by Saxon Andrew
“WE’RE UNDER ATTACK.”
“BY WHAT?”
‘NOTHING IS ON MY SCANNER!!”
“RECALL THE FIGHTERS!!” The Guild Master saw the destruction continue down the two lines until the transports next to his vessel blew up, “GET US OUT OF HERE!!”
The Senior Craftsman Pilot hit the stardrive and accelerated out from between the two lines as the front four transports activated their stardrives and fled with the Guild Master’s Transport.
Ed saw every White Ship suddenly turn and accelerate at maximum speed toward the transports. He jerked his head around and said, “WHAT THE HELL?!” The Mercenary Transports were blowing up like a string of giant firecrackers. “Damn those children!!” He pulled up an image from the Control Center’s satellite feed and saw five Strikers were attacking. “So much for making a promise.” He punched his communicator button on his helmet and almost knocked himself out. He shook his head and yelled, “FORM UP FOR THE BARRAGE!! FORM UP NOW!!” Ed shook his head; there was no way his Fleets were going to get there in time.
• • •
The Carpenter’s arrived high above the burning and exploding transports far below them and Jimmy said, “I’ve seen recordings of what our Rail-Weapons can do but none of them are close to this reality.”
Thousands of White Ships came flashing in and they began surrounding the sixteen-burning vessels. They held position and didn’t move.
“What are they doing?” Spring asked.
Rachel sighed, “I think they’re protecting them.”
“There’s nothing left to protect!”
“I know. But they don’t, Dad.”
• • •
Jimmy came rushing up with the Fleets and slowed as they approached the burning transports. He expected the White Ships to fly out and attack but they remained around the transports. “ALL STOP!!” The giant formation of Strikers came to a stop fifty-miles from the burning transports and Ed stared at the White Ships huddled close to the burning behemoths. Four hours later, the White Ships had not moved. He said, “All ships hold your positions.”
A day later, Ed sent half the Strikers back to give his sailors some rest. “Why don’t we attack them?”
“Jillian, they’re stranded here. They have nowhere to go.”
There was a very long moment of silence and Jillian said, “Do you remember the first White Ship you killed.”
“Yes.”
“Well, I don’t know if this has any bearing on what’s happening here, but when we retrieved that ship and took it apart, we found there was no food on it.”
“What?”
“Those ships have no food on board, Ed.”
• • •
A day later, the Strikers sent back to Earth returned and Ed said, “First Fleet, return to Earth and get some rest.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Jillian, I’m staying here.”
“So am I.”
“Jillian!!”
“Sir, you’re going to have to sleep. I’ll keep an eye on them while you do and you can watch them when I sleep.”
Ed sighed and said, “I’m exhausted. You take the first watch.” Then he heard Jimmy.
“Ed, I’m sorry.”
“You broke your promise, Sir!”
“I had to do it.”
“Why?”
“I had a dream and we were all going to die if I didn’t.”
“Are you absolutely sure about that?”
“I am.”
“You can explain it later. You and your family need to leave.”
“What if they attack?”
“If they were going to attack, it would have already happened. Something is going on that I don’t understand. We’ll stand by and be ready to take them on if anything changes. You should leave…Sir!”
• • •
Jimmy sighed and said, “Let’s go home.”
“He’s really angry, Dad.”
“Wait until someone you trust lies to you. You’ll feel the same, John. Let’s go home.”
• • •
Nine days passed and the giant transports had finally stopped burning. Ed saw that the White Ships had started landing on the Transport’s hulls a few days earlier and now all of them were on one of the transports. “What’s going on, Ed.”
“Jillian, it’s like they’re lost. Those transports were their homes. They lived on them, were nourished on them, and spent their lives there.”
“I hope the food on them is better than what we have on our Strikers. This stuff is getting old.”
“What?”
“I said our provisions are getting old!”
Ed pressed his helmet’s communicator button, “All ships, hold position.” Ed feathered his drive lever and started moving toward the transports.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!”
“Captain, you will hold your position and remain silent, am I clear!”
“Yes, Sir.” Jillian said with anger in her voice.
Ed moved slowly forward. stopped five miles from the wreckage, and kept his hand on the drive-unit lever to escape if necessary. One White Ship lifted off a transport’s hull but went back down when Ed stopped. Ed pressed a button on his helmet activating the translator and changed the frequency to the one used by the Mercenaries. “Are you hungry?”
His question was greeted with silence. Then a few minutes later he heard, “I am hungry.” Immediately, other voices repeated it
“I will feed you.”
“Why?”
“Because you are hungry.”
“Why?”
“Because I can.”
“I am hungry.”
“I will trade with you.”
“What will you trade?”
“Food for your ship.”
Silence followed the response for thirty-minutes and then a voice said, “Will you keep me fed?”
The response surprised Ed; that was a little more than a simple question. “I will keep you fed if you will trade your ship for food.” Ed waited and heard no further replies. He finally said, “If you will trade, follow me to my planet. I will feed you there.” Ed turned his striker slowly and then started moving as slowly as possible away from the transports. He traveled fifty-miles, where he heard, “I am hungry.” A single White Ship lifted off a transport and moved in behind his Striker. “I am hungry.” And another White Ship left the transports. A few more moments passed, and then all the White Ships lifted and fell in behind Ed’s Striker.
Ed hit the fleet frequency button and said, “Sir, I have the surviving White Ships following me to Earth…”
“ARE YOU INSANE!!”
“Sir, I promised to feed them if they’ll trade their ships for food. I need a place to take them and I need you to start loading some Jumpers to deliver food there!”
John grabbed Jimmy’s arm, “It’s your dream, Dad!!”
Jimmy looked up at John and said, “Take them to the Zurich Airport and have them land on the runway. I’ll get a Jumper moving so don’t rush getting there.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Why are you doing this, Ed?”
“Jillian, these pilots are nothing more than throw-away tools to their masters. I just…just…can’t allow them to starve! It’s not the right thing to do.”
“You’re risking your life for no good reason!”
Ed smiled and simply said, “It’s the right thing to do, Jilly.” Now he was sounding like the mercenary Pilots. Sometimes the world was best described in simple terms.
Chapter Fifteen
Ed moved slowly through the atmosphere and headed toward Zurich. He pressed the translator button and said, “I am going to land near the structures.” He looked at his monitor and saw the Jumper hadn’t shown up. “You will land on the pavement. You will stay in your ships until your food arrives.”
Ed inhaled deeply and headed toward the airport. He landed in front of the vacant hangars and the White Ships began landing on the ru
nway. They did not turn off their drive units and Ed knew they had to be extremely suspicious. He climbed out of his striker and then heard the loud humming sound of a large commercial drive unit, just as the Commercial Jumper moved over the hangars and landed close to his Striker. Jimmy stepped out of the Jumper’s large door as it rose into the Jumper’s hull and Marines began taking large baskets out of the vessel. A moment later, every White Ship’s drive shut down and the ports began opening. The starving pilots rushed toward the huge jumper. Jimmy smiled and thought, ‘Now is when Ed raises his arms”.
Ed raised his arms and yelled, “STOP!” over his helmets speaker. The rushing mass of Urrik pilots came to an immediate stop a few yards in front of him. “More is coming.” He pointed to his right and said, “Front four lines, go and eat.” The four lines ran and began taking food out of the containers. Ed kept his eyes on the pilots and saw they were straining not to run to the Jumper. He heard another commercial drive as another Jumper came over the hangars and landed close to the first Jumper. The Marines immediately began unloading its cargo and Ed pointed to the left, “Four lines, go and eat.” The pilots ran and Ed continued to stare at the straining mass in front of him. Then he heard multi-drives approaching and he looked to see four more Jumpers land. He looked at the other pilots and said, “Maintain order! Go and eat.” The pilots walked over to the landing jumpers and waited for their cargo to be unloaded.
Jimmy walked up and stood next to Ed as he stared at the pilots wolfing down their food. “This was my dream, Ed.” Ed looked at him and Jimmy continued, “I saw the thousands of White Ships here. I saw the pilots rush out of their ships toward you. You had your arms raised and I was standing outside a jumper. There were four Jumpers high in the sky and I couldn’t tell if they were coming or fleeing.”
“You thought the Community had been lost.”
Jimmy nodded, “I did. The only way to change a dream is do something different than what is planned. That’s why I broke my promise to you and attacked early with my children.”
Ed shrugged, “You were wrong.”
“Oh, how is that?”
Ed looked at Jimmy, “By changing the plan, you made your dream come true. You didn’t prevent it.”
Jimmy stared at him, looked at the feeding pilots, and said, “It appears you’re right.”
“What are we going to do with them, Sir? I promised we would keep them fed.”
Jimmy smiled, “You’ve not kept track of our stores.” Ed’s head tilted and Jimmy pointed out at the surrounding mountains, “We’ve been allowing a lot of our crops to go unharvested. The cities are now growing enough to feed themselves and we’ve got more than we can save. Our storage space is filled and we have more than enough extra to keep them fed. I do notice that none of them are going to the meats we brought.”
Ed looked at the Jumpers and saw Jimmy was right. All the baskets filled with protein were not being approached by the Urriks. But the apples, corn, and tomatoes were going fast. Who would have thought, the Mercenaries are herbivores?
A Urrik walked away from a Jumper and stopped. He reached down and pulled a weed that was growing out of the concrete. He smelled it and put it in his mouth. His smile was instant. Ed laughed, “I don’t think keeping them fed is going to be a problem.”
“What are we going to do with them?”
Ed shrugged and looked at the row of huge hangars. He walked over to the closest, took out his Rail-Pistol and shot off the lock on a heavy chain. He removed the chain and went into the hangar through the side door. He pressed a green button on the wall panel and the giant hangar door began screaming as it slowly rose six-feet and stopped. Ed looked at Jimmy, “The battery gave out.” He went to the next hangar and the door rose ten-feet before the battery failed. He stepped out and saw a large group of pilots were gathered watching him. He went to the third hangar and the door went all the way up. He stepped out and pressed the translator button. He looked at the Urriks and then pointed at the hangars. He turned around and said, “Your new homes.”
The pilots began talking animatedly among themselves and one of them turned to Ed, “Gather my belongings?”
“Are they in your ship?”
“Your ship now.”
“Then take belongings out of my ship.”
Another pilot stepped up, “Gather my belongings?”
Ed smiled and yelled, “All go and get belongings!”
The thousands of pilots rushed away and the ones in White Ships closest to them began exiting their ships. They had a backpack and large bedroll under their arms. Ed shook his head and sighed. “What?” Jimmy asked.
“Those pilots have been forced to live in their White Ships. It’s no wonder they’re not smart. They been isolated their entire lives with no stimulation. What’s been done to them is barbarous.”
The pilots moved in front of the hangar and stopped. They looked at Ed and one said, “How will we be separated?”
“You won’t. You will share the space with your brother and sister pilots. Living alone is over!” The Urrik looked at the pilot next to him and smiled. The female smiled back at him and they entered the hangar together.
“That’s why they were kept separated.”
“Why is that, Sir?”
“They didn’t want them to have offspring. Little Ayet’s father said every planet in their Guild Civilization was over-populated.”
Ed lowered his head and exhaled; Jimmy was right. Jillian walked up and said, “They’re no taller than us but boy, are they wider!”
Ed looked at her, “I’m sorry about…”
“Forget it.”
“Really, Jillian…”
“I said forget it! This was the right thing to do. I let my worry about you cloud my reasoning. You were right. What are we going to do with their ships?”
Ed shrugged, “They belong to me now. And I think with a few modifications, our fleet just got a lot bigger.” Jimmy and Jillian stared at Ed and then shook their heads.
• • •
Ed came every day to check up on the Urriks. A month after they landed, their ships were being ferried away by Commercial Jumpers to be changed and the pilots seemed to not care in the slightest. Ed walked up to a Urrik sitting in the wild grass growing between the runways and said, “Are you ok?”
“I’m doing well.”
“Do you like it here?”
“This is the best food I’ve ever tasted and the climate is great.” Ed’s eyes narrowed and the pilot frowned, “What’s wrong?”
“You’re speaking in much longer sentences.”
The pilot smiled, “All of us are speaking better. I think it’s due to the good food.”
“I’m hoping that one day we’ll be able to take you home.”
The pilot looked at Ed and stated, “This is my home.”
“But you were stranded here.”
“This is my home! What I have here is better than anything before. This will be my home!”
Ed sighed and patted the pilot on the shoulder. He felt like a piece of granite. “I’m glad you’re happy.”
“Most of us worried you were leading us here to be killed.”
“Then why did you come?”
“A fast death is better than a slow one.” Ed’s shoulders lowered and the pilot said, “We were surprised you didn’t. You had the right.”
“You were only doing what you were ordered to do.”
“That doesn’t make it right.”
Ed smiled, “No, I guess it doesn’t.”
The pilot looked at Ed and said, “You are good people. Thank you.”
“What is your name?”
“Leit.”
“My name is Ed. Enjoy my world.”
“Ed.”
“Yes.”
“Our former masters will be coming back.”
“Then enjoy it while you can. Take each day as it comes.”
“That’s a good thought. I’ll share it with the others.”
�
�� • •
Ed walked away and wondered at the changes taking place in the pilots. Were they deliberately fed and isolated to keep them undeveloped? Surly their masters couldn’t be that uncaring about their own species.
• • •
“Jimmy.”
“Yes.”
“What are we going to do with all these White Ships we’re modifying?”
“What do you mean, Patrick.”
“There’s close to twenty-eight-thousands of them, there’s not enough room to put them in the launch caves, and they’ll kill all the plants if we try to park them in the valley.”
“I really haven’t considered it. Where are they now?”
“Most of them are still at Zurich but the first lot of modified ships are done and we need to move the next batch here.”
“Take them back to the airport. We’ll store them there until we train enough pilots to fly them.”
“That’s another issue.”
“I know, I know. But this is a blessing and we’ll use what we can.”
“Ok, but we’re making the modifications rather quickly now and most of them will be completed within three-months.”
“That fast?!”
“The three-cities are also involved in the process but the final installation of the Rail-System is done here. They will be done faster than you know.”
• • •
A month later, Ed was flown in on a Jumper delivering apples and tomatoes and he jumped out of the bay and started walking across the tarmac. Leit walked up and smiled, “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to check out one of your former ships we modified.”
“Can I come with you?”
“Is there room for two?”
“There’s an extra chair under the floor.”
“We’ve not found that. Sure, come on.” They walked to the closest modified White Ship that was now painted grey with a magnetic-metal band around it.
Leit looked at it and asked, “What is that metal band?”
“It prevents the ship from being hit by our weapons.”
Leit looked at Ed, “The balls?”
“Yes, it deflects them.”
“Curvey!”
“Sorry, the translator doesn’t have that word in it.”
“It means…special…different in a good way.”