The Fight for Britannia

by Saxon Andrew

  • • •

  Abby moved the transport out of the parking space and Taffy said, “Abby, Dunhan isn’t all that bad.”

  Abby moved out into traffic and said through tight lips, “I’ve seen his type hundreds of times, Taffy. He’s all bluster and ego. He’s a pretty boy who thinks his looks are going to get him through life. He disgusts me!” Taffy wished she could disagree but Dunhan had made a real ass out of himself today. Abby turned to her, “Where to?”

  “We need to run by the bank.”

  “Which one?”

  “I think it’s the largest one in town?”

  “The Bank of Melbourne?”

  Taffy smiled, “That’s the one!”

  Abby turned the transport and headed toward a towering building. She parked illegally and went with Taffy into the bank. She sat down behind Taffy as a well-dressed bank official greeted her. He smiled and said, “Thank you for choosing Bank of Melbourne for your business accounts. I understand you want access to one of your accounts?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “The man took out two bankcards out of a drawer and swiped them through a machine. He handed them to Taffy and said, “Please press your thumbprint on the back of both.”

  Taffy did as he asked, and the man smiled, “When your husband has time, ask him to come in and pickup his cards.”

  Taffy picked up the cards and smiled, “I’ll be sure to tell him.”

  Taffy turned to go, and Abby asked, “Grady still doesn’t know does he?”

  Taffy shook her head and the man ran and caught them before they left the front entrance, Mrs. Henricks!” Taffy stopped and turned around. The man took a breath and said, “I neglected to tell you that there is a limit on how much you can withdraw in one transaction.”

  “What’s the Limit?” Taffy inquired.

  “One million crowns.” Abby’s head went back as Taffy’s eyes narrowed. The man quickly added, “If you need more, just use the card again.”

  Taffy shrugged and walked out of the building. Abby stared at her and Taffy said, “Close your mouth, you look like you’ve swallowed a bug.”

  Abby closed her mouth and said, “You better tell Grady.”

  Taffy sighed, “I know.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Four weeks later, Taffy was on the sofa in the hotel room, staring at the sixty-inch display, and was yelling at it, ‘HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE HE’S A CHEATER, SWINDLER, AND CAD?!” Taffy sat back and thought, I need to remember it’s all in the script.”

  The door opened, and Grady stepped through it. He held up his hand and said, “Stay there; I’ll come to you.”

  Grady walked over and collapsed on the sofa, “Long day, honey?” Grady nodded.

  Suddenly, a woman appeared on the display and smiled, “Hello, my name is Brittany Larson and I want to talk to you about an exciting new weight loss program. A picture appeared on the display and the woman said, “This is what I looked like eight-weeks ago.”

  Grady sat up straight, “SHE HAD TO WEIGH MORE THAN TWO-HUNDRED POUNDS!!”

  The woman reappeared and said, “The Spring Hill Weight Loss Program is what…” Taffy turned off the display and turned to Grady.

  Grady turned to her, “I was going to turn it off anyway.”

  “What’s going on? I can tell by your expression that something has you bothered.”

  Grady nodded, “The Prime Minister has decided to mount an operation to try and save the survivors on Britannia.” Taffy sat up straight. “I’ve been working with the military today in provisioning the hundred freighters being sent to Britannia to move the survivors to Melbourne.”

  “Are you going with them?”

  Grady smiled, “We are both going with them.”

  Taffy shook her head, “That’s what I meant. Isn’t this a dangerous thing to try, Grady?”

  “He’s sending enough warships to defend the freighters but yes, this is dangerous. The Prime Minister insists that if roles were reversed, Britannia would do the same.”

  “The Union might have done it,” Taffy stated.

  “Well, they don’t know about the civil war between the Union and Coalition. I would like to think we would have done it.” Grady paused and continued, “We need to go to the Rabbit in the morning, so we can pick up some flight suits.”

  “We could wear Melbourne uniforms,” Taffy suggested.

  “That’s not going to happen!”

  “Why not?”

  “Taffy, we’re the last surviving members of the Union Military and I will not demean our uniforms by wearing another. We wear our flight suits!”

  “I understand, Grady. What about the work you’ve been doing with the scientists?”

  “That ended today. They are going to start building warships patterned after the Rabbit.”

  Taffy nodded and heard a knock on the door. Grady’s eyes narrowed, and he went to the door and opened it. “Do you mind if I speak with you?”

  “Joshua, why are you here?”

  “Grady, I need to talk with you; it’s important.”

  Grady stepped aside, and Joshua walked through the door. Taffy waved from the couch, “Hi, Josh!”

  Joshua looked at her in her night ware and said, OH, MY!” He turned away and said, “Your wife is quite striking, Grady!”

  “Try not to look at her.”

  Joshua shrugged, “I’ll try.”

  Grady asked, “What’s going on Doctor?”

  Grady walked to the dining table next to the kitchen and Joshua sat down with his back to Taffy. Grady took a chair and saw Taffy making faces from the sofa. He smiled slightly as Joshua said, “I was told I was wasting my time coming here and I had to pester the Prime Minister until he agreed to allow me to try.”

  “Try what?”

  “I need you to give me the Rex Rabbit, Grady.”

  Grady’s eyebrows slammed down, and Taffy’s expression turned to shock. “That’s not going to happen, Doctor!” Grady said forcefully.

  “That’s what they told me you’d say but please hear me out.”

  “I’ll listen to anything you have to say but I will not be giving you the Rabbit!!”

  “Perhaps my choice of words was wrong. I don’t want you to give the ship to me, I want you to allow me to disassemble it.”

  “The answers the same, Joshua,” Grady replied.

  Taffy asked from the sofa, “Why do you need it?”

  Joshua nearly turned around but stopped himself. He said to Grady, “You are aware that the construction yards are going to start construction of a warship pattered on the technology in the Rabbit, right.”

  “I am.”

  “That is going to be a monumental mistake if they do.” Grady’s eyes were still tight, and Joshua continued, “If they start construction of a warship, the first thing they’re going to have to make is a hull like the one on the Rabbit.” Grady nodded. “Once that hull is made, then there will be mistakes and if one major mistake is made in the design, they’ll be forced to start all over again. It could take years before a design could be developed.”

  “Joshua, I’ve given them everything they need to know to build it!”

  “No, you haven’t, Grady!”

  Taffy walked over and sat down at the table. Joshua said, “OH MY! And turned his head.

  “Explain to me what Grady hasn’t given you,” Taffy requested.

  Joshua paused and then took off his watch. He slid it to Taffy without looking at her, “If you wanted to duplicate this watch and I gave you all the blueprints and diagrams on how it was made, could you do it without opening it?”

  Taffy stared at Joshua and saw Grady’s eyebrows had gone up slightly. Joshua continued, “You could build everything exactly like the blueprints and diagrams, but it wouldn’t work. Most of the time, you wouldn’t know why. No matter how hard you tried, something wouldn’t fit.” Joshua turned to Grady, “All the diagrams and blueprints you’ve done will not lead to constructing a ship like your Rabbit
. Something won’t work and without knowing what’s inside the Rabbit, the builders won’t know why. So, they’ll do what they do best…they’ll improvise and that could lead to disaster in the finished ship.” Joshua paused, “Grady, surely as a builder, you can see this?” Grady stared at Joshua in silence.

  Taffy asked, “If you had the Rabbit, what would you do?”

  “That’s why I need it!” Joshua turned to Grady, “The Rabbit is full of compromises; it isn’t what it should be.”

  Grady’s eyebrows were back down, “It could defeat any ship in Melbourne’s navy!”

  “That doesn’t mean anything, Grady. Earth or the Alien warships might be able to do the same.”

  “What do you mean by compromises, Joshua?” Taffy asked.

  Joshua almost looked at Taffy but stopped himself, “You told us, Grady, that you would have to make frequent stops close to stars to keep the expansion fluid’s temperature at optimum. You also said that having one of the alien ships fire on your ship would accomplish the same thing, right?” Grady nodded. “You also had to have that Dunhan guy fire on your ship to power up your blasters enough to convince him the Rabbit was more powerful than his ship.”

  Grady was silent, and Taffy said, “Go on.”

  “You used an extremely hard metal to build the inner hull on the Rabbit to contain the expansion fluid. However, if the temperature goes dangerously high, like if the Rabbit was hit by numerous blaster beams, that metal could melt killing everyone on board.”

  “We’d run before I allowed that to happen,” Grady quickly responded.

  “And if there were no where to run?” Grady glared at Joshua. “You couldn’t do it at the time you built the Rabbit, but the inner hull should have been made from the same material as the outer hull and the side that absorbs energy should have been pointed inside the ship. That way the two hulls would contain the energy between them and they can withstand a hundred times more heat than the metal you used on the inner hull.”

  Grady’s eyebrows went up as he thought about what Joshua was saying. “And let’s discuss your cooling systems. They’re good but not as good as they should be. They’re located in the wrong place.”

  “And where would you have them!!” Grady snapped.

  Joshua raised his hands, “I’m not being critical, Grady. I don’t know anyone that could have done what you did. The cooling element should be located between the two outer hulls and made of the same hull material. They would absorb the heat and transfer it into cooling conduits outside the hulls.”

  Grady’s eyebrows were back together, and Taffy said, “Would those changes make the Rabbit better.”

  Joshua did look at Taffy and quickly turned away, “Some, but you still haven’t come up with a way to keep the expansion fluid at optimum temperature all the time.”

  “And do you have a means of doing that?” Taffy asked.

  “The major problem with the Rabbit is the two-reactors used to power it. They aren’t capable of powering all the systems in the ship as well as heating the expansion fluid. Those reactors operate using a nuclear fission process. The reactors we use are powered by a fusion process and are half the size of the Rabbit’s reactors.” Grady’s eyes went wide open. Joshua saw it and said, “We’ve never discussed our ships in our meetings, Grady. They were all about the Rabbit. One of our reactors are more powerful than both of those currently in the Rabbit and there’s room for three of them. They could keep the fluid at a constant optimum temperature as well as power the ship’s generators and systems. As a side note, they would also power the cooling system.”

  Grady said, “Go on.”

  The dark energy pressure tanks are also a weak point. The Rabbit is fast, but if you were to build the pressure tank from the hull material, it could hold more than two hundred percent higher pressure in it. That additional pressure would provide a thrust five-times more than the current thrusters.”

  Grady stared at Joshua and said, “So you want to take the Rabbit apart to see how it works.”

  “No, Grady, I want to rebuild it into what it should be, so our ship designers can use the experience to build larger warships. If we make a mistake, making it on a small warship is far easier to correct than a major warship.”

  Taffy turned to Grady, “The Rabbit is your baby.” Grady nodded. Taffy put her hand on his and said, “It’s time the baby grew up. You need to let him do this.”

  Grady stared at Taffy and took a deep breath. He blew it out slowly and turned to Joshua, “You can have it.”

  Joshua’s eyes flew open, “I CAN?!”

  “Yes, but when you’re finished, the Rabbit is still my ship!!”

  “I’ve never seen it any other way, Grady!”

  “You can take it in the morning after we remove some things. One of the first things I want you to do is move the robot’s charging stations to a safe place. I’ll also want charging stations on the completed ship.”

  “Done!”

  “I will order the robots to follow your instructions while we’re away and I’ll need you to meet me on the Rabbit in the morning.”

  “Done!” Joshua extended his hand and Grady shook it, “This will shorten the time to build our new ships by years!” Grady nodded, and Joshua headed to the door, he opened it and turned around, “I forgot to mention that the new Rabbit will have room for sleeping quarters.”

  Taffy laughed out loud, “If you told us that first, this wouldn’t have taken so long!”

  Joshua looked at Grady and he nodded, “She’s right, Doctor.” Joshua shook his head and walked out closing the door behind him.

  Taffy turned to Grady, “You know this is the right thing to do.”

  Grady shrugged, “I guess. But it’s like having elective surgery on one of your children. It’s frightening. I don’t want to lose the Rabbit, Taffy.”

  “That man who was just here will make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  Grady nodded and said, “I’m worn out. This discussion and the coming attempt to save the survivors has done it.”

  Taffy smiled, “Let’s go to bed now.” Grady nodded and headed toward the bedroom.

  • • •

  The next morning, Grady and Taffy exited the Rabbit with the two giant robots following them. Taffy turned to them and said, Put the boxes in the transport Abby is driving.” The robots sped across the roof and put the boxes in the transport. They rolled back, and Joshua shook his head. “How long will their charge last. It might be a while before I can move their chargers.”

  “Two-months,” Grady answered.

  Taffy looked at Joshua, “There’s an easier way, Joshua.”

  “Oh? What is that?”

  “Just have the robots to build new chargers wherever you want them.” Grady and Joshua stared at Taffy and she asked, “Bob, can you build a new charger.” The robot flashed.

  Grady chuckled and said, “Bob, Robbie, you will follow Doctor Goldman’s orders until we return.” Grady put his hand on Joshua’s shoulder, “This is Doctor Goldman.” Both robots flashed, and Joshua asked, “How do I tell them apart?”

  “Bob has the three blue lights on his chest. Robbie’s three lights are red,” Grady answered.

  “Is there a difference between them?”

  “No. The lights were installed in different colors to tell them apart.” Grady paused and said, “Joshua, I designed the Rabbit, but these robots built it. If you need the Rabbit taken apart, they can do it.”

  Joshua turned to the robots, “You can do that?” Both robots flashed. Joshua laughed, “Now, this should prove interesting.” He turned to Grady, “How do I get them to climb on the military hauler?”

  “Tell them to get on, Doctor,” Taffy replied.

  Joshua stared at Taffy and then pointed at the giant hauler, “Bob, Robbie, move inside that vehicle.” The robots rolled away and were inside the back of the hauler quickly.”

  “Treat the Rabbit well, Doctor.”

  Joshua turned to him, “I will,
Grady. I look forward to what it’s going to become.”

  Abby stepped out of the transport and yelled, “The Fleet Commander wants you on board pronto!”

  Taffy and Grady sprinted toward the transport and Taffy arrived at the front door and opened it. Grady frowned, and Taffy smiled, “I laid claim to this seat a long time ago.” Grady chuckled and got in the back seat.

  Taffy turned around, “Where’s Dunhan? Isn’t he supposed to stay with you?”

  “I told him to meet me on the ship.”

  “You’re afraid he wouldn’t behave?” Taffy asked.

  “Something like that,” Grady replied.

  Abby snorted, and Taffy turned to her, “He’s really not as bad as you think, Abby.”

  “Tell that to someone that might believe it,” Abby replied through pursed lips. Taffy looked at Grady and all he could do was shrug.

  • • •

  They arrived at the freighter and carried their boxes on board. They were assigned quarters and they settled in. “How long is it going to take us to get there?”

  “A little over three-weeks, Taffy. The warships left yesterday and are going to make sure it’s safe for the freighters to go to Britannia.”

  “What do you think we’re going to find?” Grady slowly shook his head. He didn’t need to say anything else.

  • • •

  The Voyage actually took four-weeks to complete. The scouts found a large formation of Earth’s warships moving toward the front and they had to wait for them to pass Britannia. Once the formation passed Britannia, the warships moved in on both sides of the planet and moved out toward the current battle lines and Earth. They took up position and the giant freighters headed toward the planet.

  The fleet arrived above Britannia and the scanners began looking for humans still alive on the planet. The burned cities left glaring testimony to the savageness of the alien attack. Grady was standing beside the Fleet Commander on the bridge of his flagship and heard him say softly, “They will pay for this.” Grady nodded and felt his anger rekindle. But first, the survivors. He knew getting them to board the freighters wasn’t going to be easily done.

  A scanning officer announced, “I’ve found an area with more than two-thousand humans settled around it. They’re divided up into eight groups.”