Assault on Cambriol: The Manhattan Trials

by Jerry Borrowman

  Meanwhile on Alturus, the news was unbelievably popular. At first the aristocracy was standoffish, but when they saw the monarchy supported it, there was no choice but to fall in line. The lower-classes accepted this as a way to avoid armed rebellion and embraced the wedding with open arms. The rebel movement evaporated as everyone prepared for the grand, official announcement.

  The palace was decorated in royal banners and a receiving platform built outside the royal gardens where the Courtship Ceremony traditionally took place. Since it occurred but once in every generation, it was the equivalent of every national holiday rolled into one event and the people celebrated jubilantly.

  The preparations took place while the Allegro was locked in vortex drive, so the crew only caught snippets and fragments of the happenings. Magill had become an instant celebrity onboard, eclipsing even Eaves in popularity. It was embarrassing to Magill and to Jesik, but the excitement was obviously heartfelt and a source of pride for the entire ship.

  “So, you finally have an audience,” said Eaves, half-jokingly.

  “Apparently. And for the first time in my life, I don’t know what to say.”

  “Your job is to say as little as possible and avoid controversy, which will be interesting.”

  “I thought so, too,” said Magill, “but Tara – I mean Isabec – says she wants me to be active in public life. Apparently the Alturian Royalty is quite different than the ancient Earth monarchies, in that they’re deeply involved in government. It’s obvious I have a lot to learn about protocol and I hope I don’t embarrass her. I’m not worried about meeting with government ministers, but I’ll have to meet with aristocrats and members of the Royal Family and, as you know, I have no idea how to circulate in high society. I hate the thought of it.”

  Eaves turned and looked directly at Magill. “Sean, for once I’m going to be serious, so prepare yourself.”

  Magill took him at his word and looked at him intently.

  “Sean, this is what you were born for. From the first moment I met you at the Academy and saw you ranting about how stuck up we were I knew you were destined to do great things. Don’t ask me how I knew, I just did. And now you have to face up to your destiny. All the upper class people you talk about are just like those at the Academy. Most of them are scared silly that they’ll fall into royal disfavor or make a stupid mistake that embarrasses their family. So they act like snobs to protect themselves. Just remember that they’re people, just like you, and you’ll get along fine. Meanwhile, it’s about time the second and third-class families get the recognition they deserve. You’ll be the best thing that ever happens to them.”

  “Thanks. It’s all pretty scary right now, but I’ll figure it out.”

  “At least you get Isabec in the deal. She’s got to be the most practical royal anyone can imagine. I watched the way she bathed your legs while you were still unconscious. Nothing personal, my friend, but they sure looked and smelled awful from the burns. But that didn’t slow her down for a second. And she took good care of my arm, even though there was blood everywhere. She’s really remarkable and you’re damned lucky.”

  “Indeed she is and so am I.” Magill smiled. “To think she loves me. Wow! The kid from Kalenden makes it big!”

  “Of course there’s also the business about you being Jesik’s son. That, too, is pretty amazing stuff.”

  “That was the biggest shock of all.”

  “I mean, you’d think he could have done so much better.” Eaves tried to look thoughtful.

  “Ah,” said Magill. “Done being serious, are we?”

  “No, completely serious.” Eaves looked at him, innocently.

  “Okay, buddy, do you want a chance to redeem yourself at handball?”

  Eaves darkened. “I’m not sure. It’s pretty humiliating losing to a guy in a wheelchair. I’ve got a reputation, too, you know.”

  “We’ll keep this to ourselves. It wouldn’t make any sense revealing the weaknesses of my best man, would it – the hero of Cambriol and all that? People need to hang onto their illusions.”

  “Thanks. But I’d fasten your wheelchair seatbelt if I was you. I’m desperate for revenge.”

  * * *

  When the Allegro decelerated, to more easily maneuver through the Alturian system, they found the place in chaos, with hundreds of craft vying for position in orbit. Still, Lieutenant Commander Wight maneuvered through the traffic effortlessly. He’d been in great spirits since learning that Magill was his half-brother and they spent many hours together, playing sports or just talking. Sean had talked to him about moving to Alturus, where he was told social attitudes weren’t as restrictive as on Kalenden, and Kevin was giving it serious thought.

  The crew was fascinated to finally see the fabled planet of Alturus. It was larger than Kalenden and the population ten times as great. The ship had been increasing the artificial gravity slowly over the course of the voyage so that people could get used to it. In the first week after their arrival, Jesik was under constant pressure to meet with trade representatives and government officials, participate in the rehearsal for the Announcement Ceremony, and respond to the media. On his trips to the surface, it was obvious that Alturus was older than Keswick and Kalenden. Even though they shared a common language, the local dialect was often difficult to follow, so he had to give each conversation close attention or he could miss important parts.

  It also turned out that on Alturus, the Courtship Announcement was almost equal to the wedding itself, since it signaled the onset of six months of celebrations, leading up to the actual ceremony. That ensured time for vendors to get their commemorative books, plates, and coffee cup holders printed and distributed before the wedding. The Announcement itself would be made from the Grand Balcony of the Imperial Palace, with the King and Queen personally accepting Magill’s proposal of marriage. Princess Isabec made it clear that traditional protocol would be modified so that after her father accepted Magill’s entreaty, he would then ask her directly. Jesik liked that change and thought it to be the right way to get their marriage off on a good footing. Magill would then announce that Eaves and Wight would serve as his best men.

  After the rehearsal, with less than twenty-four hours to go, Wight, Brighton, Eaves and Jesik returned to the Allegro to assist in final preparations for the laser show the ship would perform once the Announcement was official. Amazingly, the Alturians had never learned to adapt their ship’s lasers for an upper atmosphere display, so this promised to be the Kalendens’ way of announcing their presence and showing their renewed friendship with Alturus. It was essential, therefore, that the display proceed without any problems.

  Jesik had been rehearsing his lines for the ceremony where he would announce his approval for Sean to enter into the marriage. It was a protocol insisted upon by the Kalenden Quadrant Council to make sure that, in the goodwill flowing all around, there was no actual reunion of the two systems. Politics were still important.

  “But I think it should be the Magill’s who stand as your parents at the actual wedding,” Jesik had said, “with Helen and me at least one pace behind.” Sean had nodded and that’s how it was to be. But since neither the Magills or Helen could arrive in time for the Announcement Ceremony, it fell to Jesik to carry the honors.

  * * *

  “Sir, there’s a small fighter making an unusual approach to the planet.”

  “Can you identify it, Mr. Gentry?”

  “No, Sir. It’s an odd design – nothing resembling either Alturian or Keswickian.”

  “What makes its approach unusual?”

  “It’s much more shallow than usual and at an extremely high speed.”

  “It’s definitely unexpected,” Wight exclaimed, “look how many fighters the Alturians have scrambled to intercept it.”

  Jesik laid his paper down and studied the screen, now alive with animated images. At least ten high-speed fighters raced from an orbiting platform directly for the small ship that headed towards the planet
.

  Brighton asked Gentry, “At that speed, won’t it burn up in the atmosphere?”

  “Yes, Sir. That’s what I don’t understand.” Then Gentry gasped, “Wait a minute, he’s not heading for the atmosphere, he’s headed straight for that abandoned alinite freighter.”

  Jesik studied the screen and said, “At that speed he’ll crash into it.” He watched the Alturian fighters launch some twenty missiles, but knew they’d be too late to stop the spacecraft before it collided with the freighter. About twenty seconds later a large flash on the main screen proved the two ships had collided.

  All other activity on the bridge ceased and everyone studied the monitors. The Alturian fighters broke off frantically just before they collided with the freighter. Then the automatic alarm system sounded.

  “Sir, we have an urgent communication from the planet surface.”

  “Captain Jesik of Allegro, can you verify the angle of the collision – you’re in the best position for an aerial view.”

  “Feed those coordinates to the surface,” Jesik ordered Wight.

  “Oh, no!” said Wight said. “The collision has changed the angle of orbit on the freighter. It’s going to crash into the atmosphere, now.”

  “Why is that significant?” asked Jesik.

  Wight ran some quick computations. “Sir, having an alinite hull, the ship will not burn up in the atmosphere and if my calculations are correct, the wreckage will hit the planet with the force of a small asteroid. The debris field will include the Palace in Capitol City and cause an instant fireball from the impact. If the pieces are large enough, it will have the same impact as a forty or fifty megaton nuclear explosion. The dust cloud alone could change the atmosphere for a decade or longer.”

  “Ground zero is where the people are gathered for the ceremony,” said Brighton. “Obviously, this is a terrorist attack and the rebels knew exactly when and where to hit the ship to cause the greatest damage.”

  Jesik turned to Weapons, just as the Alturian command interrupted again.

  “Captain, the coordinates you gave us have confirmed our concerns.”

  “The freighter will not break up in the atmosphere,” Jesik added.

  “Yes. How did you know that?”

  “Our analysis shows the debris field will shatter Capitol City. Unless you can find a way to destroy the freighter, you’ll need to evacuate the city at once.”

  There was silence on the other end. Then Admiral Rameira spoke.

  “I’m afraid there’s no safe way to destroy it, Captain. The debris will land in less than six hours and we can’t mobilize the people fast enough. It looks like we’re to be victims of a suicide attack.”

  Jesik turned to Gentry, who said, “We finally found a match for the fighter, Captain. It’s a Keswick rebel ship, lightly disguised, similar to the one that attacked the Allegro shuttle during the Manhattan Trials.”

  “What can we do to help, Admiral? We’ll be glad to shoot at it, if you like.”

  “That’s the problem, Jesik, even if we break it up with weapons the debris pieces will still be large enough to incinerate most of the city. Plus, our atmosphere is quite different than yours and any explosions from above the spacecraft in the upper atmosphere could ignite an ozone fire that would be deadly to the entire planet. We’re running our alternatives, but frankly there aren’t many choices.”

  Jesik looked at the bridge crew. “Gentlemen, I need ideas, right away!”

  Answers flew at him, but all were discarded because they would make matters worse, not better. Finally, Kevin Wight spoke up. “Perhaps we could dispatch a shuttle to work its way under the alinite freighter and change its angle of descent.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Brighton said quickly, “but there’s no way to control it and the shuttle would be driven down with the freighter.”

  “Why not remote control?” Jesik demanded.

  “We’d lose communication with the shuttle when it passed under the freighter and the maneuvers are too complicated to run as a pre-programmed sequence.”

  “Okay, so that’s out,” said Jesik. “What else is available?” From the corner of his eye he saw Eaves and Carter replace Wight and the navigator. “We have about ten minutes to come up with something,” No one had any workable ideas, however, so he reestablished his link with Rameira.

  “Admiral, we don’t have any viable alternatives. What have you come up with?”

  “Nothing, I’m afraid. As a last resort we’ll fire laser cannons from the planet surface in the hope that we can soften the ship and burn larger chunks off before it gets through the atmosphere. Meanwhile, we’ve put the entire planet on alert and ordered the Royal Family into underground bunkers, where they may be safe. But, who knows?”

  “Yes, who knows?” thought Jesik forlornly. “It seems that no matter what lengths reasonable people go to in order to avoid war, there are always fanatics who’ll do whatever is necessary to thwart their efforts.”

  “Admiral Rameira, we are at your disposal and will assist any way we can. Please let us know how to help.”

  “Thank you, Captain. Once the damage is known, my immediate concern will be to relieve the millions of citizens who will have the dubious distinction of surviving the blast. It goes without saying that the entire planet will be affected for years.” He broke the communications link.

  Jesik stared at the screen, motionless. The most powerless feeling one can have is to watch helplessly as a horror unfolds before your eyes. No one on the bridge wanted to watch the freighter enter the atmosphere, but they couldn’t take their eyes off the screen. The drama was being relayed throughout the ship, where everyone halted in disbelief. The celebration they had been anticipating moments before, had now turned into a vicious terrorist attack that was about to destroy at least a third of the inhabitable surface of the planet.

  “Sir, we’ve launched a shuttlecraft?” said Gentry, as much a question as a statement.

  “What? I authorized no shuttle. This certainly isn’t the time for anyone to leave the ship!” He spoke into the ship’s communication array, demanding the shuttle pilot identify himself. There was no response.

  “Wait a minute,” said Eaves, “That’s not an ordinary shuttle. It’s the Captain’s personal launch.”

  Jesik again demanded to know who was piloting the shuttle, but no one could answer, including those in the shuttle bay.

  Finally, a nervous voice came over the public address system. “Sir, Lieutenant Commander Wight told us you had authorized the launch personally, so we checked the shuttle out on his authority.”

  “Wight?” Jesik turned to Brighton.

  “He’s going to maneuver under the ship to change its angle of descent, Sir.”

  “Mr. Wight,” Jesik called out in an all frequencies hail. “Return to the Allegro immediately. That’s an order!” Still, there was silence.

  Jesik was so frightened he was angry. “Commander Wight, answer immediately or I’ll have your shuttle disabled by laser fire.” The instrument panel lit up to show an incoming response.

  “Captain, I’m almost there. Please don’t stop me. We both know this is the only hope for the planet.”

  “But, Commander, there’s no way out once you’re under the freighter. The friction of the atmosphere will hold you hostage.”

  “I know that, Sir.” There was silence on the line for a few moments.

  “Captain, please tell my mother how much I love her. And tell Sean that having him as my brother was the greatest thing ever to happen to me.” He paused for a moment. “Actually, the second greatest thing. The best was the chance to serve with you. Thank you.”

  Jesik looked on helplessly as the shuttle disappeared under the alinite freighter, from which a sudden, brilliant flume erupted.

  “He’s got to give it full power for at least 180 seconds,” said Carter, “or he won’t alter the angle enough to make a difference.”

  Everyone watched mesmerized as the seconds clicked off
. At 160 seconds the ship started to flame as it entered the upper atmosphere. Still, the exhaust flume continued to flare until 190 seconds. Then there was a bright flash from under the ship, indicating that the shuttle had burned up in the atmosphere.

  “He’s gone,” said Eaves quietly.

  “Oh, Kevin,” Jesik whispered. “There had to be another way.”

  After a few moments of silence, Brighton spoke again. “What about the alinite ship?”

  Carter quickly ran numbers, ran them a second time and then announced, “The ship’s attitude has changed significantly – it looks like it will bounce off the atmosphere and exit to space. Mr. Wight’s calculations were perfect.”

  No one on the bridge made a sound, which amplified the ambient noises from the instruments and engines. Moments ticked by in silence until the overhead speakers came to life in a burst of static from the ground. Cheering could be heard distinctly in the background. “I don’t know what you folks did up there Captain, but you managed to save the planet. Congratulations and thank you!” The voice of PM Richards was jubilant and her face on the monitor exuded the joy and gratitude she and everyone in the Alturus Control Room felt.