Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  Amber was thinking about her Grandpa’s favorite quote from Popeye, “I’ve standsd all I can stands and I can’t stands no more.” She placed her gym bag on the floor and walked toward the martial arts class as they stared at the teacher’s next victim. Amber stood in the middle of the mat and looked around, then asked, “Just me against the two of you, that doesn’t seem very fair.” One of the men replied, “Life isn’t fair, at least not for the rest of the world.” Amber smiled, saying, “Oh, I wasn’t talking about it being unfair to me, I was talking about it being unfair to you. I would say that it would be a little bit fairer if four or five more of you joined-in, at least make it a little challenge for me.” The two instructors selected five more of their best students and circled around Amber. Amber looked at the class full of observers waiting for the arrogant Princess who called herself a Colonel to get clobbered. Amber was tired of playing games. When they rushed her at once she moved so fast that there was barely a blur were she moved from attacker to attacker. In seconds it was over and seven men lay on the mat unable to move. Amber stood over the big mouthed instructor and told the class, “This is Jxansa Gha, which means “Death Fist.” It is the oldest form of martial arts in the Universe. As you can see my opponents are completely helpless.” She grabbed the instructor in an obvious neck-breaking hold and continued, “I can do anything I want to any of them.” The big instructor was about to pea his pants. “But, I choose to show more mercy than they were intending to show me.” Amber gently struck a spot on each man’s back and they regained muscle control once more. Amber walked over and picked-up her bag off the floor, saying as she walked out of the gym, “That’s enough instruction for one day, any questions?”

  This was a big week for Verron. Michael was excited because he was going to receive a complete payment of the two Interceptors and one-third of the Space Shuttle price. Although Verron had been doing business with Earth and other planets for years, this represented the two biggest purchases of Verron products by the United States. They had already paid for the body armor and weapons used by the Terrorist Elimination Unit but that was divided up between seven countries and paid for by black ops funding. The Shuttle ended up being supported by the U.S., France and Japan. Russia, for some unknown reason, was not interested in affiliating itself with Verron. The two Interceptors were on the aircraft ramp next to the Marcus Verron Space Center and being double checked by the ground crew to make certain the required equipment was on board and shifting the loads around to make room for Katelyn’s and Tala’s personal goods. The storage capacity of an Interceptor was not very large and the ground crew was trying to determine exactly how they were going to get Tala’s pink and black mountain bike onboard. She finally showed them how to use the quick-disconnect holding on the front and rear wheels and they smiled at just how compact the bike became. Both girls had their guitars and Tala didn’t go anywhere without her mandolin. Paul Verron and Marcus approached the soon departing ships and both shook their heads at the sight of two multi-billion dollar aircraft loaded down like the pick-up truck on Beverly Hillbilly’s. Paul looked inside and wondered how the girls were going to get to the pilot’s seat. Marcus kissed his two girls goodbye and told them to not suddenly put on the brakes. Paul told them to make him proud and try not to get into too much trouble. He smiled at the comment, thinking, “How much trouble could they possibly get into sequestered away in Area 51; the most secure and secretive place in America.

  Homey Airport or Dreamland, as some call it, is literally in the middle of nowhere; almost 100 miles Northwest of Las Vegas, in the middle of the Nevada desert.” After getting hugs from their mother and the two MJs, they climbed aboard the two ships and lifted off. Both promising to come home for their birthdays; Tala would be sweet sixteen in two weeks and Katelyn would turn 20 in just under four. Paul watched the two climb onboard and remembered when Tala was two, she would stand in front of him jabbering away and he would nod his head and say yes, even though he had no idea what she was saying. He smiled and thought, “She was probably asking me for her own spaceship even back then and I was saying yes the entire time.”

  The two girls exited the Verron atmosphere and did a quick flyby of the long Qualoc ship still orbiting their home. Chase and Daniel were given the task of dividing the ship into five three thousand foot sections and loading them on an R4 for transportation to the surface where they could be more easily studied and disassembled. Lucy was getting tons of information on the Nation of Qualoc and their Emperor Lykios. It was alarming information. His empire currently consisted of six primary planets and six newly acquired planets. There were more than 250 billion residents on the six Imperial Planets and an additional 25 billion on the newly conquered assets. When Paul thought of this man ruling 275 billion people, he wondered how he maintained control. After talking to the men and women in his military, he knew how, he ruled by fear and intimidation. Anyone that disobeyed or displeased the Emperor was put to death and if you really upset him, he would kill the entire family along with them. After a thousand years of that kind of rule, no one was about to stand-up to the Emperor. The two stopped off to say goodbye to their brother Chase and were once again on their way. Quickly making a gateway to the Earth’s outer orbit, they called in on the secure frequencies given to them by the Air Force and immediately received clearance to enter Restricted Area 4808. The area designated as the Experimental Aircraft and Weapons Systems Research and Testing Center. The Pentagon decided it was the most secure place to conduct the training of their 24 pilots and testing of their newly acquired aircraft. It was also the perfect place to keep two rambunctious teenage girls safe from the outside world.

  Both girls wanted to make a grand entrance by disappearing from the radar and popping out of a gateway right over the airfield. But this remote section of Edwards AFB would not appreciate their finely tuned sense of humor, so they decided to play it straight. After they received their clearance to enter the restricted area, they were still escorted by a pair of F-35A Stealth Fighters, the top of the line Air Force Fighter. The girls thought to themselves, “Up until today.” Travelling across the barren desert surrounding Area 51, it looked every bit as bad as Molnar or Tramlaw. In a few minutes they were told by air traffic control to land on ramp number 4 in front of a large hanger that was already open and awaiting their arrival. Tala laughed as the ground crew prepared to move the two ships inside the big 747 sized hanger as soon as they landed. Hovering just above the crews head, both girls continued into the hanger and landed their aircraft side-by-side and touched down precisely at the same time.

  Both girls had designed the uniforms they chose to wear for the occasion, one of the perks of being the King’s nieces. They exited their ships at the same moment and walked side-by-side with a bit of a swagger across the hanger floor to the welcoming committee. They were definitely going to stand out among the pale-blues and light grays of everyone else’s flight suites. Both girls wore custom made and tailor fitted jump suites woven from emerald green Spider Silk and wore gold Captain and Major insignias along with gold embroidered wings on their left breast with the name Verron embroidered in gold beneath it. Both wore just below the knee high-top flight boots with gold buckles and gold handled knives sticking from their boot scabbards. Katelyn wore her sun bleached blond hair in a French braid and Tala wore her middle of the back length red hair in two perfectly braided pigtails. Above their right pocket was their nickname; Blade for Tala and Flash for Katelyn. The twenty-four seasoned veterans and highest rated pilots in the Air Force, Navy and Marines stared in amusement at the two cocky little kids dressed-up like pilots.

  The two girls stopped a few feet away and saluted saying, “Officers Verron and Verron reporting for duty Sir.” Then formality went right down the toilet when Brigadier General Robert M. Lawson stepped forward and responded, “At ease Major – Captain.” Tala yelled, “Bobby, we were wondering what happened to you after the little scuffle on Verron” as she leaped forward and gave him a bi
g hug. Katelyn followed behind and said, “Amber’s worried sick over you. Is this the big secret you couldn’t tell her? Well, the cats out of the bag. I’ll bet she knows where you are before the sun sets on those ugly mountains.” The base commander, Major General Dwayne Johnson cleared his throat, saying, “Could we save the reunion for later General?” Robert quickly composed himself and replied, “Sir, May I introduce two of the best pilots I have ever had the pleasure of flying with, Major Katelyn Verron and Captain Tala Verron.” General Johnson extended his hand and couldn’t help but notice the handshake that was firmer than any man he could recall shaking hands with. Then asked, “Are you two just transporting the ships or are you going to be the instructors King Verron promised?” Tala was quick with an answer, and answered, “Sir, My sister and I were involved in the original design of these ships and have been doing the test pilot work since the beginning. No one knows these babies like the two of us.”

  There were smirks on the faces of the men and women standing in ranks to greet the two child flight instructors and a placating grin from the Major General. Both girls had grown used to the condescending attitudes and chose to ignore them, but they would have had to be blind not to notice. The girls were officially introduced to the 24 men and women that were going to be flying the Interceptors. They were an impressive group and considerably older than the girls, except for one that was noticeably younger than the rest. Robert noticed the girls questioning stare and informed them that Lieutenant Brad Williams was a bit of a prodigy. He soloed at 12 and graduated the Navy Academy at 20 years-old. He was number one at the Navy’s Top Gun Training and selected by the Navy to learn the new Interceptor. Tala didn’t hear any of it, all she could think about was, “God he adorable.” With short curly blond hair, blue eyes and a face that looked 17 years-old, Bad Brad, as his flight team called him, looked more like the boy next door than an experienced 22 year-old Fighter Pilot. Katelyn had to nudge her little sister along to meet the rest of the 24 people they would begin training the next morning.

  After getting a tour of the base and escorted to their quarters, the first thing Katelyn did was get on her personal communication unit and call Amber. She knew the phones would probably be monitored for security reasons and there was no way anyone was going to listen in on a communication controlled by Lucy. When Amber picked up, Katelyn immediately said, “Cheer-up cuz. Robert is alive and well and living with the aliens at Area 51. His super-secret assignment that he can’t talk about is me and Tala, and probably the two Interceptors. He’s now in charge of the Interceptor Program. The only other women in his life are me and Tala.” Amber was laughing and crying at the same time. She hadn’t heard from Robert since the letter over a couple of weeks ago. She replied, “Send me a map of where Robert is staying. I just may make a surprise visit. I can’t believe those Pentagon fools didn’t want Robert to talk to me about it. Crap, I was in charge of the whole program. No one knows more about those things than the three of us.” Tala jumped into the conversation, saying, “I personally believe that it is some kind of test the Air Force is giving him to see how he will stand-up under pressure. I also think they are testing his loyalty. He has been spending a lot of time on Verron lately.” Amber thought a minute, “You know Tala, I never thought about that. There have been a lot of U.S. soldiers and pilots move to Verron and join our forces. This promotion may have been a way to keep Robert in the Air Force and lock-down his commitment to them. I’ll bet Robert sees right through what they’re doing too.”

  Amber changed the subject, asking, “So, how is it going there.” Tala quickly jumped in. “This place is more desolate than Molnar. At least there you have the Lyncardi and all sorts of evil desert creatures. Here there is nothing but sand, dry lakes, ugly mountains and Air Force Security Police. I just got here and I’m already thinking about a trip to Vegas and I’m too young, heck we’re both too young to get into anything there. I wonder if security will shoot me if I take my mountain bike for a spin up one of their radar-covered mountains?”

  Both girls found-out the next morning. Tala headed for Freedom Ridge on her mountain bike and Katelyn took off on her morning run. Neither had gone very far when they noticed they were being followed by security patrols in Humvees. Their tail was short-lived when both departed from the dirt road and hit the narrow trails and often ran or rode where no trail existed. At first the security men were amused but when they completely lost the girls they decided to call their CO and let him decide what to do. The Humvees were great vehicles but the only way to follow these girls was to use a helicopter. The CO of Security knew that Tala and Katelyn were VIPs so he contacted Brigadier General Lawson and explained the situation. After he stopped laughing, he asked, “Captain, those two girls come from a planet where they both have personal spacecraft’s parked in their yard. They fly ships that can go orbital, can become invisible, travel 5000 times the speed of light and have weapons that can literally destroy an entire planet, what secret is it exactly that you’re concerned with. If they want to ride a mountain bike or go for a run, either go with them, if you can keep up, or just let them go. Those two will learn nothing from us and can teach us things beyond our imagination.” Robert remembered seeing Tala and Katelyn out running and cycling before and asked, “Your people couldn’t keep up with them, huh?” The Captain answered, “We were staying with the runner until she started running across boulders and ravines, the kid on the bicycle actually pulled away from the escort on a 10% uphill grade, no way to follow her once she left the road.” Robert once again couldn’t help but laugh and told the frustrated Captain, “Tell your men to keep an eye on them, but don’t even try to stay with them and no we aren’t using a helicopter, but if your guys need to use the dirt-bikes you have my blessing.”

  One thing about an Air Force Base, they usually have excellent food. When Katelyn and Tala showed-up in the chow hall they were starved. After getting a tray with scrambled eggs, sausage, oatmeal and S.O.S., aka Chipped Beef on Toast, Tala parked herself at the table closest to the milk dispenser so she could get refills. Katelyn had a Western Omelet with Texas Toast and Diet Coke. For today’s activities they wore their dark-gray commando’s with their dragon caps. They were almost finished eating alone, since no one seemed to want to join them, when Lieutenant Brad Williams sat down with them, saying, “Don’t let these people get to you. I’ve had to fight the being young thing all my life. You should have seen me when I went to the Navy Academy. I was given special allowances and they waved the 18 year-old age requirement and I went in at 16. The upper classmen made my life pure hell, but when they realized that I was smarter than them and was willing to help them learn and study, a few actually became my friends. I wasn’t well received at Top Gun training either. Don’t let the others intimidate you just because they are older and have more experience. Katelyn had never seen Tala so spellbound by a man before. She was actually feeling her big sister instincts kick in. Even if this Brad character was the youngest pilot in the Navy, he was still six years older than her little sister, who had never even been on a date before. Katelyn wanted to put him in his place and proudly informed him, “My sister has been flying Spaceships since she was ten years old, and at almost sixteen, she has been in several air battles already, so don’t you worry about us being intimidated, by the time we leave here it will be the 24 of you who will be intimidated.” Brad nodded politely and left the table. Tala turned to Katelyn and asked, “Who died and made you queen? That was rude and he was just being nice. I think he’s sweet.” Katelyn got up and grabbed her tray, saying as she walked-off, “Forget it, he’s too old for you.”

  General Lawson arrived just as they were finishing their meal and breakfast conversation and noticed the sisters giving each other cold stares. He chose wisely to let it go and mention nothing of it. He instead greeted them with a cheerful, “Well, did you two have a good workout this morning? Don’t be surprised tomorrow if you are accompanied by security officers on dirt-bikes. They are a bit f
anatical about security around here.” Both girls smiled knowing they had given their escorts the slip. Tala replied, “That might help, those big old Humvees are worthless. Maybe Uncle Paul can get them some Crotch Rockets like our security has in Mississippi.” Robert actually thought that was an excellent idea. He then indicated for them to follow him to the classroom area where they were to begin their instruction of the Interceptor pilots. As they walked, Robert said, “Guess what I found on my nightstand when I got home last night?” Neither girl knew. He informed them, “A Verron personal communication device and a note from Amber saying that if I want to see her, call and that if anyone but me uses the com unit it will self-destruct.” Both girls knew that Amber had told the truth. He then patted both girls on the back and said, “Thanks. I would have been in violation if I had told her where I was. But there is nothing wrong with you talking to your cousin and commanding officer. I called her right away; she’s going to come see me this weekend.” He then asked, “Will it really self-destruct?” Tala couldn’t resist, answering, “You’ve seen how an entire body vaporizes from a 5.56 mm round?” Robert nodded. “Well the whitematter source in your communicator is just a tad bigger than what we put in a 5.56 mm round.” Katelyn couldn’t resist dragging him a bit and added, “Make sure you don’t ever make her mad, she can activate the self-destruct anytime she likes.”

  They crossed the hanger where the two Interceptors were parked and entered a nice cool air conditioned hallway. Neither girl realized just how hot it was outside until they got a blast of the cool air. Robert pointed to a door at the end of the hall and said, “Your class awaits you. I’ll be along in a few minutes. Maybe you’ll get a chance to get to know your students.” When the two of them entered the classroom the 24 pilots were joking around and harassing each other, but mostly they were making fun of the two little girls who were sent to teach them. All of them were pretty cranked up and each was attempting to outdo the other in their sarcastic and demeaning remarks about the children sent by Verron. When they entered the room, both were pretty much ignored, but the banter continued. It was obvious to both Tala and Katelyn they wanted them to hear what they thought. One of the Navy Lieutenants turned to face the girls and while still laughing said, “This one is still in her training bra. I doubt she even has to wear one.” He was joking, though in poor taste, when he reached for Tala and said, “Here, let’s have look.” Tala was not in a joking mood. Before Navy Lieutenant Curz knew what happened he went flying across the room and into a concrete block wall. The impact not only knocked his breath out, the hard smack on his head almost knocked him out. As if seeing a 180 pound man fly 15 feet through the air wasn’t enough, he was now suspended two feet above the ground with his feet dangling above the floor and grasping for his neck as if someone was choking him. Someone was, Tala, with her telekinetic strength. While Cruz was literally hanging by his neck against the wall, Tala was screaming, “Don’t you ever touch me, I will not be treated like that!!”