The Planetsider Trilogy

by G J Ogden

  Returning her gaze to the console, Diana quickly assessed the status of the launch bay and the ships in dock. Maria was right; the bay was still operational, but only just.

  “I’ll sound an evacuation,” Diana continued. “The commlink systems are down, but the tannoy is still working, which means someone may hear it and come. We’ll bring with us as many as we can, and take our chances on the planet.”

  “But what about the fighters?” said Aster. Maria had almost forgotten he was there. “Those scavenger ships couldn’t outrun them before we reached atmosphere.”

  In the confusion, Maria had forgotten about the fighters that had launched from the UEC moon base. She tried to think of a way to get past them unseen, or to somehow scramble their sensors, but nothing came to mind. Aster was right, the fighters were fast enough to easily intercept the unarmed scavenger ships.

  “Damn it!” she cursed, curling her hands into tight fists.

  “Let me deal with the fighters,” said Diana, unfazed by Aster’s analysis. “Just focus on the evacuation.”

  “Deal with them how?” asked Maria.

  “Don’t worry about that now,” Diana shrugged off the question. “Just get down to the deck, and round up as many pilots as you can. Start loading those ships!”

  Diana’s vague response hadn’t satisfied Maria, but there was no time to stand around and argue. She grabbed Aster and together they ran down the emergency stairwell to the hangar deck, passing Edgar Tenson who lay unconscious on the deck. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they heard an announcement, barely audible above the din of blaring klaxons, crackling electrical fires, and the creaking sound of millions of tons of metal being placed under ever increasing torsion and strain.

  “This is President Neviah to anyone who can hear this message. Head immediately to the secondary docking bay and prepare to evacuate. I say again, head immediately to the docking bay for evacuation.”

  The announcement caused a panic in the hangar, with people rushing all over the deck, not knowing where to go or what to do. Maria and Aster managed to round up as many pilots and flight crew as they could find and separated them from regular civilians, who they ushered into the temporary shelter that was still occupied by the evacuees from the UEC base. Beyond these refugees, the only people they could find were those already in the hangar bay; no-one else had yet come.

  Maria counted twelve pilots in total, including the six pilots who flew over from the UEC base, with skills ranging from advanced combat-trained fliers to rookies who had only been qualified for a few months. She assigned each pilot a ship and with the help of Aster and the other UEC officers, they began to organize people on board. The task was made harder by the increasing instability of the docking bay, which was slowly tearing itself apart around them. There could be a breach at any time, and if that happened, most of them would be blown out into space in a matter of seconds.

  The process of loading the passengers on-board had just got under way when Maria saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She drew her sidearm instinctively and ran across the deck to get a clearer view, and better cover, but what she saw was not a platoon of UEC soldiers, but a train of terrified children. Maria holstered her weapon and ran over to them. When she arrived she saw Diana among the throng.

  “They’re from a school in the next section along,” shouted Diana. She was breathing heavily. “I had to check if they were there. These are all I can find.”

  “How many?” asked Maria, spotting that Aster was also now running over.

  “Around two hundred I think. Do we have space for them all?”

  Maria knew they had twelve ships, but none were configured for large-scale passenger transportation. Adding this new group to the numbers already being loaded on-board would be cutting it close, but it should be doable. Besides, they really had no choice.

  Aster arrived and looked at Maria expectantly, waiting for her orders.

  Maria raised her voice as loudly as she could to be heard above the torrent of noise. “This man will take you to your ships!” she called out. “Don’t be afraid, everything is going to be okay.”

  Aster looked concerned; he was no doubt also trying to work out how to fit these new arrivals into the limited space they had.

  “Just make it work, Lieutenant, I don’t care how,” said Maria, but quietly enough that only Aster could hear.

  “Put the adults on the second UEC fire ship; its configuration is the least suitable for these children,” Diana shouted over the heads of the children who were streaming past her. “That should give you enough space on the others for everyone else.”

  “Follow me!” Aster shouted, with impressive volume, and then he set off back to the waiting ships with a mob of children in his wake.

  Diana gently eased her way through the crowd to Maria as the rumble of a distant detonation shuddered through the deck plating. “What next, Commander?” Diana steadied herself as the deck rocked beneath her.

  “I need to plot an entry program and transmit it to the other ships,” said Maria, grabbing hold of Diana’s arms as the deck shimmied again. “I can do it from the recon ship that we flew here in. The recon ship can’t make planetary entry, but it has the best nav computer, and I can plot a safe course from memory, based on the first time I flew planetside.”

  “Good, I’ll come with you,” said Diana.

  “It’s okay, I can do it myself…” Maria began, but Diana interrupted.

  “I’m not needed anywhere else, and with the way this hangar is shaking, you may need the extra support, literally.”

  Maria hesitated. She didn’t need Diana’s help and didn’t understand why she was insisting, but time was short. “Okay, whatever, just follow me, and hurry, we’re running out of time!”

  They raced to the UEC combat recon scout, still sitting on the pad at platform four, and climbed into the cockpit. From their elevated vantage point they could see the engines of the combined GPS and UEC escape fleet powering up, bathing the hangar bay in a rich, warm glow.

  Maria dropped into the pilot’s chair, activated the ship’s systems with her indent card and began charting an entry course to take them to the planet’s surface.

  “Do you have any suggestions for where we might land?” asked Diana, dropping into the second seat.

  Maria looked at her, eyebrows raised.

  “Seriously, of all the places on the entire planet, you want to go back there?” said Diana.

  “It’s the only place I know,” said Maria, working through the entry computations. “Besides, if he’s down there, he might be able to help us.”

  “I hope you know what you’re doing…”

  “So do I. Anyway, without access to a planetary map, they are the only co-ordinates I can remember.” Maria, completed the final computations. “There, it’s done. I’m transmitting the flight program to the other ships… now.”

  The twelve ships in the escape fleet responded in sequence, indicating that the program had been received and entered into their nav systems.

  “Okay, that’s it,” said Maria. “Let’s get to our ship and get the hell off this station, while we still can.”

  Maria pushed herself out of the chair and climbed down into the rear compartment. She was almost out of the hatch before she noticed that Diana wasn’t behind her. She ran back inside and looked up into the cockpit to see Diana sitting in the pilot’s chair.

  “Diana, what are you doing?” she shouted up to her. “We need to go, now!”

  “I’m not coming, Sal,” said Diana, calmly. She didn’t turn to face Maria, and instead began working the controls of the ship. Seconds later, the engines hummed into life, shaking the deck and forcing Maria to grab onto the hatchway’s support struts to stay balanced.

  An explosion near to one of the empty launch pads then rocked the ship harder, and had she not already been holding on to something, Maria would have been thrown out into the hangar. Alarms sounded in the cabin; Maria checked a nearb
y console and saw that the hangar bay was losing pressure.

  “Diana, that last explosion punched a hole into space!” Maria shouted. She was beginning to panic now. “If that hole widens it could compromise the entire hangar and blow everything out into the vacuum. We don’t have time for this!”

  Diana twisted round in her chair and looked down at Maria. She could see the fear and confusion in her eyes. “You need a way to get ahead of those UEC fighters,” she said in a cool, matter-of-fact way. “I’ll hang behind the station until you’re all away and then fly out to engage them. When they realize it’s me, they’ll be distracted. It will give you the window you need.”

  “Diana, they’ll destroy this ship as soon they realize the deception. It’s suicide!”

  “No more talk, Sal,” Diana replied. “This has to be done. Now get to your ship and save these people. Do it for me, Sal.”

  Maria shook her head, and climbed back into the cockpit. “It should be me. I failed to see what Kurren was planning. It’s my fault that this is happening, so it’s my responsibility.”

  “It’s nobody’s fault but his. Blame Kurren, not yourself. They will need you down there. Your skills, experience and knowledge are more valuable planetside than anything I can offer.”

  Maria tried to protest again, but Diana’s mind was set. “It has to be this way, Sal. This station will soon be destroyed, and along with it my people will die. That failure is mine. The burden is mine.”

  The deck rocked again, and Maria could see the fissure starting to fracture and splinter in other directions. She knew she had to go and she knew that Diana’s will was fixed, but she could not force herself away from her friend. She looked away and hammered her fist on the cockpit dash and let out a anguished cry of frustration.

  Diana reached out and held her arm, “It’s okay, Sal. I’m okay with this,” she said, resolutely. “At least I get to go out fighting.”

  Maria felt the warmth of Diana’s hand and heard the determination in her voice. There was no sense fighting her. She was right; this was the best chance they had of getting planetside.

  “One day, you’ll have to tell me how you can do all this,” said Maria, her voice wavering. “Diplomat, leader, fighter and now pilot? You’re full of surprises.”

  “It’s always good to keep some things a secret,” replied Diana with a smile. But then the smile disappeared and her eyes sharpened, and with a sudden seriousness she added, “Promise me one thing, Maria Salus. Promise me you will bring them together. UEC and GPS, as one, on the planet. Don’t let this all be for nothing.”

  Maria forced herself to look at Diana; to look her in the eyes. She didn’t want to, because she knew it would be for the last time. “I promise.”

  Then the two women embraced tightly, and when Maria finally let go, she twisted away from the pilot’s chair and jumped down into the cabin below without looking back. She ran for her ship, stumbling as the shudders continued to rock the hangar bay. Behind her, over the din of the space station tearing itself apart, she could hear the engine roar of the ship as it lifted off and accelerated towards the launch tube. But still she didn’t look back.

  Maria reached her designated ship and ran up the ramp. Her legs and chest were burning from the sprint, but she fought on through the rear compartment, trying to ignore the terrified faces of the passengers, who were secured with harnesses designed to restrain cargo, rather than people, entered the cockpit and collapsed into the pilot’s chair, breathing heavily.

  “This is Commander Salus to all ships!” she called into the commlink, before pausing for breath. “Launch! Launch! Launch!”

  She immediately saw the other ships begin to lift off and then fired up the engines of her own ship and reached up to fasten her harness. The nav package was pre-loaded into the computer, programmed to set them down as close to the small settlement at the edge of the forest as she could remember. Out of the window, she could see the other ships entering their tubes; twelve ships in total containing all that would remain of GPS. She kept her own scavenger on manual, and lifted off, pushing on hard so that she could get out ahead of the others. The inner launch tube doors sealed behind her, just as another violent shudder reverberated through the superstructure, twisting the entire frame of the hangar so much that the inner walls of the launch tube almost collided with the ship. Maria switched to manual override on the launch bay doors and blew them out into space, following closely behind, just as the launch tube collapsed in on itself and exploded silently into flames. Her hands had started to shake violently due to the pressure of holding the scavenger on course; it wasn’t anything like maneuvering a fighter, but she needed it to fly like one. Eventually, she managed to navigate to the rendezvous holding position, placing the hulk of the space station between her and the UEC fighters on the opposite side so that they couldn’t be detected.

  She looked for Diana and then spotted the recon ship also hanging behind the central column of the station. It looked so small and fragile in comparison. Then Maria looked to the remaining launch tubes for the other evacuation ships, and soon they too began to emerge, launching side-by-side, each switching from thrusters to main engines, powering towards her position, following the pre-set course that she had programmed; a course that should keep them out of sight of the UEC for the longest time possible. Then it would be up to Diana.

  The eleven other ships were growing larger through the cockpit glass so Maria switched to automatic and initiated the nav program, immediately feeling the thrusters slowly swing the scavenger ship around. As the space station began to slip out of view, Maria saw the engines of the tiny UEC recon ship glow bright like a star, and she watched as it surged around the station’s central column and disappeared from view.

  “Goodbye, Diana,” whispered Maria. “Give them one last surprise.”

  Large parts of the space station were now beginning to buckle and tear apart, venting their contents into space. Maria could see bodies mixed in with the debris floating out into the darkness, and her mind went back to the moment her mother was blown out into the void after a GPS attack on the moon base. She turned away and shut her eyes. The memory always used to fuel her hatred of GPS, but now instead of anger she felt shame and a deep remorse at being unable to stop a similar fate befalling thousands of others. It had been hate that had caused the war to continue for so long. It was hate that motivated Maria to go planetside five years ago and manipulate an innocent man into unwittingly participating in a plan to kill thousands. And it was hate that had led another man to commit genocide. Hatred had done so much damage over the last century, but Maria was not done hating yet. Now all the hatred left in her heart was for General James Kurren.

  Maria’s ship picked up the rear of the fleet of lifeboats soaring out into space, carving a path through the void towards the deep blue planet glowing ahead of them. As they passed beyond the cover provided by the space station, her sensor panel lit up, showing the four UEC ships with Diana accelerating hard towards them. She opened the commlink and set it to receive only, hoping that she would be able to monitor the chatter, and perhaps hear Diana again. Immediately, Diana’s voice came through clearly, and Maria smiled.

  “UEC attack vessels, this is Diana Neviah, President of GPS. Stand down your attack and prepare to receive my surrender.”

  There was no immediate response, only the crackle of background static.

  “Unknown vessel, this is Major Darien of the UEC, reduce your velocity and prepare for ident confirmation.”

  Diana did not respond. More precious seconds passed and Maria could see that Diana’s rate of acceleration was increasing.

  “Unknown vessel, reduce speed and power down or we will open fire!”

  There was no response.

  A new, unidentified voice came over the comm. “Sir, we’re picking up a convoy of ships heading towards the planet.”

  “All craft, destroy the approaching vessel!”

  Maria’s panel lit up with eight ad
ditional contacts as the UEC fighters launched missiles, but by now Diana’s ship was almost on top of them. There was flash of brilliant white light; Maria looked down at her panel and saw three of the five ships flicker and disappear. She switched to active scanning, probing for the idents of the two remaining ships. Both were heavily damaged. She waited for the ident scan to run its course and when the information appeared on screen, she closed her eyes tightly, and hung her head low. Neither of the remaining ships was Diana’s. She was gone.

  The open commlink continued to crackle in the background, and then a familiar voice boomed though the speakers; the voice of General James Kurren. “GPS fleet, you cannot escape. If you run, I will hunt you down without mercy. Return to this base and you will be treated…” there was a tense pause before he added the word, “…fairly.”

  Hearing Kurren’s voice unleashed a fury inside Maria that she could no longer contain. She switched the commlink open and turn up the transmission power to maximum. “If you want us, General, then come and get us, you pathetic coward!” Maria shouted through gritted teeth. “But know this… I’ll be waiting for you!” Then she slammed her fist down on the console, shutting off the commlink, and threw herself back into the command chair.

  She hated being strapped in; all she wanted to do was jump up and smash something – anything – to pieces and pretend it was Kurren’s face. But the planet already filled the windows in front of her and, in a matter of minutes, the ship would begin to plunge through the atmosphere. She gripped the arms of the chair, and waited as the nose of the ship slowly pulled up, bringing the thin line of other vessels into view. Flames started to creep around the edges of the cockpit as they passed into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. The vibrations grew stronger and harder as the ship plunged deeper, its metal shell glowing hotter than the furnace that had engulfed the GPS station, killing everyone, except the few frightened souls that remained, huddled inside this tiny fleet of ships. Hotter even than fires of the explosion that had killed Diana, her friend, but not hotter than the fire that had erupted inside Maria Salus. A fire for revenge.