by Saxon Andrew
“I’m willing to endure it if you’ll help me learn.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“You ask that a lot; did you know that?”
Ed laughed, “Yeah, I guess I do.”
“Please…teach me.”
Ed stared at her and blew out a breath. He pressed his console and said, “Captain Gallager.”
“Yes, Ensign Boyer.”
“Permission to work with Lt…”
“Grant!” he heard over his speaker.
“Lt. Grant, Sir.”
Permission granted. Stay within your boundaries.”
“Yes, Sir.” Gallager wondered what was going on; the Rat never instructed anyone.
• • •
“THANK YOU!”
“Say that tomorrow. All right. Here’s how we’re going to start. You will move your Striker behind me and maintain a half-mile separation. You got that, Sir?”
“I do.”
“You will simply try to stay behind me and do exactly what I do.” If you pass out, I will immediately know when you stop following me. That will tell me how much stress you can initially handle. We’ll build on that each time we go out.”
“Lead the way!”
Ed sighed. He went to one-third speed and after a long straight run he began making harder and harder turns over a thirty-minute period. He suddenly made a hard-left turn. She was right behind him and then he whipped the Striker hard-right in the middle of the left turn. She passed out at sixteen- gravities. She was better than he thought. He waited for her to regain consciousness and when she did he said, “That’s enough for today.”
Jillian shook her head to clear the cobwebs and said, “I want to do it again.”
“You say that now. Wait until after you land and you’ll thank me for not doing it. Move back to your assigned position and contact someone to be waiting for you to land. You’re going to need them.”
Jillian thought he was being dishonest until she landed and needed help getting out of her Striker. She ached all over and needed a cart to get her to her quarters where her mother did all she could to alleviate the pain. Ed was right. She thanked the stars he had stopped it when he did.
• • •
It took six-grueling weeks for Jillian to build up to twenty-gravities. She never physically hurt as much in her life as she endured the incredible pains but wouldn’t give up. Ed could do it, so she knew it probably wouldn’t kill her; at least she hoped it wouldn’t. This was the day where she was going to perform a thirty-gravity turn; she was petrified. Ed heard her fear in her voice and said, “Relax. You can handle twenty and your body can now tolerate thirty for a short time without excessive pain. You’re going to find the pain will leave if you continue to practice, understand?” Jillian nodded. “You need to open your Striker’s computer and scroll down to your list of override commands.”
“Got it.”
“Now press enter a new command at the bottom and type in limit 30 gravities to five-seconds.”
“I thought I could handle ten-seconds before passing out.”
“And you might one day after you’ve done it fifty or sixty times. You should stay conscious for five seconds. Have you entered it?”
“Yes.”
“Now, here’s the important part. You won’t be following me this time. I’ll be following you. You will go to full speed and, when you’re ready, you will pull the stick to hard left and hold it there until the ship comes out of the turn.”
“What if the new command doesn’t work?”
“Then you’ll pass out and you’ll release the stick. Are you ready?”
“I guess.”
“Then lead the way.”
Ed shrugged. He was possibly going to lose his top ranking as the best pilot. Jillian was half his weight and was better equipped to withstand the stress of high gravity maneuvers. He’d have to start practicing again. He had not revealed his ability to use the higher g-forces and only used enough to win Fleet Maneuvers. He had to admit teaching her had brought back many of the skills he had allowed to atrophy; he felt a lot stronger as a result.
His guess was close to being right; he won but Jillian came in a close second during Fleet Maneuvers three weeks later. He was ticked off afterwards when Captain Gallager informed him that Colonel Carter had ordered him to assign Jillian as his wingman. Up to then, he worked alone due to no one being able to stay with him. She apologized profusely about it, knowing he didn’t like losing his privacy one bit. But it was what it was. He told her to just keep her mouth shut and not interrupt his meditation when he stared at the stars. She was fully capable of doing it but just didn’t have capacity to do it. After a few weeks, he was forced to admit, it wasn’t as bad as he thought it’d be.
• • •
“Do you have the freighter ready to leave?”
“Yes, I do, Boss. I’ve also hired two Urriks along with their warships to fly the missions you’ve planned,” the Alien replied.
“Aren’t they expensive?”
“These haven’t had a contract in a while and I negotiated their price down with the Mercenary Guild.”
“Good. I knew I kept you around for something. What time have you scheduled lift-off?”
“Tomorrow at mid-morning.”
“Make it mid-day, I like to sleep.”
“Mid-day it is.”
The Lead Alien smiled. He contacted the four agents and they all agreed to be there on time. Now it was off to claim his riches. He slept well that night.
• • •
Rachel sat in the satellite control center and heard the door open. She turned around and saw Jimmy stick his head in. She smiled, “Hi, Dad.”
“Alex called asking if you were with us.”
Rachel sighed, “I’ll contact him and let him know where I am.”
“You have a good husband, Rachel.”
“I have the best. I just lost track of time.”
“What’s going on. You never lose track of time.”
“Why are you still up?”
Jimmy shrugged, “I can’t sleep.”
“Me, too.” Jimmy came in and sat down beside her and they stared at the long row of monitors. “I have a feeling they’re coming, Rachel.”
Rachel looked at him and blew out a breath, “I thought it was just me.”
Jimmy looked at her, “Any dreams?”
“No, but this feeling feels like one.”
“Me, too.”
“Why aren’t there any visions associated with this feeling?”
Jimmy shrugged, “I’ve been thinking about it and what I’ve come up with is pretty far out.”
“Tell me what you’ve come up with.”
“Our dreams show us coming events, right?” Rachel nodded. “Why don’t we have them all the time then?” Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “I mean, if we can see coming events, why don’t we have dreams every waking moment.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I don’t think most events are fixed. I mean, I could have just walked in instead of just sticking my head in the door, right?”
“Well, I guess.”
“So, when an event is fixed, things will only happen a certain way in a certain order, then, we have a dream.” Jimmy paused before saying, “And when a lot of unpredictable events lead toward a fixed event…”
“Then we have a dream,” Rachel replied.
“That’s why Spring had her dream about the Aliens swimming around the top of Mt. Everest. A lot of unpredictable events are coming together to cause that dream.”
“Why are we not having a dream about their arrival, Dad?”
“Perhaps because the events around their arrival aren’t fixed; there’s too many variables on what could happen that it doesn’t crystalize into a…vision.”
Rachel lowered her eyes, “But out of the Alien’s arrival, Spring’s dream is the most likely outcome.”
“It is based on the way overall events are cu
rrently moving.”
“Then we have to deliberately change the way things are currently moving!” Rachel replied.
Jimmy stared at her and began nodding. He lifted his phone and pressed a number. It rang several times before Juan Alverez answered, “DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!!”
“What is the plan for when the Alien Ship returns.”
There was a long pause and Juan said, “Do you see something?”
“Rachel and I aren’t sure but what do you have in place to confront them when they arrive?”
“The Striker Unit on the moon will be launched before any of our forces on the planet. The defense satellites will…”
“Do you have our best Striker Unit on the moon?!” Jimmy asked interrupting him.
Juan paused and said, “I have a good one.”
“I want our absolute best Striker Unit assigned to the moon, immediately!”
“Can it wait until morning?”
Jimmy looked at Rachel and they both nodded at the same time, “Yes.”
“Is there anything else, Jimmy.”
“I’d recommend you go to a state of readiness in the morning as well.” Jimmy ended the call and both of their eyes flew open. Rachel looked at him and Jimmy nodded, “I see it, too.”
“That’s a giant ship!”
“You were right; they’re bringing the heaters. At least something has changed and we are now having a dream of their arrival.”
Rachel smiled, “We’ve changed something.” Jimmy nodded and closed his eyes.
• • •
Captain Gallager appeared on Ed’s phone at five in the morning and said, “Our unit has been assigned to Active Patrol. Report to the launch facilities at 0700 hours.”
“Yes, Sir.” Ed hated Active Patrol. His unit had eight Strikers in it and there was no way to avoid being around the other pilots in the cramped facilities dug under the moon’s surface. He usually just tried to stay on his cot and watch videos on his phone. Which reminded him; he needed to record some new ones. The moon was too far away to receive any from the Community’s entertainment system. This was going to be a long four-days. “Mom! I’m assigned to the moon for four days.”
“You be careful, Son.”
“I will; I love you.” He started the downloads and took a shower. Better enjoy this one, the facilities on the moon were endured, never enjoyed. The light gravity made showering a struggle. He stepped out and looked at himself in the full length mirror his mother installed in the bathroom. He had lost some weight. He was six-feet- three and was obviously in great shape. He didn’t have the build of a body-builder…but he was lean and strong. He wondered where he got his height. His father was only five-feet-eight and his mother about the same. He shrugged and decided that when he came back he’d get his mother to cut his hair. It was down to his shoulders and he had to tie it back to keep it out of the way. He did have his mother’s ash-blonde hair and green eyes. He saw the small, faded scar on his right shoulder where his father had cut him with a broken bottle during one of his drunken rages when he was five years old. His mother told the doctor he had fallen while carrying the bottle in the kitchen.
Ed began shaving and wondered how his father had managed to be chosen to be one of those selected to join the Community. Well…he was good writing computer code. But he was crazy! He must have kept it hidden when he was younger. After his suicide, the Doctors said he had an area in his brain that was abnormal. They checked him out and he didn’t have it. Ed stopped shaving for a moment and wondered if he was actually his father…could his mother have…naaaa. She wouldn’t do that. He stopped the razor and inch from his face and thought, “Would she?” He shook his head and finished shaving.
• • •
Immediately after an early breakfast, the eight Strikers flew out of their launch cave cut into the mountains surrounding the Community and turned toward orbit. The moon was currently on the other side of Earth and the unit used the planet’s gravity to sling-shot around toward the moon. Their magnetic-drives were at half-power and the moon was getting closer by the moment.
• • •
They arrived above the moon and saw the Striker Unit they were replacing lifting from the surface and headed toward Earth. Captain Gallager said, “You know the drill. Go to your berths and go to stand-by.”
Jillian appeared on his small monitor and she said, “You’ve not been talking with me much since Fleet Maneuvers. Are you still angry?”
“Do you ever just be quiet?”
Jillian smiled, “Nope.”
“You should work on it.”
“Then how would you ever learn anything? You need me to keep you informed on what’s happening.”
Ed snorted, “Like what?”
“All electronic emissions on Earth have been shut-down.”
Ed’s eyes widened, “Are you sure about that?”
“I was running a scan and in the middle of it, they disappeared. I’ve also seen a lot of defense satellites maneuvering; more of them are being moved to the space-side of Earth. Do you think this is a readiness drill?”
“The satellites concern me. If I could see the cities I’d have a better idea,” Ed answered.
“How would that help?” Jillian asked.
“If the farmers were still outside, it would just be a drill.” Ed thought about it and said, “Contact your sister and see if Fleet has been ordered to Alert Status.”
Jillian disappeared from his panel and a moment later appeared, “All communications have been shut-down.”
“Something’s going on!” Ed said.
“Do you think the Dream-Team have seen something?”
“Dream-Team?”
“You know, the Director and his family can see coming events.”
“I’ve never heard them called that. However, something has Command spooked.”
“Do you think they’ve spotted the Aliens?”
Ed thought a moment and said, “No, I doubt it.”
“Why?”
“Well, other than the fact that if they could see an object moving faster than the speed of light, we’d not be on stand-by here. I’m almost positive nothing’s been detected.”
Jillian stared at him in silence on the monitor and then asked, “Will we be able to detect them?”
“They’ll be forced to slow down to stop at Earth. The Science Team, get it, say they would have to slowdown to sub-light speed around Jupiter. The mini-scopes at the asteroid belt would see them at that point.”
“How much warning will we have.”
Ed shrugged, “Not much. If the alarm sounds, plan to move fast. We’re the Captain’s best pilots, so I assume he’ll send us out ahead of the others.”
“I think I’m going to sleep dressed.”
“How do you sleep normally?”
“Ed, that’s none of your business.”
Ed’s face turned red, “Sorry about that. I’ll see you on the moon.”
Chapter Four
“It’s taken long enough for us to get here!”
The Lead Alien looked at the Agent and smiled sweetly, “If I didn’t have to worry about your trying to steal my claim, I would have come directly here. If you are willing to sign a contract with teeth in it that you will recognize my claim and not attempt to take possession, I’ll gladly shorten the voyage.
The four Agents scoffed. That’s not how the system worked. The saw a large planet ahead and sat a little straighter in their chairs. The Lead Agent saw their greed. Now he hoped the computer was right about the clouds having cleared enough to view the planet. He looked at the pilot and said, “Move in over the terminator.” The pilot nodded and changed course slightly as he used the magnetic engines to slow the huge starship.
• • •
Ed lept out of his bed as alarms sounded at high-volume. He stepped into his flight suit hanging next to his bed and then into his boots that were loosely unlaced. He was fast but Jillian was faster. She was already out the door and he g
rumbled about her being so small. He went out right behind her and his previous experience in low gravity allowed him to jump and sail over her in the corridor leading to their Strikers. He took his helmet off the wall and sealed his suit. He went through the pressurized door with Jillian right behind him. The outer door opened and they rushed to their Strikers, where the ground crews had their power systems activated and their magnetic drives warming up. Ed looked at his crew chief and saw the other six-pilots exit the portal. He heard over his earphones, “We will leave in formation. Boyer, you and Grant will hold Ready One position.” Jillian saw Ed roll his eyes and start shaking his head. She knew exactly what he was thinking; Captain Gallager wanted to be a hero. “Hold your positions on the launch pad until Fleet orders us out.”
Jillian pressed her panel, “Why are we being delayed, Captain?”
“Fleet wants to try and disable the ship before we’re ordered in.”
Jillian pressed her private circuit and looked at Ed in his Striker next to hers, “I guess they think it could use their stardrive and get away before we could get to it.”
Ed looked at her with his eyebrows lowered, “Moon Base has not detected any form of scanning beam or radar being used by that ship. Once they pass us, they’d never see us coming. There’s no good reason for us to be delayed.”
“Do you think Fleet knows that?”
“You know how geniuses function; the know everything.”
“Don’t be so pouty.”
Ed shook his head and left his cockpit open; no need to waste his Striker’s air.
• • •
Rachael yelled at the satellite operators, “I WANT FULL COVERAGE OF THAT SHIP’S HULL FROM ALL ANGLES!!” The giant grey-colored field was slowing quickly as it turned toward the left-side of Earth. “THEY’RE MOVING TOWARD THE TERMINATOR, CHANGE THE SATELLITES LOCATIONS!!” The views on the monitors changed as the giant grey-cloud slowed and then the cloud began disappearing, revealing a monstrous-sized starship.