by Saxon Andrew
“The admiral has sent me with a delivery.”
“I haven’t ordered anything?” Grady replied.
“This shipment has the latest scanner that’s been developed along with four new more powerful blasters.”
“Does the admiral expect me to mount blasters on the ship? He said my task was to just get it operational enough to fly.”
Jeb’s expression showed apprehension, “Grady, things are going downhill with the coalition. They’ve become more aggressive and the admiral is worried that they’re going to make a move on the Union. I believe that he wants you capable of defending yourself it things really get bad.” Grady nodded and opened the rollup door. If things were as bad as Jeb was describing, his mission was now to survive. The hull still had the three raised blaster nodes on it, sans blasters; they had been burned off in the original attack. It looked like his work on the internal systems was far from being completed.
• • •
Two days after the delivery, disaster struck. The Coalition attacked the Union’s fleet and their forces dropped on the Fleet’s Headquarters building. They executed all the senior officers, including Admiral Kosare. The news channels described the events in detail and Grady knew that he was the last surviving member of the Union’s military that wasn’t imprisoned or killed. Jeb contacted him a day later and told him Coalition agents were surrounding his ship. He told Grady to make them pay just before he self-destructed his vessel; Grady was now alone. His anger almost overwhelmed him…but then he forced himself to calm down. He could contact the Coalition and turn the project over to them, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen. He hated them and knew that the Union and its freedoms were short-lived. He decided to follow the admiral’s final orders and make the scout a warship. He had everything he needed to survive, and he placed another order of groceries. He decided to increase the frequency of his orders. He hoped they would go unnoticed by the coalition.
A week later, Grady was in his bedroom watching the news monitor. The Supreme Leader of the Coalition was on the screen speaking to the citizens of the Union. “I recognize the citizens of the Union do not represent a threat to me. I removed your military forces because it became known that they were a threat and had to be handled. I do not intend to change your society; you should go about your lives as if nothing has changed; I wish you prosperity and happiness. During the challenging times ahead of us, my forces will work with you in insuring your lives are not changed in any dramatic way.”
Grady knew the dictator was lying. There was no way he could move in and take control of everything quickly; he didn’t have the forces to make it happen and the twelve nations that were part of the Union would require time to consolidate his control. Life would be changed dramatically once that happened. He decided that the funds he had in his investment funds would be eventually confiscated and he’d lose them. He decided that he needed to use different accounts to make the grocery purchases, so they wouldn’t raise a red flag. There was still so much to do.
• • •
Taffy flew toward the house in the mountains with the second order of the week. The Hairy Hermit, that’s what she called the wolfman now, was hoarding food against the day the Coalition nationalized the food industry and raised prices. She wondered where the Hermit was storing the perishables but decided it wasn’t something she needed to worry about; she had her own issues to handle. She had broken up with Rolf a week earlier after he hit her. Now she was alone and struggling with going back to be with her parents. She knew she should do it…but just couldn’t make herself pull the trigger to make it happen. She sighed and decided to do what she did best, just go with the flow.
She delivered the order and saw that the Hermit was also showing signs of stress. She knew he didn’t like her and really didn’t know why; she could tell by his short comments and refusal to carry on a conversation with her. She knew she dressed to shock others, but he should have grown accustomed to it by now. She was well into the third-year making deliveries to him and his attitude toward her hadn’t changed. She decided to let the right side of her hair grow out. She needed this job and with the threat of the Coalition hanging over the Union, she didn’t want to make them do something drastic to her when they took complete control. Six-months later, they did.
• • •
Taffy arrived at the house in the mountains after daylight. There were thousands of orders being made and she was forced to work overtime to complete her assignments. This was the last delivery and she backed the truck into the lower level in front of the freezers. The Hermit greeted her, and she said as she pulled the cart out of the truck, “This will probably be my last delivery.” The Hermit nodded. “The Coalition announced that next week, any food orders had to be approved by them before they could be delivered. They say there will be a limit on what can be ordered.” The Hermit’s expression was a scowl and she went into the truck and pulled it out of the rollup door and parked it on the plateau outside. She picked up her biller and started back toward the Hermit.
Suddenly, night turned into day and she saw a brilliant beam stab out of the nighttime sky. It hit the house above her exploding it into flames and she could feel incredible heat on her back. She saw the rollup door closing and she sprinted and slid under the door before it closed. She still felt the heat on her back through the insulated suit she was wearing and smelled something burning. The Hermit rushed over and threw a tarp over her and began pounding out the flames from her burning suit. She had worn the insulated suit because the delivery was of frozen foods and the truck’s bay was below zero.
The Hermit jerked her to her feet and pulled the head covering off her head and unzipped the suit. “GET OUT OF IT!” He shouted, and she stepped out of the suit as he sprayed it with a hose. The sparks on the suit sizzled and popped as she put her arms across her chest. The Hermit looked at her and shook his head, “WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!”
Taffy turned away from him and answered, “I only wore the suit. I planned to go directly to my next job and I barely had time to change clothes before my schedule! I was going to change in the truck!”
The Hermit turned around, took a tee-shirt off a shelf, and threw it at her, “PUT THAT ON!” He walked to the rollup door and looked out. She put the tee-shirt on and walked over to the door beside him. He was looking up through one of the glass inserts in the door that was warped from the extreme heat. She looked up with him and saw the house was gone. She looked through another insert and saw her truck was also gone. She turned to him, “WHAT’S GOING ON?!”
He ignored her and walked toward the back of the room. She followed him, and he pressed a button on the wall. A door slid aside, and he stepped into a small cabin. He reached for a button and she jumped into the cabin beside him. He glared at her and she said, “Please don’t leave me alone!” He glared at her for a long moment, then pressed the button. The cabin moved down, and the door opened after a few moments. He walked out, and she followed him before the door closed. “WHAT’S HAPPENING?!”
He ignored her again and walked to a computer just outside the elevator and said, “I don’t have time to answer any questions. Just keep your mouth shut!” Taffy saw the Hermit’s expression and she stepped back and closed her mouth. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she was breathing at a rapid rate. She had just barely avoided being killed; if she had not run toward the rollup door when she did…she would be dead. She stood behind the Hermit and saw the computer’s screen activate. She saw the startup screen appear and then go dark, as the Hermit turned a nob on the keyboard. Each time it clicked, another dark screen appeared. After ten clicks, a view appeared. She heard the Hermit mutter to himself, “They left the polar satellite alone.” He began moving the cursor and the view changed. The view began zooming in and she saw a city appear. It grew larger and she recognized that it was the city she lived in just over the mountain; the Government Tower was in the center of the city and the image of that building couldn’t be anywhere else. She s
uddenly saw three large shapes move out of the mountains toward the outskirts of the city. Suddenly, brilliant beams of light stabbed out of the three objects hitting the ground. Her heart started pounding harder; where those light beams hit, massive explosions erupted, and everything caught on fire. The three-large objects moved out over the city and the only thing left behind them was a fire bright enough to be seen from space. She watched the fires move out into the city and saw her parent’s neighborhood go up in massive flames. The man moved the cursor again and she saw numerous ships moving toward the monitor. The man pressed a button on the wall turning on the lights in the room as he jumped up out of his chair and ran across the huge room. She followed him and suddenly saw a small ship in the center of the large cavern. He ran up to the ship and pressed a device he was holding. A door in the side of the ship opened and a ramp extended to the floor. He ran up the ramp and reached for the wall. She wailed, “PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME!!” He glared at her and she saw he was struggling with what to do. She didn’t offer him a choice; she ran up the ramp and moved against the wall inside the ship. She saw his expression and feared he might throw her out, but he pressed the button and ran up a corridor toward the front of the ship. She followed him, and he went to a chair in front of a console and pointed to a chair beside his, “Buckle the harness and be silent!” She ran to the chair and grabbed the harness. She started struggling with it and he rolled his eyes. He stood up and pulled it over her head and snapped it in place. He went back to his chair, took a helmet off the back of it, put it on, and inserted a coiled cable into the panel in front of him. He began pressing buttons and pushing slides on the panel and she felt a vibration coming from behind them.
The Hermit took the device out of his short’s pocket and pressed it. She saw the light coming in from the viewport disappear. He pressed another button and she saw a huge door moving up ahead of the ship. He pushed a slide slightly forward and she felt the room start vibrating. Then he pulled another slide and the ship leapt forward. The ship flew out of the huge cavern and the Hermit pressed a button under the arm of his chair. He leveled the ship out and flew just above the forest below the ship as the screen on the front of the panel came on. She saw the view in front of the ship and she noticed another monitor built into the surface of the console. She saw red-circles on it and the Hermit suddenly pulled back on the steering wheel he was holding. The ship instantly went vertical and Taffy issued a scream before she shut it off. The ship was picking up speed and the Hermit suddenly turned the ship hard right. She took her hands off her breasts and gripped the arms of the chair. The ship suddenly went vertical again and she saw stars appear on the display. The ship rose above the planet and out of the shadow of the night side of the planet. Suddenly, the ship leapt ahead at a tremendous acceleration. She turned to the Hermit and saw him focused on several gauges on his console. He kept his eyes on them for a long moment, and then he looked up and pushed a small handle slightly forward. The ship increased speed and Taffy felt her heart continue to hammer in her chest.
An hour later, the Hermit brought the ship to a stop and moved the ship around until the bow was pointed at a small round object in the view port. She wanted to ask what was happening but knew her best course of action was to be silent, he wasn’t happy, and she knew part of it was her presence. He pressed several buttons on the console and turned a dial under the monitor at the front of the panel. Suddenly, the view from the huge room appeared. He must have contacted that satellite again. She stared at it as he moved the view back to the planet and moved it in toward the city she lived in. She saw the three ships, that’s what they had to be, had turned around and were now moving back over the city where they had not previously attacked. The city was now one giant, brilliant, fire. Her eyes teared up, as he suddenly changed the view to another city. He stared at it and it was clear that it was also in the process of being destroyed. He sighed heavily and lowered his head. After a few minutes, he moved the view out and Taffy saw numerous brilliant places on the planet appearing. She stared at the display and realized that the Coalition wasn’t doing this; many of the bright glows were coming from their side of the planet. If not them, then who? It had to be another space civilization. She now knew what was happening.
She watched the Hermit pull the faceplate down on his helmet and start turning the dial that controlled the satellite. The view moved away from the planet and out into space. He extended the view and stared at his faceplate. She saw a small red object to the left of the monitor but that was all that was on it. He pressed a button and asked, “Number of attacking warships?”
“Four-hundred within view,” a mechanical voice replied.
“Estimate the total based on what you’ve detected.”
“Close to a thousand,” the mechanical voice answered. The Hermit raised his face plate and stared at the monitor. Taffy decided that she would not speak until he did.
Four-hours later, he said, “Have you figured it out?!”
“A space civilization is attacking our planet.” The Hermit tilted his head and straightened it. He pulled his faceplate down and moved his hand to the satellite control and began moving it. It began moving slowly and after an hour, he stopped it. He adjusted the focus and Taffy saw fires burning in space. The view moved in closer and she saw the fires were coming from starships that had been destroyed. The man exhaled sharply and sat back in his chair. Taffy stared at the monitor and said, “One of them looks different from the others.” The Hermit jerked his faceplate up and turned to her with his eyes narrowed. She pointed at the right edge of the monitor, “That one is burning a different color than the others.”
The Hermit moved the view to the right and zoomed in on the burning ship. He stared at it and shook his head, “It appears the Coalition fleet managed to kill one of them.”
Taffy hesitated and replied, “I’ve saw four more that are like the one on the screen.” Grady moved the view out and Taffy began pointing, “There’s one…there’s another, with a third beside it. The fourth is to the left of those two.”
“How were you able to see the difference?” Grady asked while staring at the monitor.
“They’re burning with a different color.” Grady turned to Taffy and she shrugged, “I’ve always had an eye for colors. The fires on those five were different.”
Grady examined the five alien warships on his faceplate and was irritated that the twit saw them, and he didn’t. He didn’t like her before and now he liked her less. She had to go! He stood up and left the bridge. Thirty-minutes later he returned, and his hair was cut short, except for a short ponytail. His beard was gone, and he was wearing some kind of military uniform.
• • •
The Hermit finally told her to go to the kitchen and fix them something to eat. He gave her directions and she found it easily enough. She made some sandwiches and knew that he still disliked her, maybe even more than before. He probably hated her invading his space, or that she pointed out something he didn’t see. He still refused to carry on a conversation with her and his sneer was always present. She prepared the sandwiches and found some chips in a cabinet. She now understood why he hated her appearance. He was military and all spit and polish. His former appearance must have been done for a reason, now that reason was over. She glanced at the small wall mirror and looked at her face. Now her reasons for dressing outlandishly were also gone. She reached up to her lips and felt the two rings. She sighed and pulled them off. Her lips weren’t pierced, she was too big a baby to do that. The rings had a small gap in them and she pushed her lips through the gaps. She tossed the rings in the garbage can and carried the paper plates to the bridge. Her life was going to depend on this man and he apparently didn’t care what happened to her.
• • •
Grady was sleeping in his chair and Taffy pulled her feet up on her chair, pulled the tee-shirt over her legs, and wrapped her arms around her legs. A week had passed, and nothing had changed between the Hermit and the way he tr
eated her. She glanced up at the display on the console and saw something moving in the satellite’s image. She leaned forward and saw numerous objects and she made a decision. She reached over and shook the Hermit’s arm. The Hermit jerked fully erect in his chair and glared at her. She pointed at the monitor and said, “Something’s happening.”
Grady turned to the monitor and saw a large formation of alien warships moving away from the planet. He jerked his helmet off the back of his chair, put it on, and plugged it into the console. He quickly asked, “Computer, estimate of how many vessels are on the monitor?”
“Nine hundred plus.”
“Does that represent all the alien ships that attacked the planet?” Grady asked.
“Not enough data to confirm. It is close to the estimated total,” the mechanical voice answered.
Grady began activating the ship’s systems and after everything was operational, he moved the ship’s bow toward the planet and pressed a button next to the monitor and quickly released it. The planet appeared, and he stared at the image, “Computer, are any alien ships at the planet in the scan I just ran?”
“No.”
Grady pushed the propulsion slide forward and started moving toward the planet. He glanced at Taffy and said gruffly, “Thank you for waking me up.”
“What are they doing?” Taffy asked.
“I was hoping this would happen,” Grady replied. “I hoped they would leave after they finished their initial attacks. They won’t be able to take their ships down to the planet until the cities cool off.”
“So, you believe they’ll be coming back?” Taffy inquired.
Grady raised a shoulder, “It’s possible.”
“Why?”
Grady turned to her, “To finish the job they started. You saw the thousands of small ships fleeing from the attacks on the cities. They’ll need for the cities to cool off to allow their infrared scanners to function properly.” Taffy turned back to the monitor and Grady added, “Now I have the chance to provision the ship. I was forced to leave before I could make the transfers.”