by Saxon Andrew
• • •
The three-transports were now over the Pacific Ocean as the planet rotated below them. The Scanner Craftsman yelled, “I HAVE NUMEROUS SHIPS LIFTING FROM THE PLANET AND HEADING TOWARD US!!”
“RECALL THE WARSHIPS AND HAVE THEM ENGAGE!”
• • •
The White Ships were moving to attack the thousand small communities on Earth and had to break off their attacks. They turned and flew back toward their transports and began picking up grey-colored ships moving into orbit at an incredible speed. The battle started high over the Pacific.
• • •
Ed hit his communicator, “Launch all Strikers, Launch now!!” Ed’s unit hit their reactor buttons, fired up the drive-units, and left Guadalcanal at maximum speed. The sonic booms shook the buildings but there was no one there to hear them.
Ed said over his helmet’s radio, “Group B, break right and be prepared to come back in.” Five of his Strikers turned to the starboard and flew away at high speed. Ed saw several blips appear on his small scanner screen and said, “We have eight bandits approaching from orbit. Be ready to break on my command!” The eight white ships roared in and Ed said calmly, “Break!”
The five-Strikers in Group A came out of their formation and broke right. They had at least one White Ship on their tails as they passed through the ranks of Group B that had turned and come roaring back; they opened fire head on into the pursuing white ships. All five White Ships on the tails of Group A were shredded by magnetic balls and flew apart. Ed’s five Strikers did a 180 degree turn and roared in on the three surviving White Ships that were trying to turn and pursue Group B. Ed took out two of them with both Rail-Guns firing at maximum and as he swung his Striker’s bow across them. Group A went Vertical and held their course. Five more White Ships moved in behind them and were hit broadside as Group B came roaring back toward them from the portside. Ed saw his unit was now in space and he turned toward a large concentration of White Ships.
• • •
Jokie was in trouble. She had been separated from her unit and she couldn’t shake the White Ship on her tail. She tried everything and nothing was working. The White Ship moved in and opened fire. Suddenly, the White Ship exploded. Jokie looked around and didn’t see another Striker. Another White Ship flew in behind her and she was running again. Just before the White Ship could open fire, it exploded. What in the hell was going on?!” She saw the transponders of her unit ten miles below her and she dove and took out a White Ship on the tail of a Striker. Another White Ship jumped her and she went vertical. The White Ship turned instantly and moved in close. It blew up before it could get close enough to fire at her. Jokie didn’t know who her guardian Angel was but she was thankful. She got her act together and went back into the fray.
Spring smiled and looked for another inexperienced pilot to help. It wasn’t hard to find them. Strikers were dying but the White Ships were disappearing faster.
Susan Amal was flying as hard as possible attempting to shake the White Ship on her rear. She twisted and turned hard-G turns but just couldn’t lose it. She regretted not practicing enough but she was in love and just couldn’t bear to be away from Emory very long. She shoved the stick hard left and the ship behind her fell away. She shook the black dots out of her vision but didn’t see another White Ship replace the one she lost. Her hull didn’t have time to recover and she heard loud groans from the walls. She knew she had been foolish; Emory was going to have to find someone else. Her ship fell apart around her and then everything went dark.
• • •
“Unit B, take the transporter on the right, Unit A, we’ll take the left.”
“Yes, Sir.” Paul Amadaus’ unit did a thirty-five-G turn and roared in on the three transports. They had their Rail-Cannons powered and they were on the giant vessels in an instant. There were hundreds of White Ships spread out around the transports, but they weren’t moving. That proved to be their undoing. The two groups of five Strikers blew through them and moved in on the two outside transports. Paul lined up the portside transporter and pulled the trigger on his Rail-Cannon. The huge ship looked like something was drawing a dotted line from its bow to the stern. The Striker behind him made another dotted line a hundred yards below his and the side of the giant vessel blew out in a horrific explosion. A moment later, the starboard side transport fell apart in two-pieces where the cannon’s balls cut through the transport’s hull from side-to-side. But a price was paid; six of Paul’s Strikers didn’t survive the attack.
The Guild Master was screaming but there was nothing he could do. The White Ships would have probably won except that it took a minute for their beams to destroy one of the grey ships. It only took a second for them to die when a stream of magnetic balls hit them.
Red twisted his Striker hard left and then went vertical. Since the battle began, all he was able to do was run. He suddenly dove and lost the White Ship behind him but another immediately fell in behind him. He made a thirty-G turn to the right and then rolled and dove again. He was managing to lose the attackers one-by-one but his striker was constantly being hit by their beams. He moved into the dive and two White Ships fired on his Striker simultaneously and it flew apart in pieces.
• • •
Jester had a White Ship on his six and he realized that the pilot pursuing him was really good. All he had been able to do was barely turn out of his beam. Finally, he decided that what good was practice if you didn’t use it. He was dead if this continued much longer; he turned left, started a right turn, and then went vertical. He killed the rear drive-units and used the bow thruster to flip his Striker around. He immediately opened fire with both rail guns as he moved the bow from side-to-side and up-and-down. The White Ship came flashing in and was disintegrated in the hail of magnetic balls, some of which continued and took out another White Ship chasing a Striker in the distance.
Jester howled and hit his drive-units. Two White Ships came roaring in on him from above and he knew he was going to die. Suddenly, both of them blew up. He looked around and didn’t see any Strikers near him. Could it have been done by magnetic balls flying around? He whipped the Striker into a dive and started looking for a White Ship…they were getting increasingly hard to find.
• • •
The Guild Master sat in his chair past rage. His apprentice asked, “Why haven’t they attacked us?”
“I HAVE NO IDEA!!” The Guild Master responded. Then his head went back. He looked at his Apprentice and said, “Could they know if they attack my ship they will be attacked by every civilization?”
“I don’t see how they could know that, Guild Master.”
The Guild Master’s eyes went to slits, “THOSE MOUTHY GREAD TOLD THEM!!” He slammed his fist on his chair’s arm and felt it snap off. He looked at his Communicator, “ORDER ALL SURVIVING SHIPS ON BOARD!!” The Communicator hesitated and the Guild Master screamed in a voice that rattled the bridge, “NOW!!”
Three-hundred and twenty-seven White Ships fled into the single surviving transport’s landing bay. The surviving Strikers chased them to the Transport and then backed off. The Senior Craftsman Pilot, turned around and looked at the Guild Master, “Should we leave?!”
“NO!” The Guild Master forced himself to calm down slightly and said, “I want to see if they really do know.”
“But we can be killed!” His apprentice wailed.
The Master backhanded him across the bridge and would have hit him hard enough to kill him, if he weren’t his son.
• • •
The Strikers were surrounding the Transport and Ed said over his helmet radio, “Control, they don’t appear to be moving.”
“Stand by, Striker One.”
Alex handed Jimmy the microphone and Jimmy said, “If you don’t start leaving our planet now, we are entitled to remove you.”
The Master heard the voice over the Communicator’s panel and said, “And just how do you know that?”
“If
you don’t start moving immediately, we will remove the possibility of your doing it. We’re recording this conversation and can say we warned you.”
The Guild Master looked at the Pilot, “Get us moving!” He stared at the planet and said, “You know, I will be back. There will be no surprises next time!!”
“One would hope you would learn from this lesson but I don’t suppose you’re capable of remembering a good thrashing. We’ll be waiting.”
The Guild Master didn’t like that being’s tone; he didn’t sound frightened or worried in the least. Then his anger took hold and he said, “You won’t have to wait long.”
• • •
Ed said, “Jester, follow them out to the edge of the Milky Way.”
“Yes, Sir.” Jester and three stardrive equipped scouts turned and followed the giant transport.
Ed said, “Losses?”
Jimmy answered, “We’ve lost a third of our Strikers. A hundred Strikers are damaged but most of them are repairable.” Ed hung his head and Jimmy said, “You were outnumbered three-to-one and won this round, Commodore.”
“But we lost too many Strikers, Sir. They’ll be coming back with a lot more than we faced in this round. We can’t replace them in time.”
“Then we’ll have to delay them.”
“How do you intend to do that?”
“Force them to have an election.”
Ed shook his head, what was he talking about?
• • •
Ed landed in the launch cave and winced as he struggled out of his ship. He was bone weary and barely able to walk. The high-G maneuvers had worn him out and he saw many pilots needed assistance to get out of their Strikers. Next time the pain wouldn’t be so severe; their bodies were getting in shape. But they were hurting now. He heard the roar of Striker drive-units and looked out over the valley outside the launch cave’s entrance. He saw five Strikers accelerate out of the launch cave next to his and wondered what was going on. Jillian stumbled up and said, “I’ve been looking at the number of kills made by our ships.”
“And?”
“The five Carpenter Children’s lowest score was two-hundred White Ships!” Ed stopped walking and stared at Jillian. “I contacted General Alverez about it and he says that they are able to make their ships invisible. He found out about it during the battle.”
Ed rolled his eyes, “That’s why Rachel said they wouldn’t be seen by the White Ships. They never had any intention of avoiding combat!”
“It appears so.”
“Who were in those five Strikers that just left?”
Jillian looked up, rolled her eyes, and said, “Who do you think?”
Ed’s eyes narrowed and he forced himself to stumble a little faster. He was left in the dark about this and he didn’t like it one little bit. He stormed into the Control Room and said, “WHY WASN’T I INFORMED ABOUT THE CHILDREN HAVING THE ABILITY TO BE INVISIBLE!!”
Jimmy looked away from the monitor and calmly said, “What would you have done with that information, Commodore?”
Ed stared at him and sputtered before managing to say, “I could have used them in my planning!”
“To do what?” Jimmy asked. “Would you have put them inside the Striker’s Units?” Ed stared at him and shook his head trying to think clearly through his fatigue and aches. “Then, what would you have done?”
“Where are they going now, Sir?”
“To catch that Freighter.”
Ed looked at Jillian and she asked, “Why?”
“We’re hoping that Freighter is going back to the Mercenary Guild’s home world. My Children are going to try and take out their main Guild Building.”
Ed shook his head again, “Why?”
“We’ve learned from the Gread in the lagoon that if they manage to kill the Supreme Guild Master on that world, it will take at least a year or longer to elect a new one. We need that time to rebuild our lost Strikers and install the rear Rail-Gun you suggested.”
“But they’re going to be in…”
“Extreme danger,” Summer interrupted. “My fear is almost too much for me to handle but we have sworn to defend our species and we see no other way to buy us time. It still might not be enough, but it’s a risk we have to take. And we didn’t know they could make their ships invisible; we only learned of that during the battle.”
Ed saw Summer’s tears as Jimmy took her in his arms. “I’m sorry, Sir. Your children took out half of the White Ships. I heard reports of enemy ships suddenly blowing up for no apparent reason; now I understand how that happened.”
Jimmy continued to hold Summer and said, “They were trying to defend the weakest of your pilots. Thank you, Ed; you’re the one that made the real difference by getting our pilots ready for this.”
Ed nodded and suddenly felt his fatigue hit him. He fell to his knees and Jimmy yelled for a doctor. Jillian dropped with him and wrapped her arms around him holding him up. He looked at her, “I always knew you could physically handle this better than me.”
“You big lug-nut! You had a hundred and thirty kills. I’m not close to that!!”
Just before he passed out he said, “Really?”
His eyes closed as Jillian held him, “Really.”
Juan and Derik rushed over and lowered Ed to the floor for a stretcher team to move him to the hospital. Jillian needed a wheelchair to go with him.
Chapter Twelve
“That vessel is pretty slow.”
“They’re messing with Jester and the scouts, Ayet,” Hope replied.
“What do you mean by that? I would think they’d be in a big hurry to announce their crushing defeat.”
“They don’t want to lead our ships to their base. They’re going to take their time and call for help to take them out when they arrive in communication range.”
“I don’t know how you arrived at that conclusion, Hope.”
“What if you were being followed by enemy ships? Would you rush back to Earth?”
Ayet sighed, “OK, OK, you’ve made your point.”
“Hey, Rach, do you think they can hear our communications?”
“I don’t think anything makes it outside of our invisibility field, John.”
There was a moment of silence and then Rachel heard, “Our pilots didn’t do very well against them, did they?”
Rachel shook her head and said, “No, not really, Spring.”
“Why do you say that?! We won!”
“Ayet, half of our pilots didn’t kill a single white ship.”
“You’re kidding me!”
“I looked at the reports. Most of the Strikers we lost were the ones that could only run from them.”
“I tried to save as many of them as I could.”
“I know, Spring. But there were only five of us.”
“Hey, Jester and the scouts are turning around.”
“Good eyes, John! Be ready to go to a faster speed.” Rachel watched the transport leave the Milky Way and continue at the slow pace. Three-hours later, she saw the rear drives start to glow brighter, “All right, here we go.”
The transport had taken seven days to make it to the edge of the Milky Way. It crossed the void between the Milky Way and Andromeda in a little less than five, which was more than thirty times further. “All right, guys. We’re going to stay directly behind that transport and if it moves left, so do we. If it goes right…”
“So do we!” Ayet interrupted.
“If it slows down, it’s doing it for a reason. Whatever it does, we will mimic it,”
“Rachel, that means we can’t sleep. I’ve been fighting staying awake. I’ve dozed of more times than I can count. Thank God we’re moving in a straight line.”
“I know. Just hang in there until it gets to its final location. Maybe it will stop where we can rest.”
“Can’t we set our stardrives to follow it?”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed, “Why do you ask that, Hope?”
“I’ve looked at t
he translation of the stardrive’s list of instructions and one of them says ‘follow’.”
“Let’s do this, then. Hope, see if you can activate that instruction and we will stay with you. Just keep your hands on the controls if it doesn’t work.”
“Got it running.” The other three Carpenter’s followed and Hope’s Striker stayed on the course the Transport was taking.
Rachel said, “All right, listen-up, here’s how we’re going to do it. One of us will set our stardrives on follow and turn their helmet radio up to full volume. You will sleep for eight hours and if we need to wake you up, we’ll yell on the frequency. Everyone got it?” No one replied so Rachel knew they understood, “I’m going to sleep first. Ayet second, Hope third, John fourth, and then Spring.”
“Why am I last?”
“Because you’ve always been a night owl and don’t require as much sleep as the rest of us.”
“Oh. That makes sense.”
• • •
Four-days later Rachel was jerked out of a deep sleep by, “RACHEL!!”
“I’m awake, I’m awake! What’s going on?”
“The Transport has slowed down a lot and is turning toward a star,” Ayet answered. “We’ve also had a large number of white ships passing us in the opposite direction.”
“This must be it. Buckle in and follow me.”
“Where are we going?”
“We don’t need to wait on the transport. We’re going ahead and take a good look.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Rachel.”
“Why not, John.”
“Because you don’t know what defenses are around that planet. We’ll be hard to see behind that Transport.”
Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes, “You’re right; I must still be asleep. Stay where we are and move in closer to that transport.”
“What are you thinking, Rachel?”
“It just crossed my mind that we aren’t the only ones that can be invisible. Our Grandfather can do it and I think it’s possible that other species might be able to do it as well.”