by Saxon Andrew
Jillian mouth opened and she looked into her sister’s eyes with a stunned expression. Carol said, “A sister can see these things. Oops, gotta go.” Carol stepped out and started walking down the aisle. Jillian watched her and shook her head. Then it dawned on her that Carol might be telling the truth; she really didn’t know Ed then. She was trying to protect her sister from making a bad decision about someone she knew nothing about but was interested in. Jillian regained her composure, smiled, and stepped out into the aisle with her father and saw Ed waiting for her at the front of the church. Maybe she didn’t know it at first, when Ed was a science project. But now there was no doubt; they were meant to be together. And Butch was right about Rats; they could be very talkative and charming.
Chapter Fourteen
Another two years passed and Rachel had a three-year old son she and Alex named Ayet Alexander Anderson. They nicknamed him AA. The twins turned twenty and were two of the best pilots in fleet. Hope was the best and Ed didn’t like being number two but accepted it grudgingly. The fleet now had eighteen-thousand of the new Strikers. They were larger than the model they replaced; the multi-barreled Rail-Gun in the rear required more space. The Rail-Weapons were now all using the pointed nose rounds, even the Rail-Cannons fired a similar round. But there was considerable worry about if they had enough to withstand a really, large Mercenary attack.
Then one day, a scout arrived with a message that a large force of white transports was leaving Andromeda.”
“How many?” Jimmy asked over the communicator.
“Twenty-one and they’re all larger than the three that came the last time they attacked.”
Jimmy looked at Ed and he said, “Your father said that a Mercenary Fleet’s transports carried two-thousand White Ships. We’re looking at forty-thousands of them coming this way, Sir.”
“That’s still better odds than we had last time,” Jimmy replied.
“It’s the total number that makes it impossible. With that many ships fighting, keeping our units together will be something that we won’t be able to manage. They can go after groups of us with ten-ships to one while the others are occupied and pick us off.”
“You don’t think we can win?”
“Sir, I don’t know. The new rear guns will make a difference…I just don’t know.”
“Well, we can only do what we can. How do you want to handle this?”
“I’m hoping that they’ll hold some of their White Ships in reserve. Your children, although none of them are children anymore, will take their Strikers to Moon Base and hide them there. Once the attack kicks off, we’ll draw their White Ships off. That’s when they will move in and start taking out their transports, making sure they don’t attack the Guild Master.”
“How will they know which transport he’s in?”
“They are required to place their vessels where his location is obvious. I don’t think that will be an issue.”
“Is this a good idea?”
“I’m hoping their pilots do what they do best initially and move in behind our Strikers to attack. If each of our Strikers can take out just one of their White Ships, then the odds get more manageable. And once the transports are being attacked, I think the Guild Master will recall all of them to defend them.”
“Do you think their beams will still take a minute to harm our Strikers?”
“I doubt it. This is their military forces; I think the ones we’ve faced so far have been their equivalent of Pinkston Officers. They’ll be more experienced, more highly trained, and used to working together.”
Jimmy rolled his eyes and said, “We just can’t get a break.”
“Sir, those Mercenary Pilots are not the brightest light in the lamp but they’ll know their rides home are in jeopardy. They’ll come rushing back to defend them and that’s when we’ll open fire with a massive barrage of Rail-Bullets.”
“Aren’t you afraid of the Guild Master’s transport being hit?”
“Your children will surround it and their magnetic bands will deflect any rounds headed toward it from the rear. It should be fine.”
“I will go up with them to make sure.”
Ed shook his head, “Sir, that is not a good idea!”
“Ed, I have been flying the Strikers for more than a year. All I’m going to do is add one more magnetic band to prevent that Guild Master from being hit. Once that’s done, I’ll get the flock out of danger and return to the planet.”
“Sir, your children misled me last time. Promise me you’ll keep your word on this!” Jimmy stared at him and Ed said, “The Community cannot bear losing any of you…however, you are our heart and our mind. You are not a loss they can bear.”
Jimmy sighed and said, “I give you my word.”
Ed said, “I won’t be able to focus if you are in the fight, Sir, and neither will any of my pilots.”
“I promise, Ed.”
“Then I’m not telling my pilots what you’re doing; they have enough to worry about without being concerned about your welfare.”
Jimmy nodded and knew it was going to take an act of God to get Summer to agree to him going. But…that was what she’d have to do…even if she didn’t like it.
• • •
Jimmy and his four children flew out of the launch cave and turned east. As they flew over the surrounding mountains and headed west, Jimmy looked down at Switzerland and smiled at all that had happened to get the permits to build the Community in the Valley years ago, before the asteroids hit. He looked down and saw Zurich Airport. Suddenly, he saw something moving far below and he broke out of formation and flew his Striker over the airport. Nothing was there; he closed his eyes and saw the long runway was covered with Mercenary White Ships and the pilots were opening their ports and running toward the hangars. He opened his eyes and the dream disappeared.
Rachel rolled her eyes, “What is he doing?”
Spring said, “He’s seen something.”
Rachel’s head went back, “What are you talking about?”
“He’s having the same dream I’m having.”
“YOU’RE HAVING A DREAM NOW?!” John shouted.
“Yes.”
“What are you seeing, Spring?”
“Thousands of White Ships at the airport, Rachel.”
Rachel’s eyes went wide and she knew Zurich was the closest city to the Community. “Follow me!”
Rachel did a hard 180-degree turn and the other three-strikers turned with her. As they moved in toward Zurich, Rachel saw her father’s Strikers turn toward them. She slowed and moved back into formation with him. “Dad, Spring says you’re having a dream.”
Jimmy immediately said, “SPRING, DO YOU SEE IT, TOO?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Jimmy sighed, “Let’s get to the Moon and we’ll discuss it.”
“Dad, is the dream of the future?”
“Hope, if you’re asking if it’s going to happen long after this attack, I don’t think so. Spring having the same dream confirms it’s going to happen quickly.”
The Carpenters flew out of Earth’s atmosphere and headed toward Moon Base. They landed and went into the cramped quarters. Jimmy looked at Rachel, “Is it a good idea to leave our Strikers where they can be seen?”
“Dad, Moon Base is built against the wall of a steep crater. It’s perpetually dark and that’s why we had to use our landing lights. Without the exact coordinates, we probably would have a hard time finding it.” Rachel saw Jimmy’s expression and said, “I don’t care how good the Mercenary’s electronic scanners are, nothing is going to see through miles of solid rock. We’ll only need to be invisible when we lift off the Moon’s surface. Our part in the coming attack doesn’t happen until all the White Ships have been drawn far out to attack our Fleet. We have some time and I want to discuss this dream face-to-face.” Rachel looked at Hope and John, “Did either of you see it?” They shook their heads, “Neither did I. I can’t understand how one of us can have a dream and the othe
rs don’t.”
Jimmy shrugged, “That’s the nature of the beast, Rachel. However, whenever two of us have the same dream, it always happens the next time we encounter the aliens; that’s now not later.”
“What did you see?”
“I couldn’t really count how many White Ships were parked at Zurich’s Airport but there were a lot of them. The pilots had left their ships and were charging madly at the hangars.”
“But why would they do that, Dad? John asked. “There’s no one there.”
Jimmy shook his head slightly, “I saw one of our large commercial space jumpers in front of the hangers and I was standing in front of it. Ed was standing between me and the charging Mercenary Pilots with his arms raised.” Jimmy looked at Spring.
“Dad I saw four more Jumpers in the air over the airport but I couldn’t tell if they were coming or fleeing.”
Rachel shook her head, “That has to mean they’ve attacked the community and the jumpers fled to Zurich. Ed must have been trying to surrender.”
“Why didn’t they just fire on the jumpers, Rachel?”
“I don’t know, Hope! Maybe they wanted prisoners to punish when they went back. That sounds like something they would do.”
“Dad, what can we do to change this dream?!”
“I don’t know, John. As it stands right now, our piece of the action is scheduled late in the attack and I’m supposed to join you to keep the Rail Barrage from hitting the Guild Master’s transport. After that, I promised Ed I’d leave. Those are the only things we directly control.”
“They we have to change it! You’re going to have to attack with us early and stay.” Rachel replied.
“I gave Ed my word I wouldn’t.”
“DAD, HE’LL JUST HAVE TO UNDERSTAND!!”
Jimmy smiled at Hope, “You’re getting to be increasingly like your older-sister. You’ve become quite the warrior.”
“DAD!”
Jimmy looked at them and said, “No one can take your integrity; you have to give it away. Once you lie to someone close, they’ll never believe you again.”
“You know you’re going to survive, Dad.”
“How do you know that, Rachel?”
“You were at the Zurich Airport.”
“And we’re trying to change that dream. If we’re successful, will I survive in the new reality?”
Rachel deflated and Jimmy said, “But we have no choice in the matter. We have to change something, or we lose.”
Rachel nodded, “Ok, we’ll attack early and you will attack the Transports with us.”
“You do know that if we attack early, that the fleet won’t be in position to fire the barrage, don’t you?” Rachel nodded. Jimmy shrugged, “Ok, we’ll attack the moment our Fleets make contact with the White Ships. Make sure the Guild Master’s Transport isn’t hit.”
“How much longer before they arrive?” Spring asked.
Twelve-hours,” Rachel answered.
• • •
Eleven-hours later, the five-Carpenters boarded their strikers and turned on their reactors. Their panels lit up and they saw an image of the Moon 237,000 miles from the satellites sending the images. If the Mercenary Fleet came in on the same course as the last one, it would arrive about 40,000-miles from the Moon. Jimmy said over the ship-to-ship intercom, “I don’t think they’re going to move in closer this time.”
“Why not?”
“John, they know they lost two-transports and most of their White Ships during the last attack, even if they don’t know how. They’ll keep their distance and launch from their arrival point.” Rachel sat in her Striker and nodded and was amazed again at how smart her father was.
She thought back to her argument with Alex about going on this mission and leaving AA behind. She finally won it when she said, “OK, I won’t go. Just suggest someone to take my place who can do what I do.” Alex stared at her holding AA and she looked into his eyes, “Do you think you, me, or AA will survive if we lose this fight? All of us must use what we have, to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
Alex blew out a breath he was holding. “Just come back to us!”
“If I don’t, I’m doing this because I love both of you too much not to fight to keep you safe.” Alex took her in his arms and held her tightly.
Rachel wanted to stay with them but felt a force pushing her to go. Was this an invisible dream acting on her subconscious? She exhaled and looked at her monitor, it wouldn’t be much longer.
• • •
“They’re coming!”
Everyone stared at their monitors and didn’t see anything. A few moments later, a small grey-cloud appeared. Jimmy chuckled, “I’ve always suspected John had the best eyesight in the family; this confirms it.”
“Oh, Dad.”
“I’m not kidding. If you were a bird you’d be an Eagle.”
“It’s more like seeing things in the clear air after a winter storm has passed, you can see twice as far in the cold.”
“That’s why your middle name is Winter, John,” Spring said.
“Well, then you’re the family’s Winter Eagle, John.” John laughed and liked the image his father painted.
• • •
Alex said over the Fleet’s frequency, “They’ve come out of stardrive and it appears there are two lines with ten-transports lined up in each of them. One Transport is located between the two lines in the middle. That must be the Guild Master’s Transport. They’ve stopped and aren’t moving any closer.” Jimmy smiled when he heard that.
• • •
“Are all the cities and the Community powered down?”
“They are, Commodore,” Alex replied.
“Ok, they should be picking us up momentarily.” He pressed the fleet button on his helmet, “Hold your positions and we’ll wait for them to come to us.”
• • •
“Guild Master, I’ve not detected any electronic emissions from the planet. However, my scanner just completed a full sweep and there are thousands of grey-colored ships eight-thousand miles to our right side.”
“How many exactly?”
“I’ve focused the scanner on them and there are at least seventeen or eighteen-thousands of them.”
“Pull up the image of the vessel that attacked our planet and compare it to those ships.”
The Science Journeyman quickly answered, “They are a match although they are slightly larger.”
“Any other differences?”
“None that can be seen from this distance, Guild Master.” The Science Craftsman smiled at his subordinate. He had been promoted from Apprentice just before this mission and he was doing an excellent job. He was proud of his training.
The Guild Master stared at the Grey Ships on his monitor and said, “Launch all ships. We’ll investigate the planet after they’ve been removed. Leaving to attack us from behind is not good strategy.”
The twenty-transports rolled forty-five-degrees and began launching White Ships out of their launch bays above and below their positions.
Ed smiled, now that was novel. By rolling their vessels, they were able to use both sides of the transports to launch their fighters. “Time to start moving. Stay in your unit-formations and make sure you’re able to go to full speed before they arrive. Don’t attempt to outrun or outturn them from a standing start.”
• • •
Jimmy watched the thousands of White Ships leaving the Mercenary Transports as his family lifted from the Moon’s surface and started moving toward the transports. “Call it, Rachel.”
“We’ll start our attack as soon as we hear the Strikers in the fleet start transmitting they’re under attack. Hope and I will take the line of ten-transports to the left. You, John, and Spring will take the right line. We’ll go in at high-speed and start firing on the last transport and continue down the line until we clear them. At that point we’ll regroup above them and decide what to do next.”
“Rachel, I think we should give Fle
et time to engage them before we start out attack!”
“Why do you say that, Hope?”
“Commodore Boyer wanted each Striker to take out a White Ship with their rear gun. We should at least allow him time to do that. We’ll still be attacking long before our designated time.”
Rachel took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Ok, we’ll give them thirty-minutes.”
Jimmy smiled, “Sounds like a plan. Spring, John, move in beside me.”
• • •
The White Ships arrived at the Fleet and Rachel leaned forward and pressed a button on her chronometer. The next thirty-minutes seemed to take a lifetime.
• • •
Jokie whipped her Striker around and one of the two White Ships chasing her fell away as it couldn’t make the turn in time. But one did and she yelled, “I’M TIRED OF THIS!” She made another high-G turn and saw the White Ship turn inside her preparing to open fire. She straightened slightly and saw the White Ship in her rear monitor. She pulled the trigger on the rear Rail-Gun and the White Ship disintegrated. “WHOOOOO-HOOOO! COME ON!! COME ON!!” Another White Ship jumped on her tail and she screamed again as it was blown into pieces by her rear gun.
• • •
Ed dispatched a White Ship and saw that many of them were no longer attacking from the rear. He also discovered that it only took seconds instead of a minute for their beams to take out a Striker. But now they were forced to attack from the front or sides of the Strikers and they were dead if they attacked from the front. The Mercenary Pilots weren’t all that smart but they weren’t exactly stupid either. The battle became a swirling mass of ships struggling to gain an advantage against their enemies.
• • •
Rachel saw the countdown reach zero and she said, “Time to go. Line them up and take them out.”
• • •
The Guild Master glanced at the large wall monitor showing his transports holding formation and he saw a massive explosion in the two transports at the rear of the two lines. He jumped out of his command chair as the transports began blowing up behind his vessel and he yelled, “WHAT’S HAPPENING!?!”