Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  The next morning when Tala was getting on her KTM to ride it to the Battle Cruiser, Katelyn was headed out the door with Commander Briskoll to learn how to surf. Tala had never noticed how good looking the man was, since he was close to forty and old enough to be her Dad. Katelyn really didn’t care, since it wasn’t a date, he was taking his two sons, fourteen and twelve, along with them. When she arrived at the Heliport, there was a small Verron troop transport unloading her 50 Marines. She smiled when she saw Major Dumas with his multi-colored squad of Marines. This would be the first time they had officially brought alien life-forms to Earth and mingled with Earthlings. Tala could think of no one she would rather have in command than Major Dumas. The Australian’s were introducing themselves to Major Dumas and his second in command Lieutenant Zhin, a very attractive orange tabby colored Catmando. Of the fifty Marines under the command of Dumas, 20 were either from Tecalna or multi-colored Beriya-Haven Androids. Tala shook her head as she approached. She could tell that the Australian’s were taking it all in stride, not quite knowing what to expect next from these people from Verron. Since the other Marines had voluntarily done a double shift the day before, she had Dumas load his squad on the ship for the days training. Two hundred Australian seamen where looking on in wonder as the fifty Verron Marines boarded the ship and headed for their post. Tala followed behind, leading the pilots to be trained.

  By the time the crew had spent a few hours with their strange looking instructors they quickly realized just how knowledgeable they were, and soon found that they had more in common than they did differences. When the Australian’s learned that the Catmandoes were orphans and that their leader was actually adopted into the Verron family and was on the Dragon Guard, they knew that something was different about the way they did things on Verron, but when they found out that the multi-colored men and women training them were actually androids who came from a manufactured planet the size of Mars, they suddenly felt like Earth was still in the Dark Ages compared to the technology on Verron.

  Late that afternoon, when they returned to the Heliport, the deplaning sailors stood in a line outside the ship as Tala exited. The Chief Petty Officer shouted, “All Hail Queen Tala!” Then all 200 sailors began to chant, “Tala, Tala, Tala …” She looked at Major Dumas with an, “I’m going to kill you look” just as one of the men declared, “Oh, Queen Tala forgive us. We have no grubs or shiny rocks” Tala smiled and played along. She quickly replied, “You are forgiven, but don’t let it happen again.” One of the men reached in his pocket and pulled out a bag of Peanut M&Ms and offered one to Tala. She took two and proclaimed, “This man has made the M&M sacrifice, he is forgiven.” The Australian officers, who knew nothing of what was going on, felt embarrassed that their seamen were treating Tala that way. Then Major Dumas walked up to them and began to tell them the story of Molnar from the beginning. He finished the story over drinks at the officers club by telling them about the battle against the Jhxunka. These men, who were the best and most experienced pilots in Australia, were completely blown-away by the story told by Major Dumas. They could not even comprehend such a large volume of enemy ships and boarding crews. But when he told them how the battle was finally won, by King Verron and the Dragon Guard going directly into the huge enemy ships alone, there opinion of the two young girls training them drastically changed. They were no longer simply young women who knew their stuff about flying ships; they were now full-fledged war heroes.

  When Tala pulled up in her drive on her KTM 690, Petty Officer Sloan was waiting in the drive by his black and red Suzuki GSXR-600; wearing matching leathers and helmet. Tala smiled as she removed her helmet and declared, “Oh, I thought you had a real GSXR, but it’s just one of the baby ones.” She rushed inside and changed into her new leathers and boots and was soon ready to ride. She knew that a four-cylinder 600cc machine would blow her away, but it was still fun to harass Sloan anyway. He headed South of Sydney, taking as many back roads as possible to get to the Royal National Park. When they hit Sir Bertram Stevens Drive, Tala knew she was in for a fun ride then they hit the twisting turns of McKell Avenue and went back and forth for several runs to experience the winding road from both directions. Sloan was pretty amazed that Tala did in fact out ride him through the twisting road. He had no problem out running her everywhere else, but she would hold on to the throttle till the last minute into a tight corner and then power-slide as she backed the lightweight KTM into a sharp corner. He could tell that the girl had been riding dirt bikes by her style. It was late by the time they reached the Watson area again. While stopped at a light, he offered to buy her dinner out of self-preservation and soon pulled into a local Pizza Hut in Bondi, just south of Watson Bay. Tala thought, “This man really knows how to treat a girl.” While they ate the Large Pan Supreme, Tala pulled the folded and wrinkled flyer about the California Superbike School being held at Phillips Island. Petty Officer Sloan read the brochure with envy and stated, “I’ve always wanted to do one of those, but it’s not happening on a Petty Officers pay.” Tala read that they could rent equipment at the school and use their BMW 1000RR for the training. She made a quick decision, saying, “I want to go and I don’t want to go alone. Katelyn will go with me, but she doesn’t ride. Can you get a few days off, it’ll be my treat.” Petty Officer Sloan, commented, “I’ll af to get my CO’s permission, but since it’s your request, e’l probly say yes.” Tala smiled, “Good, I’ll book it when we get back. I’ll have Lucy get me the required paperwork I’ll need.” He looked at her with a questioning look and asked, “ous Lucy?”

  Katelyn had no idea which squad from Verron had shown-up. She had been too busy enjoying herself learning to surf. Commander Briskoll and his two sons couldn’t believe that she had never been on a surf-board before. She took to it so naturally and had such perfect balance, that before long she was out riding her three instructors. The Commander was amused watching his two sons attempting to outperform this Yank girl from Verron, but they both swore she had glue on the bottom of her feet. By the time they left the beach, Katelyn had an audience of admirers, both male and female. She was suddenly a local idol to the girls who watched her consistently beat the much bigger and stronger men in the race for catching a wave. Katelyn had never completely realized just how much stronger she was than anyone else, since she always competed with the other members of the Dragon Guard. She was having way too much fun to feel bad about taking advantage of the situation, but decided that she would definitely be involved in establishing surfing areas on Verron. With her 5 foot 6 inch frame and braided blond hair, she looked like a model for Surfing Magazine and had several admirers giving her phone numbers and asking for hers. Some were just a little too aggressive and had to be put in their place. When she finally got home, she just barely had enough time to get a quick shower before she had to head for the Battle Cruiser. She evidently missed Tala since her motorcycle was gone when she got home.

  When she arrived at the Watson Bay Heliport she had to do a double take when she saw both fury and multi-colored Marines still hanging around to talk to their friends from Verron and their new friends from Australia. Lieutenant Zhin spotted her and came to her right away. She had become very close friends with Cali and was at the Marcus Verron house on occasion. She had decided to take a double and relieve the Lieutenant from the other squad; evidently several of her squad members had decided to do the same. The second group of pilots and seamen were standing around wondering what to do when Katelyn arrived. Commander Briskoll was close behind and snapped at his men, “You act like you’ve never seen a bloody alien before. Well, get over it. I’ve a feeling we will be seeing a lot more and a lot stranger than these one day.” Katelyn decided then that she was going to show the Commander a photo of 99, Hon IV, one of the Mole People and Finley.

  Katelyn and Commander Briskoll had just finished some missile practice and Gatling gun runs and headed north toward Darwin. About half-way between the Timor Sea and the Arafura Sea, the ships computer in
tercepted an encoded message in Chinese and a strong radar signal coming from a fishing trawler. They no doubt were looking and listening for anything they could along the Northern Coast of Australia. The ship was in international waters, but was just on the edge of being in Australian territory. The trawler had not seen the Battle Cruiser yet, but had evidently picked-up something very large on their radar. Katelyn was upset that she had not activated the jamming device. She wished she had cloaking, but there was no way King Verron would let that technology fall into the hands of even an ally as good as Australia. She knew what she planned to do would freak-out the Australian crew, but decided that if she could stay out of sight until after dark, then she could easily disappear after the trawler was safely by her. She gave a command over the ships com channel, “Close all portals and seal all hatches in 60 seconds, counting down now.” The crew and ships computer quickly responded and the crew was racing around double checking to be sure they didn’t miss anything. While they were busily following orders, Katelyn was gradually reducing her altitude. At precisely one minute from her command she nosed the big Battle Cruiser into the Timor Sea. Commander Briskoll was on the teaching controls and wanted to fight Katelyn as he watched the surface of the ocean grow closer and closer. He cringed in fear as the 2500 foot long flying machine crashed into the water below and quickly disappeared under the crushing weight of the sea above. It finally came to rest on the oceans floor, 1400 feet below. The officers on the command deck looked in horror at the dark wall of water on the other side of the wind screen. Katelyn smiled and looked around, saying, “This stunt was performed by a professional, do not try to do this at home.” It broke the nervous stares for a moment and then she added, “Our ships are not designed to be submarines, but are designed to function safely in any environment. There are planets in the Universe that are covered in 100% water, or toxic gasses, even boiling sulfuric acid. This ship will survive in any of those locations, so the bottom of the Timor Sea is a piece of cake. We’ll just sit here a while and then we’ll be on our way. Do you think your men would enjoy using that trawler for target practice?” Commander Briskoll smiled, saying, “They no doubt would enjoy it, but I believe we better pass. Just sitting on the bottom of the ocean will be enough excitement for them for one day. You people build some pretty remarkable ships; I’d love to see the ones you use back home.” Katelyn patted him on the shoulder, and replied, “I can make that happen.”

  When Katelyn finally surfaced and headed home, it was getting pretty late. The second shift crew could talk of nothing else but the going down with a sinking ship. They had become good acquaintances with the Catmandoes and Androids and were beginning to come to grips with the fact that their lives would never be the same. Katelyn heard one of the Petty Officers say, “I feel like I’m on bloody Star Wars. All we need is Yoda and Chewbacca.” Katelyn smiled and thought, “I have definitely got to bring the others down here. Maybe I’ll even add a few of General Klrxno’s cyborgs; that will really get them.” She came into the house to an excited Tala, saying; “Please say you’ll go … Please say you’ll go!” Katelyn looked at her little sister and asked, “Calm down and tell me where you want me to go.” Tala handed her the almost worn-out Superbike School Brochure and said, “I booked me and Petty Officer Sloan for this weekend. I know you wouldn’t want your little sister to go off alone for the weekend to Phillips Island with a 23 year-old man. Mom would kill you if you did.” Katelyn smiled, “It’s not Mom you’d need to worry about. It’s Dad, poor Sloan wouldn’t have a chance.” She looked over the brochure and commented, “You sure are spending a lot of money since we got here. I bet Uncle Mike will no doubt notice soon.” Tala grinned, and replied, “Yeah, I know, but not soon enough. So will you go?” Katelyn answered, “As long as I’m a spectator and not a rider. I really don’t much care for motorcycles.” Tala quickly said, “Thanks, but I still think you’re a woos; you can fly a space ship into a hoard of a billion alien bugs and be perfectly fine with it, but wimp-out on a motorcycle.” Katelyn smiled and threatened her sibling by saying, “Don’t push it sis, or I’ll make you go to the North Shore to keep me company while I surf. Let’s see, if you got it as bad as you did in just over an hour, think what you’ll look like after a couple of full days. It’ll be like a burnt offering to the Sun gods.” Tala cringed at the thought and quickly gave Katelyn a hug, telling her, “I promise to never call you a wimp again, just please don’t make me go to the beach.” Pulling her T-Shirt off her shoulder to expose it, she added, “Just look, I have more freckles. If there’s anything I don’t need its more freckles. No more beach for this kid, no mam, no way.”

  When Tala and Katelyn checked into the Waves Apartments in Cowes, Australia and also paid for a separate room for Petty Officer Sloan, the man who checked them in gave them a strange look when they told him they were in town for the Superbike School. It wasn’t that he had never seen a girl motorcycle racer before, but he had a hard time believing this little redhead was 19 years-old, but a passport and international driver’s license doesn’t lie. Katelyn almost choked when Tala handed the identification to the clerk and Tala had to work hard at keeping a straight face. Lucy had done an excellent job of producing the new documents. As soon as they entered their room, Katelyn began, “Dad is going to kill us and who knows what Uncle Paul will do. I better not see you using that ID for anything other than this weekend. I’ll kill you myself if I you see you in a bar.” Tala smiled, “For that I’d have to be 21. Nineteen is a real stretch of the imagination; they’d call INTERPOL if I tried to pass for 21.”

  They quickly unpacked and drove the rental car out to Phillips Island Raceway. To Tala and Sloan, it looked like paradise. To Katelyn, it simply smelled like rubber and gasoline. They sat through a riders meeting to learn the established rules for the following track day and to get a chance to meet the instructors and gain some idea of the participants skill levels. They approved Tala and Sloan’s riding gear then did the contracts for rental of the BMW1000RR. When Tala handed the school representative a gold credit card with a red dragon on it, he did a double take on the name and then excused himself as he carried the card to the Chief Instructor for verification or most probably consultation.

  After playing with their laptop a while, they both came back over with a smile, saying, “I’m Neil Hodgson, we don’t get a lot of royals who attend our schools. I hope you aren’t going to require any special accommodations, like security and such; we don’t want to disrupt what these people have paid good money for. We’ll love to have you, but can you keep it low key about who you are?” Tala answered, “I would have never mentioned it if you’d hadn’t. And I hate special treatment. You’ll find that I can hold my own, both on and off the track.” Mr. Hodgson’s assistant asked, “Oh, you’ve spent a lot of time on the track have you?” Tala gave him a devilish smile and replied, “Tomorrow will be my first time, but I’ll bet you before I leave, I’ll be one of the fastest riders here.” Neil Hodgson and his two time Australian national champion partner looked at each other and smiled, and replied, “Bit full of ya self-art ya?”

  Early the next morning, there were 30 riders prepped and ready to ride. Sloan was completely blown away to be in the presence of his Australian motorcycle heroes, former World Champions and National Champions from Australia, America and even Europe were there to instruct these would-be racers in the art of motorcycle racing. They began by having one of the instructors follow the student around the track to get an indication of their riding skill level. Sloan was thrilled to be considered an intermediate, especially since he had never ridden a motorcycle with nearly 200 horsepower before. Neil Hodgson decided to personally follow the arrogant little redhead. He felt like she was going to be trouble and wanted to head off any problems before they arose. When he pulled up behind the 5 foot-tall Princess, he had to do a double-take to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. She was sitting square in the saddle of the 31 inch high seat, with both feet on the foot pegs. The bike was pe
rfectly still and standing erect. He couldn’t comprehend anyone with such a keen sense balance, that they could hold a four hundred pound motorcycle perfectly erect and still without placing a foot on the ground. He pulled up beside her and she looked over and grinned at him as if it were the most natural thing in the world to her. His only comment was, “All right little lady I’m impressed, but can you ride?” then nodded for her to lead the way as he followed. She rode a very conservative first lap, not always choosing the best line on the track, but still quite smooth. The second lap she picked-up the pace by a considerable amount. On the third lap he was shocked when she looked like she was racing the pack for the first corner.

  Neil followed her for two laps and then had the track monitors flag her into the pits so others could have a go. He parked his bike and consulted the time keeper, then slowly walked over to where Tala, Katelyn and Sloan were sitting in the shade drinking some Gatorade. He was smiling in his characteristic Neil Hodgson smile and informed her, “Princess, you either lied about your track experience or you’re the most natural rider I’ve ever met. You just rode a 1:45 on that last lap. The lap record for a Moto GP bike is only about 1:29. In fact, I doubt that the bike you were on could actually lap this track any faster. It just ain’t prepped for that kind of lap speed.” Tala grinned and replied, “And this is only the first day. We have two more to go. Now what I need you to do is show me what I can do to go faster, because I know that you have been around this track faster than 1:45. Teach me so I can be better than my Uncle or Grandpa.” “I doubt any Uncle or Grandpa can do what you just did,” Neil responded. For the first time Katelyn spoke up, saying as she looked at Tala, “He obviously doesn’t know our Grandpa and Uncle.”