hit, and then Raan brought another one down.

  “Help me pull her up, Del,” yelled Starfire. The noise from the engines was getting louder and higher in pitch. The coolant pipes had been hit and they were overheating. They had used all their foam and water to put out the burning hospital and there was nothing left. The pungent odour of burning wiring wafted in to the pilot section along with the smell of hot metal. Both engines were still managing to provide propulsion but their speed was diminishing as the moving parts rubbed together and became red hot.

  We’re going down, Major,” gritted Starfire, wrestling with the manual hydraulic controls. They had just cleared the little line of hills and Starfire let the nose drop so they were parallel to the downward slope on the other side.

  “Brace for impact,” called Delta Ten, calmly. Everyone was tightly strapped in anyway, but Starfire instinctively touched her automatic seatbelt again. She and Del hauled back on the manual steering bar and they both had their feet shoved hard on the emergency hydraulic brake pedals under their console.

  “Braking thrusters now, Major,” yelled Starfire, and Erion flashed her hands over the engineering controls to coax what little power there was left to slow the big ship down. The Grennig hit the ground with braking thrusters at thirty percent and bounced twice, skidded along the ground, then the rear landing struts collapsed. She ended up nose high with her twin engines on the ground and on fire.

  “Come on, Star!” yelled Raan as he virtually hauled her out of the pilot’s seat as she frantically tried to engage the repair computers. She was trying to put the fire out in the engine bay without success, and in the end, Raan said, gently, “We got nothing to put it out with, Lieutenant.” She seemed to pull herself together and followed Raan into the little hexagonal hall and down two flights of the circular staircase to stand precariously on the hot, sloping metal floor of the front cargo bay with her shipmates. Delta Ten stood at the passenger hatch, built in to the loading bay ramp.

  “We have no power in any of the ship’s systems,” he said, calmly. “We are fifteen point three feet from the ground, but we do not have time to get to the rear of the ship to exit from the rear cargo bay.” He wrenched the hatch off its hinges and threw it behind him. The noise of the battle suddenly became intrusive as fighters screamed above them, and the sharp smell of burning fuel filtered in through the open hatch. Another fighter was blown out of existence by Tranter, which caused the last two fighters to head back the way they came, closely followed by The Rebel.

  Delta Ten jumped out of the hatch and stood in the sandy soil, looking up at them in the moonlight, with his arms outstretched.

  Hal and Raan held Erion over the edge, lowered her by her outstretched arms and released her to land in Delta Ten’s arms. They turned to Starfire, but she shook her head. “I have to go last.” Hal looked baffled but Raan understood and the two of them lowered Hal to be caught by the waiting android. Raan sat on the edge and turned around to lower himself by his finger tips and drop down. Starfire sat on the edge and turned around, but kissed her fingertips and touched the hull of the burning, stricken corvette before she lowered herself.

  “Goodbye, ship,” she said and dropped into Delta Ten’s waiting arms.

  “Come on, Lieutenant!” she ran with Delta Ten to catch up with the others who had nearly reached a huge rock, standing proud at the base of the hill. In the end, he picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and doubled his speed. The Grennig’s engines couldn’t be seen now, in the fifty foot high, blue veined flames and Delta Ten risked a look back and increased his speed. He reached the rock and swerved round it to be greeted by the others.

  The Rebel hurtled towards them as Delta Ten flung Starfire to the ground and lay on top of her.

  “Get down!” he ordered, firmly. There was a massive explosion as the flames reached the fuel tanks in the Grennig’s wings. A rolling ball of flame powered into the air to cover The Rebel with fire as it flew over the top of the burning wreck. Everyone curled
into a little ball and clapped their hands over their ears as tons of sand and tiny pieces of the Grennig rained down over them. It was several seconds before the ground stopped heaving and stuff stopped falling from the sky.

  “What’s our status?” yelled Erion. Her ears were ringing and she couldn’t hear her own voice. They waited for things to calm down, Delta Ten raised his comlink and everyone lifted theirs to their ears.

  “We are point seven kilometres from Tanker Ten,” he said, in a louder voice than usual.

  “We can hitch a ride if we can get there,” put in Raan. They looked up at the lightening sky and started walking.

  “Do we tell Kaura we’re on the ground?” asked Starfire, raising her wrist. “He’ll be the last one to leave.”

  “No, Lieutenant,” Erion raised her hand in protest. “If Kaura knows we’re here, he’ll wait for us. I’m not putting five hundred lives at risk. If we get there, we get there. If we don’t, we’ll hide and take our chances.”

  The air cracked above them and The Rebel thundered overhead, preceded by a sonic boom. Smoke was coming out of its engine and it circled them twice, then headed off. They were on their own.

  “Tranter, come in please?” Erion eventually gave up. They could contact each other but not The Rebel. Something must have knocked out its communications as it flew through the fireball.

  Two, twenty seater Planet Hoppers had landed two hundred yards from Tanker Ten and already, heavily armoured Galactic Police trotted down the rear ramps to take up firing positions on the huge tanker. The Grennig crew didn’t need anyone to tell them what to do. Raan, Erion, Starfire and Delta Ten opened fire on the Galactic Police while Hal stood up to take careful aim on the Planet Hoppers. He had thrown an armful of laser rifles out of the front cargo bay before he jumped out and, after handing them out, had two spares lying on the moss at his feet.

  He was aiming for the fuel tank, just behind the engine. The Police, realising the attack had come from behind, immediately turned round, found cover and took aim on Hal as he recklessly fired at the ship’s fuselage.

  Starfire, Erion, Delta Ten and Raan kept up a constant covering fire and all the Galactic Police could do was to fire blindly over the top of their little hill and hope to take him out.

  One Planet Hopper went up in a sheet of flame. They knew they had to stop the hoppers from taking off. They had their own cannon and would wreak death and destruction on the fleeing Trenee from above.

  There was distant shouting and the Galactic Police Commander sent thirty of his troops towards the Tanker where it sat waiting. The cargo doors along its flank were open, but there was sign of any movement from within or from the ramp that led to the Trenee tunnels. Clearly, the Dragons wished their existence to remain a secret and the ones still underground were willing to sacrifice their place on the Tanker to keep it.

  The remaining Galactic Police started firing in their direction and the crew of the Grennig fired back. The Police were firing uphill; never a good position to attack, and nothing much happened for a few minutes. Hal slid back down behind their ledge and checked everyone’s ammunition. They all had fifty percent left but their battle was at a stalemate and the other thirty armoured Police were striding confidently towards Tanker Ten. Once they got there, all they would have to do would be to look around the corner and they would see the entrance to the Trenee’s underground city.

  “We got to give the Trenee a chance,” said Raan from where they were all crouched behind a rocky ledge. “We’re just wasting time and ammo trading shots like this." Erion was the better tactician in the air, but Raan was more versed in ground fighting and he knew what they had to do. He shared a glance and a nod with Hal and lifted his carbine in a casual grip.

  “So we charge?” said Erion.

  “Yep,” he said, firmly, "we scatter and charge; give 'em a wider target to aim at. If any of us make it, try and take out the rest of those troopers from behind that ledge."

  “So this is it then,” said Starfire, running her tongue over her lips, which had suddenly gone dry.

  “Guess so, Lieutenant,” said Hal, quietly, lifting his carbine to hold it with both hands, ready to fire. They nodded to each other determinedly, stood up and ducked straight back down again as five Tiger Shark Fighters roared overhead.

  “Are pirates in need of assistance down there?” boomed Carl Honoray, through Hal’s wristlink. Five forward guns spat down on the Galactic Police, using old fashioned light bolts. Raan grinned, widely and they all stood up from cover and ran towards the fleeing Galactic Police. The ground battle didn’t last long after that. With the Tiger Shark Fighters zooming all around them and Erion’s party firing as well, those that were not killed made a sudden run for it after their Commander went down. They made it to their remaining Planet Hopper and it was escorted away by four Tiger Sharks. The lead Tiger Shark fighter circled the area and Hal’s comlink buzzed against his wrist again.

  “Call this our debt paid in full, Hal,” said Honoray. “Galactic Police reinforcements are coming. We’ll be outgunned. Get yourselves to some cover. Good luck, my friend.”

  “Thanks, Carl.” Hal cut the link and looked up as the Pirate fighter executed a perfect victory roll and flew off.

  “Come on,” said Erion, rushing down the slope. Dragons were flying out of the ground to get into the Tanker and they rushed forward to help. A dragon crumpled in mid-air and landed on the ground, wings and tail fluttering. There were more screams and several more of the graceful creatures fell out of the sky. Hal and Starfire skidded to a halt and took quick aim at the two Galactic Police who had been cut off from their comrades.

  “Go!” shouted Hal, as Erion, Raan and Delta Ten ducked down and looked for cover.

  “We’ll catch up,” yelled Starfire, and the other three hurtled down the slope to try and help the wounded creatures.

  Every time the Galactic Police showed themselves to aim at a dragon, Hal and Starfire pinned them down. The wounded Trenee were carried to the tanker by other dragons and heaved through the big cargo doors all along its side. The doors started to close and Hal and Starfire looked at each other. The last of the Trenee were making for the Tanker and it was powering up.

  “Cover me,” snapped Hal and without waiting for an affirmative, bent double and scuttled towards the two, well-hidden Police. He shot one and Starfire shot the other one as he stood up to take aim at Hal. “Come on!” he yelled, running down the slope.

  Erion, Raan and Delta Ten were at the exit tunnel. It was silent. There were no more dragons left and they started to run for the Tanker.

  Chapter 20

  It was just one little egg. It had rolled out of a basket and come to rest in a clump of grass. Huge, clawed feet thundered past it but there was nobody to hear the tiny cracking sound as it split open. A little talon pushed its way out.

  “Mother? Mother?” Starfire felt the sensation in her head, rather than heard the words. She stopped running and started to scrabble in the long grass on the way to the Tanker. She saw its little face pop out to look up at her and she picked it up. It was a baby dragon, about the size of a kitten and it opened its mouth to show two rows of thorny teeth. It squeaked at Starfire and she held the dragon to her chest and carried on running while the small creature snuggled up to her. The Tanker was barely a hundred yards away, but she was getting out of breath.

  “Come on!” she looked up to see Hal running back for her.

  “Give him to me,” he yelled, holstering his gun and holding out his hands. Starfire nodded and stopped running, gasping for breath.

  “I can’t keep up,” she said.

  “Don’t worry, Lieutenant,” Hal took the wary little creature. It looked up at Hal and pulled a strained sort of face. "I’ll carry….” Hal suddenly stopped talking and looked down at his chest. His black shirt was suddenly wet and he carefully handed back the baby dragon. He touched his shirt and looked at his hand. It was bright with blood. He looked a little surprised, then his legs ga
ve way and he slowly sank to the ground with a resigned expression on his face.

  “No!” Starfire yelled at the top of her voice. She turned to see one of the Galactic Police they had been shooting at, still pointing his laser rifle at them. She aimed her own weapon, but he was already covered with blood, mortally wounded and slipped to the ground himself. The dragon had picked up on Starfire’s distress and was squawking, loudly as Starfire sank down to her knees. She knelt down beside Hal, cradled his head and called his name. His eyes fluttered opened and he looked up at her, his breathing shallow and ragged.

  “Stay with me,” commanded Starfire. “Don’t give up. Stay awake.” She took his hand, feeling how cold and weak it was and looked around in vain for someone to help her. She thought about her comlink, but her left arm was supporting him so she bent forward and raised Hal’s wrist, meaning to use his, but then she heard a voice in her head. It was Kaura.

  “Starfire, stay calm. Do as I say. I am coming for you.” As if in a dream, she carefully stretched Hal out on the ground and lay down by his side. She unzipped her flight suit and stuffed the little dragon inside, where it snuggled into her chest. “Do not move.” A large, dark shadow appeared above her and two huge scaly feet opened out and aimed for them. She suddenly realised what was happening and cradled Hal’s head into her shoulder as the massive talons gouged into the ground either side of her and huge, black wings beat the air with a slow, steady whoomph, whoomph noise. They were all lifted, along with a fair piece of earth, from the ground. Bits of sand and soil rained down, but Starfire’s attention was on Hal and the squirming baby dragon as they were carried into the air.

  “Erion!” Raan caught her arm and pointed to Kaura and his burden as they flew into the tanker.

  “We must hurry, Major,” said Delta Ten. “All the Trenee have left.”

  “You’re right, Del. Come on!” They raced towards the Tanker, to see a young dragon leaning out of the last bay, holding out a wing to wave them inside. The Tanker had started its engines and Raan looked around. They were the last ones. The Tanker started to rise and Delta Ten virtually picked up Erion and threw her on board. He shoved Raan in after her and looked up as the Tanker rose into the sky.