“Sir, the Nili Patera collided with us. We collided with the Bear Mountain Bridge. Damage to the SoCar is moderate sir; the bridge took the worst of it. Captain, Admiral Musa is dead, sir. So is most of the bridge staff.” Charlie heard the Ensign gulp. “We are cut off from the rest of the ship for now, Sir. Damage Control parties are on their way. Captain, I’m not a doctor, Sir, but I think it’s important that you don’t try to move, Sir. You’ve lost a lot of blood, and you’ve got a structural beam pinning you down.”
“My eyes, Ensign, I can’t…”
“Here Sir” Ensign Derek Thorpe found a piece of cloth and wiped the blood from Captain’s eyes. “Try it now, Sir.”
Captain Walker, moving just his eyes, he looked around at the wreckage of his bridge. The first thing he could focus on was the Nav Station; random sparks flashed at irregular intervals around the pile of debris there. He could see a leg and a bloody arm sticking out, the new diamond that Lieutenant Osborne had proudly displayed that morning, shining on a pale bloodless finger. Charlie snapped his eyes shut at the thought; it was the only way to keep the bile down.
He felt it all spinning. “Ensign, are, is the ship stable?”
“We are dead in space, Sir. The Rescue Teams are almost here, skipper. Stay with me Sir!” Despite Thorpe’s pleas, Charlie felt everything spinning away from him, growing dimmer and dimmer in the distance…
***
West Lake Road
Skaneateles, NY
Standard Earth Date December 3 3478
The empty feeling washed over her so fast she almost fell.
Jock!
Sandy ran for the comm station.
“Ding-DING-DING!”
“Corry, what is it!” Sandy was breathless from running and…
“Mom, it’s Michael.” Corrine sobbed through the link.
“Calm down, honey. Tell me what you feel.” Oh, God, please! This family has suffered enough!
“He’s OK, mom, but he’s…he’s looking for…Kesa. Mom, something’s happened to Kesa!”
Sandy sat down with a thud on the sofa. Her world started to spin. Jock! She refused to let herself go there. She started to put up her stonewall again, the one she had used to imprison her pain when she had felt Jock meet Sharon. But she couldn’t use that now. Her babies needed her!
“It’s okay, baby. Tell me more.”
***
LCPA-44
Standard Earth Date December 4, 3478
There has to be something out here! Halsey thought as he squinted at the sensors. My eyes hurt; my lips are dry…What time is it? Only thirty hours. Slow down a little, don’t miss it…
“HALSEY!” His comm snapped his mind around.
“Here, Captain!” Mike thought his voice sounded much better than he felt.
“Halsey, you sound like shit, and your vitals are off specs, too. You need to head in, son.” Captain Constantine’s voice sounded reasonable and soft to Mike. That worried him a bit.
“I’m fine, Captain. I have another ten hours of fuel, air and water, Sir. I need to use them.” I’d never be able to live with myself for quitting.
“Eight hours, Mike. Then you come in. That’s an order.” Every damn one of these kids, the same friggin’ story. Damn, I’m proud of them!
***
USF Nili Patera
Wreckage
Standard Earth Date December 4, 3478
Rhonda Rhodes looked at the three survivors of her first command bridge. Ensign Fran Thomas would be OK, if he got to a hospital soon. At least they had stopped the bleeding from the stump of his leg. Lieutenant Randy Chalk had a bad head wound and unknown internal injuries. He likely would not live much longer. Ensign Tamera Epps was in pretty good physical shape, but now that they had done everything they could, she looked emotionally fragile to Rhonda.
I hope no one was hurt on the South Carolina. Damn lousy time for a Gravitic Drive Control Unit to fail. Should I have run more tests, drills? We ran twenty percent more than regs called for. I was happy with the ship, so was Ed. He was one damn hard to satisfy engineer, too.
She was used to the spinning now; it wasn’t all that fast a spin, anyway. And there was no way to stop it.
Rhonda looked around again, and did some quick math in her head. Maybe an hour of air left. Maybe. It’s already so cold in here. What is that light?…
***
LCPA-44
Standard Earth Date December 4, 3478
“OK, Halsey. Fifteen more minutes. But, that’s it; you go in with me. Clear?”
“Clear, Cap. Hey, what’s that?” Mike’s adrenalin surged him awake as he centered his sensors on a faint glint of light…
THERE!
“Captain, this is LCPA-44. I have a large contact, Sir! Looks like about a quarter of a heavy cruiser. She’s got some power…moving in now.”
“Halsey, don’t ram the damn thing. ST, did you get the coordinates?”
“Roger, Captain C. We have coordinates. ETA twelve minutes.”
“I’ll be here, Tugs.” Mike sat back in his chair as he set his LCPA on station keeping. Someone is alive in that wreck! He went over the exterior of the ship and came upon part of a name; “USF Bear Mou”. I’ve found her! She must be in there! For Corry’s sake, please Lord, let her be in there!
***
West Lake Road
Skaneateles, NY
Standard Earth Date December 5 3478
Sandy snatched on the comm almost before it rang. “Yes?”
“Mom, Mike’s found a big piece of Kesa’s ship. She could be there! I had to tell you!”
“Thank you, baby. I’ll call Jack.”
***
USF Dreadnought
Admiral’s Quarters
Standard Earth Date December 6, 3478
“That’s the last report, Admiral.” Jock sat back in his chair, looking through the image of Jeri Bucktooth on his viscreen. No more reports, no more orders, no more coordination to be done. Just the healing now. Contacting the nine hundred and forty families to tell each of them that their children were not coming home.
But first he had to talk to Chuck Gridley. He had taken it hard. When Rhonda was found so badly hurt, it seemed to deflate him. He needed to have Chuck back, to keep things together while he went to see Jack.
He had to see Jack. But he had to put those nine-forty ahead of his own. And, he needed Gridley back before he could take care of them.
“DING-ding” Jock’s door chimed.
“Come.”
The door opened and Admiral Bucktooth walked in. He strode right up to Jock’s desk and stopped; Jock knew that this stride, this look his friend and mentor wore now meant, ‘Just do what I tell you. No argument. No discussion.’ Jock’s exhausted eyes looked up.
“Go see your son. That is a direct order. Period.” Jericho raised his right arm and pointed to the door, to the tired marine cadet pilot standing there.
Jock stood up, slanted his head to one side. His mouth opened, but the logical protests he had halfheartedly formed evaporated before he could give them any voice. Instead the hoarse whisper came out quietly: “Thanks”.
Michael Halsey watched the two Admirals look at each other for a few more seconds. Jock walked over to him and simply said, “Let’s go, Cadet!”
***
Chrysler Building
55th Floor
New York City
Standard Earth Date December 6, 3478
“We have what we need to begin. Do you approve of the campaign?”
The brown haired lady stared out the windows until the messenger almost repeated himself. Just before his words came out, she turned and spoke.
“We will begin the campaign in four days. There will be news soon that will help us if we time this correctly. Go. Now.” She turned back to the windows as the messenger left.
***
Mars L-2
J. Wadsworth R & D Station
Commander’s Quarters
Standard Earth Date Dece
mber 6, 3478
The two men stared at each other for a moment before they embraced. Mike Halsey stood nervously nearby, wondering if he should stay or wait in the hall. Finally Jock stepped back and called to Mike over his shoulder, “Come in, sit down. If you’re going to be part of this family, start now.”
What does he mean, ‘part of this family’? I haven’t even told Corry I was thinking about that! Mike thought as he sat down on the far side of the room.
“Over here, Marine!” Jack half-laughed his insistence as he indicated a chair near the desk.
Jock sat down near Mike’s new chair as Jack poured the Glenfiddich.
“You‘ve seen the tattoo. Do you know what it means?” Jack asked as he handed Mike the whiskey glass.
“Fortiter means, ‘To Go Boldly Forward’, Sir. The tattoo is the Crest of the Highland Clan MacAlister. ” Mike replied, looking at the whiskey as if he had never seen the like of it before. “When I asked Corrine about it, she wouldn’t speak to me until I had proven to her that I could explain it.”
“Well, that’s her mother in her. And cut the “Sir” in here. This is family time, Mike.”
“Yes, sir, eh…”
“Heh!” Jack smirked. “You look like I felt the month before I asked Kesa to marry me.” Jack was almost having fun now.
“You’d never looked as nervous, as you did that week!” Jock’s tone softened as he continued, “How is she?”
“They tell me she’ll be OK. She’s mostly shook up about losing her ship. I’m leaving tomorrow to see her.”
“Jack, how are you doing?” Jock continued to the real reason he was here.
“Dad, I was pretty shaky. But what you went through, and what we talked about, helped keep me grounded. Knowing you can get through something helps a lot. Mike, do you know the story, the real story behind the tattoo, the flowers, and my birth mother?”
“I, uh, the flowers, the girl you were engaged to, Admir, er, Mister MacAlister, was killed. Corry explained that to me. The rest, no, sir.”
Jack poured another round as Jock told the story. When he finished, Mike sat back and asked the question burning his gut.
“Why did you need to tell me this?”
“Because you’re almost ready to join my family.” Jock’s larger than life presence filled the room, “Before you commit to that, you needed to know everything about us. My wife and my daughter will fill you in on the rest of it. You will be spending the holiday break with us, am I correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. You will talk with my wife then. Mike, welcome, should that be your choice. We think very highly of you.”
“Thank you sir.” Man! Talk about pressure!
“Now, gentlemen,” Jock raised his glass seriously: “To those who died so Earth may live!”
The three glasses clanged and the men downed the Scotch.
Jack poured another round, and raised his glass.
“To Admiral Musa: we miss him greatly, as we are blessed to have known him.”
“To Admiral Musa!”
Again Jack poured. Again Jock raised his glass.
“To Rhonda: Thank You Lord, for allowing her to stay with us a little longer!”
“To Rhonda!”
Jack poured again, and Jock raised his glass again.
“To Charlie: Thank You Lord, for allowing him to stay with us a little longer!”
“To Charlie!”
As Jack poured the last of the bottle, he stood and raised his glass a little higher.
“To my wife, Kesa, and my child: Thank You Lord, for allowing them to stay with us a little longer!”
“To Kes…” Mike’s voice stopped. Jock looked wide-eyed at Jack. A few seconds passed until Jock’s lips slowly curled up into a fierce grin. He raised his glass to his son’s.
“To Kesa and child!” The three men toasted.
Chapter Six
United News Network
Times Square Studios
Standard Earth Date December 10, 3478
“Tonight, in our sights is the leaked analysis of the Bug society; what it means for Earth’s future, and what we should do about it.
“Hello, every one, I’m Donald Derringer. Welcome to Straight Shot!
“With me tonight to discuss the anonymous leaking of the Bug’s plans for Earth is Professor Wendell Urth of the Universal Guaranteed Liberties Institution, on my left, and Major Roger Heeley, from the Earth Life First Society. Welcome to you both.
“Major news today is the release of the analysis of Bugs plans for the destruction of Earth. Just in case you’ve been living under a rock these last thirty-five years, the USF captured an alien space ship crewed by creatures that have come to be known as ‘Bugs’. Since then, half of our economy has been directed into building up defenses to defeat the Bugs and save the Earth. Yesterday, the classified analysis of the computer system on that alien ship was released, just days after a tragic training accident which killed almost a thousand of our brave star sailors.
“This analysis seems to show that the Bugs intend to wipe out Earth completely. They see us as a threat, and are moving to exterminate that threat. Your reaction, Professor?”
“Thank you, Don. Obviously, the Bugs think we are a threat. If we show them we are not, then of course they will leave us alone. We should be disarming instead of…”
“Are you INSANE? The Bugs kill EVERY civilization they encounter! It’s all in the ANALYSIS! READ IT! They MUST be EXTERMINATED!”
“Now, Roger, please don’t interrupt again, or I will mute your feed. Professor, you say, what?”
“Thank you, Don. The Bugs are intelligent, so they must want what we want. To be left alone in peace. It was likely our first nuclear explosions that drew them here to investigate us. If we had welcomed them with flowers instead of lasers, perhaps we could have a peaceful trading partner instead of an invading horde!
“But, thankfully there is still time! If only we would scrap all of our weapons, our young men and women need not die in training accidents brought on by the corrupt leaders of this Military Indus…”
“YOU ARE NUTS! Here is an alien that has done NOTHING but kill, and you want to bare Earth’s throat to them? Don’t you get it? Once they slap us, there will be no ‘other cheek’ to turn! I say, kill them ALL before they kill ALL of US!”
“That’s all the time we have for this segment. Thank you both for coming into our sights! When we come back, can the Planned Extinction of an intelligent alien species be a GOOD thing?”
***
Chrysler Building
55th Floor
New York City
Standard Earth Date June 1, 3479
“The latest public opinion polls are in. Our efforts have had the desired effect. 68% now feel that extinction of the Bugs is our only option.”
The brown haired woman turned her aging head slightly towards the viscreen. “We need more. Keep the pressure up until they attack, then we add revenge into the formula. Dismissed.” She cut the comm link and turned back to the windows.
“So, now I’ve sunk into speciecide. The Great Exterminator.”
She thought back to happier times of her youth.
“I was going to cure disease. End hunger. Eliminate poverty, crime, hate…it was all so important, it didn’t mattered how I got here, what I had to do.”
She took in a big breath and let it out slowly.
“Could it be that the only thing that matters is how you get there?”
She lifted her glass and gulped down a large swallow of fifteen-year-old Knappogue Castle.
Yeah, maybe how you get there is all that matters in the end.
***
United Space Force Academy
United Space Force Academy Hilton
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Standard Earth Date June 20 3479
Jock MacAlister looked around the hotel suite. Next year it would be quiet. I don’t know if that’s good or not.
This year he had a real crowd; Alistair, Alexander, and Allison. The triplets had been a handful almost from the moment of conception, and that did not lessen with time.
The three may have a tough time when Fleet splits them up.
“Dad, after Mike graduates tomorrow, can we go out with him and Corry?” Allison batted her lashes at her father from the doorway to her room. “Please?”
“No. The night is for the graduates and their dates.” And Sharon. “ You three are stuck back here.”
“Do we get a dreamy escort, like Corry did?”
“Allison! You need a cold shower, girl! Besides, do you think your brothers would let anyone near you?”
“Oh, Daddy!” I know exactly how to distract those two!
“Ding-DING-ding” Jock shook his head as he walked to the door.
“Michael! Where’s Corrine?”
“Sir, I came alone to see you, Sir.” Michael swallowed hard as he stood at attention. I finally got it! The reason they teach you attention is to give you a familiar posture when you’re nervous as hell.
“Come on in, Son.” Jock turned to hide his smile from Mike. As he walked past the door to Allison’s room, he gently pushed her head into her room and closed the door. Tomorrow night. He wants to know the spot.
Jock motioned to one of the chairs next to the small desk. “Have a seat.”
Michael sat down and brushed his pants, then looked around the room as if searching for a possible escape route. Jock looked at him until Michael’s eyes finally met his. After a few seconds, Mike’s mouth opened. Jock spoke before Michael could get a word out.
The Turret: Starclan Foundation Page 16