by Gary Weston
Davron : The Universe Is Not Enough part 5
Gary Weston
Davron : The Universe Is Not Enough part 5 © 2015 Gary Weston
Chapter 84
'I'm fine, Commander. You go concentrate on your job.'
Commander Drakov said, 'I just had to make sure, Excellency. That was a pretty close call.'
Paul gently brushed away the nurse who was finishing off the many abrasions he had suffered. 'In the end, it all came down to a flying chimp to save us. Where is Muffin by the way?'
Marie Drakov said, 'Back with his girlfriend. I don't think he realises what a hero he is.'
'Any news from our fleet?'
'No, sir,' said Commander Drakov. 'The next time we hear from them is when they engage the enemy.' Lowering his voice and ensuring the room was clear, he added, 'Sir. One has to wonder about that drone targeting your city home not long after the aliens...I mean Patrick and the others were staying there.'
Paul scowled and replied, 'I wish these damn rumours about them could be lain to rest. It was Patrick who sent his pet into the building which saved the day. And they flew into battle taking out enemy ships. What more do they have to do?'
Marie said, 'I told Dad that, sir. Patrick was as worried about you and the others trapped with you as the rest of us were. He's genuine, I'm sure. I wish you could see that, Dad.'
'I'm trying to keep an open mind...'
Paul said, 'You could have fooled me. I suppose Carver is as open minded as you are.'
'A degree of scepticism is healthy, sir. But I'll respect your point of view and cut them some slack. We'll get back. You'll be going to the castle I presume, sir?'
'For now. I'll join you in the command centre in the morning.'
'Do you want me to contact you if anything happens?'
Paul replied, 'You determine if it's necessary. Goodnight.'
'Goodnight, sir.'
Chapter 85
'I shouldn't even be here.'
Burns had enough on his plate without a complaining engineer. 'Mr Devonshire. There wasn't time to let you off the ship before we took off. I'll ask one more time. How are the repairs going?'
'Yeah. Ok, sort of I think.'
'Great. I do love concise answers.'
Devonshire was a small man and the much bigger Burns scared the crap out of him. 'I'm on top of it. I just need to finish splicing up the main power wiring to the laser cannons. So much of it was fried so bad it isn't funny.'
'I'm not laughing.'
Devonshire persisted. 'Sir. Do you have any idea the number of connections to make? And heaven help us all if I get any of them...'
'How long?'
'Two hours?'
Burns snarled, 'Peachy. With a little luck, the enemy won't try to kill us before we're ready then. Maybe if I ask them nicely...'
Burns watched the little man scurry away to continue his work then he joined Captain Castell on the flight-deck.
'Do you think anyone would miss Devonshire if I accidentally ejected him out of the airlock?'
Castell said, 'I'll only miss him if he hasn't fixed the cannons first. Did he say how long?'
'A couple of hours. How long until we get to the alien signal point?'
Castell shrugged and said, 'If they obligingly stay put, another twenty-three hours. Is Patrick still going to attempt to communicate with them?'
'That's the plan. I'd rather go in all guns blazing myself. I want you ready for some serious ducking and diving when it gets ugly.'
Castell said, 'When not if?'
'They came close to killing off his Excellency. Not exactly the friendliest bunch we ever encountered. Be ready for when Patrick's neighbourhood call goes badly wrong then get our cannons firing. I want the targets lined up the second we have contact.'
'Assuming our weapons are actually working by then. But me being the proverbial optimist, what happens if they decide to invite us over for a coffee and a chat?'
Burns said, 'In my opinion, we'll be too busy trying to kill each other to accept.'
Chapter 86
Fighter captain Ford Anglia was nervous enough without Lieutenant Carver pacing the flight-deck behind him.
'Lieutenant. We'll get there when we get there.'
Carver stopped his pacing. 'Put the Romulus on the screen.'
'Again?'
'You've a problem with that?'
'Lieutenant. I may be a fighter captain, but that captaincy still outranks a lieutenant. I just thought I'd mention that little fact.'
Carver said, 'Noted, captain. But I have been placed in overall shipboard command. Excluding actually flying the ship. The Romulus?'
'Anything for a quiet life. There she is. Oooh!'
'What?'
'Surprise surprise. Exactly the same as it was before.'
'Zoom in.'
Anglia said, 'Any particular part of the ship?'
'All of it. Start from the front and pan backwards.'
The image of the front of the Romulus filled the screen. 'A thing of beauty,' said Anglia with a sigh.
'Seriously? In what way?'
Anglia shook his head and said, 'If space was your natural habitat, you wouldn't need to ask. Look at the symmetry. The flow of her lines. The proportions to bulk ratios. The...'
'Mind you don't orgasm. So she looks pretty. That doesn't make her better than our ships.'
'Are you blind? She's decades ahead of this ship or any other we have. And she can go faster than light. Hello? Faster than light?'
Carver said, 'Will you stop salivating. It is so unbecoming, let alone messy. You actually believe that FTL crap?'
Anglia shrugged. 'That's how they got here, didn't they?'
'Peoples gullibility knows no bounds it would seem. It's a con. A very elaborate con. They're a part of the alien plot.'
Anglia said, 'Your opinion duly noted and ignored. Will you get over it?'
Carver's eyes narrowed and his anger-reddened face looked about to explode. 'Captain Anglia. You just don't be complacent about that ship. If they're for real, which I very much doubt, ok. If not, we'll have to take them out before we fire on anything else. I do hope you are taking notes because I'd loathe for you to forget.'
'You take being annoying to a professional level. Go eat puppies or something.'
'Yeah. I am hungry, actually,' Carver snarled as he walked away.
Chapter 87
Akrins and April shared most of the domestic duties, leaving the others free to do their jobs.
'One day I'll think of ships rations as a bad and distant memory,' said Akrins.
'Boring and bland,' agreed April. 'Toby. Once this is all over, will you be off into space every time you get the chance?'
Akrins grinned his crooked smile and said, 'Only at gunpoint. I expect I'll find work on the ships on the ground. Then you and I will live together in blissful harmony.'
'Is that right? Nice of you to tell me. And does that include making a honest woman of me?'
'Marriage?' Akrins gasped. 'I...I never thought that far ahead. I suppose...'
April kissed him and said, 'Stop panicking. I'm teasing you.'
'Oh. Don't you want to marry me?'
April started filling the plates with the green, grey and yellow slops. 'Lets get through this and we'll talk it over when we get back on Earth.'
'I'm sure your father will have something to say about it.'
'He's keen to be a grandfather. I'm sure that will come up in conversation.'
Akrins laughed and said, 'I'm more than happy to do my part in his ambitions.'
Liz Danders entered. 'That looks...interesting. There's nothing like fine cuisine to make
my day and that's nothing like fine cuisine.'
'Hey,' said Akrins. 'I'll have you know we have been slaving away for minutes on this culinary feast. Just don't ask what it is because we didn't bother reading the labels.'
'How adventurous. I'll take Patrick's and mine. Looks like we'll be eating on the job for the time being.'
April asked, 'Still getting no signals from the enemy?'
'Nothing. What signals they do give out could be to fool us into thinking they are somewhere they are not. We just have to be on high-alert from now on.'
April said, 'I just wish I could be more useful.'
Danders said, 'I for one don't want us to need your nursing skills, but it makes me feel good you being on hand if we do. Besides. You keeping an eye on Toby's so-called cooking is useful enough. I'll take this to Patrick before he keels over with hunger.'
Chapter 88
ComSat technician second class, Carintha Lomas, was receiving much needed advice from Shift ComSat Supervisor Kim Pool.
'See, the beauty of our system is that we have a C G overlay on our radar of all surrounding hardware such as satellites and space debris. Here is our moon, obviously.'
'Yes, Mrs Pool. I do know that is the moon.'
'Hrmm. Of course. My daughter's about your age, so I guess I can't get out of the habit. Sorry. Anyway. The basic idea behind radar is very simple. The transmitted signal bounces off an object which is picked up by a receiver. To determine the range of that object, the receiver records the time when a signal was received and compares it to the time the signal was transmitted.'
'So what is this, exactly?'
Pool said, 'This little lump? It could be anything. Even today we haven't charted half the stuff out there. I'd say that one is just a piece of stray space rock too small to be classified as an asteroid. Is it anywhere near the last alien signal?'
'It's a few million miles away. Why do you ask?'
'Nothing. If I get the chance I'll see if it's on the register. In the meantime we have more important things to concern ourselves with. Like watching out for any new signals from the enemy. The slightest indication of where they are, we need to know so we can warn our fleet. Carry on, Miss Lomas.'
'Yes, Mrs Pool.'
Chapter 89
Matlock stretched his back and decided not to sit by Danders and Patrick.
'Laser turrets are designed with midgets in mind. A damn good job I don't suffer from claustrophobia. Any of that slop left for me?'
'Unfortunately for you, yes,' said Danders. 'I'd go get some from the galley before it sets into something unbreakable.'
Patrick added, 'Any that does we can always throw it at the enemy.'
'Talking of which,' said Matlock. 'Any idea where they are?'
Danders said, 'Nothing since the last signals when we set off.'
'I don't like getting too far from Earth without knowing our target,' said Matlock
'Burns is well aware of that, Dale,' said Patrick.
Matlock said, 'Yeah, but he hasn't got our space battles experience. Maybe you should suggest we just slow down a little.'
'This is Captain Castell. I have instructions from Major Burns.'
Danders said, Go ahead, Captain.'
'Orders to all ships,' said Castell. 'We don't intend to go too far from Earth. We're slowing down to one-tenth of our present speed. Initiate forward thrusters in two minutes then cut power. Our inertia will keep us on our present course at the reduced speed. Two minutes from...now. Over.'
'He must have heard you, Dale,' said Patrick. 'I'll let you do the honours, Liz.'
'Two minutes and counting,' said Danders. She watched the timer on the screen and said, 'Forward thrusters...now.'
Each ships captain used their thrusters to slow down, then matched their speed with the lead fighter.
'I've a signal,' said Danders. 'Look. A damn sight closer than before.'
'And heading our way,' said Matlock. 'Jazz?'
'I heard. E T A?'
'Less than two hours,' said Danders.
Matlock said, 'I'll grab a coffee then I'll be back in the turret. Jazz. If you're needing a pit-stop, now would be good.'
'Way ahead of you. Let me know when you're back in the turret and I'll take five. We could be cooped up for hours.'
'Terrific,' said Matlock. 'Liz. Their speed still constant?'
'For now. It looks like things are going to get interesting.'
Chapter 90
'Mrs Pool. Everything ok?'
Pool seldom bothered Drakov in his inner sanctum unless it was serious. 'I'm not sure, sir. Something a little...odd.'
Drakov waved to a chair and Pool sat the other side of his utilitarian desk.
'Sir. Miss Lomas brought something to my attention a little while ago. To be honest, I pretty much dismissed it at first. But then I decided to follow it up and...'
'Mrs Pool. What is it?'
'Exactly. What indeed. I thought it was just a lump of space rock. Millions of them all over the place. Too small to be an asteroid, at least officially. And it's static. Which is why I'm confused, because that part of space has been exhaustively mapped. In fact that specific quadrant had a routine mapping done just a few months ago. The thing is...'
A knocking on Drakov's door stopped Pool and when the commander called, 'Enter,' a breathless Miss Lomas shuffled in.
'Ah, Miss Lomas. I was just telling Commander Drakov that lump of rock you mentioned shouldn't actually be where we saw it.'
'No. I mean yes. Sorry. It isn't. That lump of rock isn't there. It's moved.'
Drakov and Pool were instantly on their feet and they followed Lomas to the screen she had left in the capable hands of another technician. A tap on the shoulder was all it took for the young man to move aside.
'We just picked up another signal, sir. It was heading towards the fleet then it vanished again.'
Drakov and Pool shared a look and their horror struck expressions said it all.
Drakov said, 'That's no lump of rock. It's the enemy mother-ship.'
'Do we tell the fleet?' Pool asked.
'Hell, yes,' said Drakov.
Chapter 91
'If that's an asteroid, I'm a Martian,' said Castell.
Burns watched the progress of the huge "lump of rock" as it raced across space towards them. 'The mother-ship. A hollowed out space rock by the look of it. Our weapons would hardly scratch the surface.'
'A message coming in from Earth. Mother-ship heading our way. The commander is obviously leaving our actions up to us. What are our actions, sir?'
'Get the hell out of here. Head back to Earth and we'll have a running battle as we go. Patch me through to all our ships as we get to maximum speed.'
'Yes, sir.'
Castell engaged the engines to full power as Burns was saying, 'Follow our lead. Fight as we go.'
Patrick Davron said, 'I'll try contacting them as we go, sir.'
'Sure. And good luck with that,' replied Burns as he cut transmission.
It took several minutes of continuous full power to get up to full speed, but the huge alien mother-ship pursued relentlessly.
Danders matched Castell's ship with all nine fighters spreading out to give a wider target.
'Still gaining.'
'I'll try an open radio frequency,' said Patrick. 'This is Captain Davron of the Romulus. We think we understand why you are angry with humans. We had no intention of insulting you and do not, I repeat, we do not wish to fight with you.'
'Think they heard you?'
A bolt of laser power streaked through the fleet, narrowly missing one fighter.
'If they did, they're not too impressed. Did they miss on purpose, do you think?'
Danders said, 'The bastards are playing with us. They know we're out-matched. Shit. Now what?'
From a hidden opening in the mother-ship, three drones blasted out to chase the fleet. Burns' ship was the first to respond, missing a drone with the first shot
then taking one out with the second.
'Hey,' said Patrick. 'I said we don't want to fight you.' The two remaining drones fired simultaneously and a fighter exploded. 'Ok, you bitches. Play it your way. Dale. Jazz.'
'My pleasure,' growled Matlock.
Matlock in the aft turret let rip a barrage of return fire as Belle in the higher, forward turret had her cannon turned to face the enemy, firing above him. Matlock got a solid hit on one drone and it exploded spectacularly, flames extinguishing instantly in the vacuum of deep space. Not to be out-done, Belle clipped the third drone, making it spin out of control, then finished it off with her second shot.
'Now they know we mean business,' said Belle.
Chapter 92
'Any reply from Major Burns?' Paul Davron asked.
Drakov said, 'I suspect they're busy, sir. We think one ship of ours was lost but we're not sure which one.'
'The Romulus?'
'It could be any of them. All we can do is hope they're holding their own and will get in touch with us when they can.'
Paul took a deep intake of breath and said, 'And that damn mother-ship?'
'As of twenty minutes ago, still heading our way. We have everything we can hit back with standing by with the hospitals and all emergency services on high-alert. We know from experience those drones can sneak up on us whenever they feel like it.'
Paul said, 'I hope our fleet can stop them before they even get here. Patrick told me what damage they inflicted on their Earth before they called off the attack. If his suspicions are correct, we inadvertently committed the same blunder they did by sending a probe to their sacred world.'
'I suspect this isn't going to be resolved diplomatically.'
'You're possibly right. You look exhausted.'
Drakov nodded and said, 'Comes from having only five hours sleep in four days. And before you order me to rest, I'm away to reintroduce myself to my wife if I can remember where I live. I might snatch a little sleep in my own bed before hell breaks loose. Goodnight, sir.'
'Goodnight.'
With Drakov gone, the four-hundred year-old castle seemed a lonely, desolate place. He knew his old home was a likely target and had dismissed all his staff for a few days. He had no intention of putting others in the firing range unnecessarily. The old castle may have been centuries old, but it had survived wars and attacks. Walls of granite were four feet thick and had substantial basements and cellars where he had assured his commander he would be as safe there as anywhere on the planet if and when the attack came.