Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  Tala took the responsibility of giving the pilots a guided tour of the Interceptors. When they saw that it would hold a crew of four and had a small head for longer flights, they asked, “Was there a reason you designed it this way?” Tala told them, “In a time of eminent threats you may choose to keep a crew in the air for extended periods of time. Since this thing can stay in the air virtually for centuries without being refueled, we thought you may need a potty-break. Besides, these ships will also be used to service or repair satellites, make emergency trips to the space station or to the now proposed Mars station. I wouldn’t want to make a trip much farther than that in either of them, there isn’t a sleeping cabin or galley for anything longer.”

  Katelyn told everyone, “We begin hands-on tomorrow morning. No point wasting time talking about these things. You came here to learn how to fly them. We can take three at a time in each ship. If we rotate crews ever two hours it will take a good eight hours to get all of you in the air. Sorry, but Tala and I don’t feel like any more than eight continuous hours of training will give you our best. Those on the ground will be expected to study the operational manuals and weapons systems.” She handed each of them a personal flash-drive, saying, “Lucy put these together for you and should work with your PC or Laptop. There is far more information than you will be able to comprehend in the six months we plan to be here training you.”

  It was getting pretty late in the day and Katelyn had the excited pilots, who were trying to decide who went first by using rank and time in grade, put their names on a piece of paper and drop them in her dragon cap. Tala drew the names for the flying order and the senior officers left grumbling, but only a little. Tala ended up with her first rotation consisting of Lieutenant Cruz, along with Bad Brad and Major Livingston of the U.S. Air Force. Katelyn got Major Brown, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Kirkman and Air Force Major Grimes. The now friendly pilots offered to take the girls off base to Rachel, NV for a meal at the Little A`le`inn. The town was the closest thing to Area 51 and had a population of a bit more than 50 residents. When they all headed for their vehicles, Brad asked Tala to ride with him in his pick-up truck. His Navy buddy Cruz jumped into the cab of the pick-up with them. There was no room for more. Katelyn joined Major Brown and four others in her GMC Denali. Katelyn knew then that if she and Tala were going to be here for almost six months they would soon need a car of their own.

  Early the next day Tala and Katelyn encountered their first major obstacle to training these pilots, or at least teaching them to use the Interceptor to its full potential. Since both girls followed the same training regimen, both experienced the same problem. The first batch of pilots were learning well and grasping the operation of the Verron ships like the seasoned veterans that they were. The problem they soon encountered was not one of being mentally capable to understand the flight systems, the problem was that whenever the ship was pushed to intercept speed, they all passed-out or became completely disoriented. Even with the g-force compensator seats and cabin controls, when they hit 15g’s – they were out of it. No one could handle the full 20g’s when the ships were pushed to intercept an incoming ICBM. Both girls landed back at the hanger with a crew of frustrated and confused pilots. None had experienced anything like it before. They went ahead and took the second group of pilots up and had the same results. At least no one threw-up – Tala and Katelyn were not about to clean-up the mess. After the second batch of trainees exited the Interceptors still staggering from the flight, Katelyn called a meeting with General Lawson and Major General Johnson. She then placed an emergency transmission through to King Verron and General Zarman asking them if they could please come to Area 51 for an urgent meeting that would determine the success or failure of the U.S. Interceptor program. Wanting to give them a little time to get there, she added, “Its 1125 Mountain Time in Arizona. We plan to have the meeting at 1300 hours.” General Lawson had lunch with the girls to discuss what they were planning to do. It was a bit over-the-top but he could see no alternative.

  Chapter 12

  At precisely 1300 hours the Dragon Wagon uncloaked on the ramp in front of the hanger holding the two Interceptors. Tala was mad because Uncle Paul had stolen her idea. There were more than a few disturbed security officers and an even more confused ground crew. The door opened and out stepped King Paul Verron in his usual commando gray and behind him General James Zarman, identically dressed, except for the four stars on his collar. When the alert went out, Lawson and the girls knew Paul had arrived. Katelyn smiled at Robert and said, “He so loves to make a grand entrance. If we did that he’d fuss at us.” In moments both General Lawson and Johnson, along with the 24 pilots and half the staff at Area 51 were on the ramp to greet the infamous King Verron. The General and his staff were prepared to give him a complete VIP tour and have a proper staff meeting in the executive conference room. They were not used to a man who didn’t bother with pomp and circumstance; he immediately got down to business, saying, “OK, what’s the emergency. Did Tala bomb LA or Salt Lake City or something?” Tala put her hands on her hips and huffed at the playful comment, and informed him, “Katelyn and I are trying to save this Top Secret Operation these guys have going on, unless you want to find some use for two Interceptors on Verron.” Paul gave the two a more serious look and said, “Summarize.”

  The girls knew that when he said that he was in no mood for the long version, he wanted the facts and just the facts, the short and sweet version.” Tala jumped in and said, “Katelyn can’t summarize to save her life.” She got an evil stare from her sister because she knew it was true. Tala continued, “This will not be the politically correct version. Basically Sir, we have too much ship and not enough man. These guys keep passing out when we accelerate to intercept speeds. We’ve decided to take them all to Verron and give them a level four enhancement, like we do our pilots. Otherwise, these ships will be no more than expensive toys.” She paused a moment and added, “If that is alright with you, Sir.” Paul smiled at his niece’s assertiveness, and replied, “Sounds to me like you already decided for me.” Both girls began to look dejected then he continued, “I can’t believe the General and I didn’t think about it before. Of course they can’t handle the acceleration. This entire program would have been a disaster if you hadn’t figured it out when you did.” Turning to the 24 pilots, not the two generals, he told them, “Our pilots on Verron are given a treatment that takes about four days in an enhancement chamber. The enhancement increases bone, muscle and brain density. You will come out of the chamber four to five times stronger than you are now and a bit smarter too. Twenty G’s will not be a problem and with body armor 50 to 80 is achievable. It will however require you to come to Verron for at least a week and while you’re there we’ll put you on the simulators to speed along the learning curve for flying our ships.”

  He then turned to General Robert Lawson and General Johnson, and added, “Since you both are going to be responsible for this program, I believe it would be a good decision for both of you to do the same thing. How soon do you want to get started? I can begin immediately and take your people back with me right now. I’ll have Tala and Katelyn bring the rest in the Interceptors so we can train them on Verron as soon as they finish in the tanks, at least for a trial run to be sure everything is in order.” The pilots looked at each other. Cruz and Brad were the first to step forward and say, “I’m ready, can we leave now?” The rest of the pilots turned to the Generals. Major General Johnson asked, “Can we call Dorsey from Verron? I’d rather ask him for forgiveness than wait on his permission. He did after-all place Lawson and me in charge of the program.” Within 30 minutes 26 pilots boarded the Dragon Wagon and Interceptors and headed for Verron.

  Brad and Cruz made a point to climb in Tala’s Interceptor; they claimed it was to make room for the two Generals in the King’s ship. Major Brown flew with Katelyn; for some reason she was intrigued with the young Major. When the rest were boarding the Dragon Wagon the chief of security approach
ed the ship carrying his small duffle bag, and asked, “Permission to accompany the General Sir. I would be negligent to allow the entire top secret team to disappear without keeping an eye on them.” He grinned, knowing his friend General Johnson saw right through his charade. General Lawson laughed and commented, “I think it’s an excellent idea. I’ll bet I can convince King Verron to have his security people show you around.” He looked to the front of the cabin and King Verron said nothing, he simply gave Robert the thumbs up and turned to start the engines.

  Other than Robert and the Verron crew, none of the others had ever left the Earth atmosphere. All three ships headed orbital and were soon five-hundred miles above the surface of the Earth. Pilots were leaning over each other to get a good look. Brad was sitting next to Tala and whistled out loud as he viewed the contour of the Earth below. As the spectators looked out the windows, they were thinking that soon they would be able to do this themselves as a normal routine, King Verron came over the communications unit and said, “Gateway in 10. Counting:10,9,8,7,5,4,3,2,1.” When he got to one there was a sudden blur and the passengers were no longer looking at Earth and her moon. They were now looking at a planet that was much larger, with three moons orbiting it. Paul announced, “Welcome to Verron, we will be on the ground in about thirty minutes unless you people want to take the scenic route.” He looked at General Johnson, who replied, “By all means, the scenic route.”

  The three ships entered the atmosphere on the opposite side of their final destination. They held their altitude at about 5000 feet above the surface; of course 5000 feet above the surface meant an altitude of 55,000 feet or more when they crossed the ocean and came to the western edge of the Robert’s Range. No one was prepared to see a planet with such rich and fertile lands and incomparable beauty. They flew across the thousands of miles of farmlands and then turned northeast to cross Mt. Alene, flying through some of the lush valleys between the mountains, after about an hour and half they made their approach to the City Square, right in front of the Dr. J. Verron Medical Center. Dr. Joe, Tlase, Zimuel and Dr. Ed Meese greeted them as they exited the ships. The guests had seen bigger cities, but none had seen one so perfectly proportioned and so clean it shined, or city streets filled with humans, Tecalna, Klelta, multi-colored androids, pale skinned Tramlaw, crimson Grnardo, seven foot tall Chikondi and a hand full of little Lyncardi, but what really got to them were the cyborgs. Paul Verron saw them staring and informed them, “We are a multi-racial Nation, just made up of a different variety of races.” They also thought it was peculiar that every building had a dome on top of it.

  Paul’s brother greeted him and asked, “The girls have only been on Earth a bit more than two days and these people already need medical care? Why does that not surprise me?” Tala stuck out her tongue and Katelyn chose to ignore him. Ed Meese laughed and said, “Well at least they didn’t nuke anyone this time.” The pilots got a good laugh; they had been briefed on the nuclear incident over the Atlantic. Brad looked next to him at Tala and asked, “That was you?” She quickly responded, “I WAS FOLLOWING ORDERS – BLAME HUNTER. HE WAS IN COMMAND!!” Paul couldn’t resist yanking her chain just a little and turned to General Johnson and whispered loud enough for all to hear, “She’s the one who pushed the button.” To her surprise, most of the pilots applauded her. They obviously weren’t great fans of the French. Dr. Joe escorted everyone inside and gave them a brief tour and then told them that he could take half of them immediately and the other half when the first group was finished. General Zarman turned to the group from Earth and told them, “Decide which half is going first, the other half will be taken to the Space Center to train on the simulators. Don’t worry, everyone will get their chance. Those going in first will get the benefit of playing with our equipment and using it at their full potential.” Once again the higher ranking officers tried to pull rank. This time General Zarman made them draw names. Brad, Major Brown and Cruz all got the enhancement along with ten others, including Robert and General Johnson. When General Zarman was escorting the others out of the chamber room, Paul turned to Dr. Meese and whispered, “Do a level six on General Lawson, I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of him in the future.” Meese gave King Verron a questioning look and then remembered seeing Princess Amber with him at church. He smiled and nodded his approval.

  When they exited the medical center with the 13 pilots who would be second in line for enhancement, Major Livingston looked across the city square and asked, “Is that a mall I see?” Katelyn didn’t answer, she just smiled. He continued, “Do they have a food court? I’m starved.” Tala led the way as the pilots walked across the square to the Market Place. When they found the food court they felt like they had died and gone to heaven. The group was a bit confused when no one would accept their credit cards and cash. Katelyn informed them, “Verron is still setting-up an exchange rate for Earth money, the food is on the house.” She had the food vendors send the bill to Michael. After being well fed and enjoying the show of shoppers, it was time to leave for the Space Center. As they were leaving, Uduak stopped them as she was entering the mall. Today she had on a pair of skin-tight white jeans, her turquoise and white cowboy boots, a white low-cut silk shirt with turquoise buttons and a matching white Stetson with a turquoise jeweled hatband. With her light blue skin and red hair she looked sensational. Major Livingston, who was African-American, smiled and commented, “You people take the expression people of color to an entirely new level.” Uduak invited them to Beriya-Haven and headed off to do her favorite thing besides dancing to country music, shopping.

  Tala grabbed the Dragon Wagon and flew the pilots to the Marcus Verron Space Center. The group was speechless as they came in on a final approach over the mountains and viewed the massive airbase swarming with every imaginable shape and size of spaceship. They landed in front of the factory to be greeted by Marcus and a grinning Pavel Verron, one day back from his honeymoon. Katelyn introduced him as Colonel Pavel Verron, Head Flight Instructor for the Verron Air Force. The group was turned over to 99 and given a tour of the plant before being taken to the simulators. When 99 was preparing the first group for the simulators, he informed them, “Princess Tala and King Verron are the only ones to make a perfect simulator score. Tala was not yet ten when she did it. She is an excellent instructor and probably our most skilled pilot.” We require any pilot in training to reach a level 10 before they are allowed in a ship. The hardest part for you will be unlearning your years of flying Earth ships. Ours actually operate on a much simpler control system. Most people who have flown for years find learning more difficult than those who have never flown. Just remember, our ships are much more responsive and aren’t as limited as your aircraft. If you can imagine an aircraft doing something, ours will probably do it. Use your imagination, not your knowledge and skills.”

  There were 13 frustrated pilots that first day. No one scored higher than a 7 on their first attempt in the simulators and when they found Tala and 99 were both hitting scores higher than that on their first few attempts, they were slightly humbled. At first the U.S. military pilots were put-out having this little four foot tall alien with a translator ear and mouthpiece trying to instruct them, but soon came to realize that he did actually know what he was talking about. It was a Marine pilot that scored the highest and everyone harassed him, saying it was understandable why he did better than the others, since Marines didn’t know all that much about flying to begin with it was easy for him to pretend he knew nothing about flying, since he probably didn’t. About the time the pilots had been through the simulators, Mrs. Verron arrived to see her husband. Ilna actually invited them to join her and her husband for dinner at the Mansion, never questioning that she and Pavel and over a dozen guests would not be welcome. The pilots were loaded into the Dragon Wagon as Tala joined them for their return. She figured she better take Uncle Paul’s ship back to him and get the Interceptor she had arrived in. Pavel and Ilna followed them to Mountain City in their own
personal transport that King Paul had Marcus build just for them. It was basically a six passenger Fighter. Ilna was already learning how to fly it. One thing that the newlyweds discovered on their honeymoon was that when she was cloned from his enhanced DNA, she was just as enhanced as he was. She had not been taught the skills of a Dragon Guard but was physically and mentally 99s equal. He had not mentioned it to King Paul yet, but was hoping she could be included in the Dragon Guard. The two of them had already been freestyle running together and he had started teaching his wife Jxansa Gha.

  A smiling Pavel arrived in the Dragon Palace kitchen with 13 hesitant pilots from Earth. It was about an hour before supper was normally ready and the big cook from Mississippi looked up and grinned, saying, “If you expect me to feed them all, get in here and help. Ibrihim and Lydia are killing us with their sweet tea. It’s good to have you back.” Half of the pilots began to help the cook with the strong Southern accent and were working away in the big kitchen when Paul Verron walked in looking for a Diet Coke. He looked around at Ilna chatting with a half dozen pilots from Earth and a kitchen full of laughing and joking aviators cooking fried chicken, mashing potatoes, baking rolls and stirring the green-beans. Pavel had already made the tea and a very pleased looking Air Force Major was removing a peach cobbler from the oven. Paul looked on in amusement then asked, “You didn’t know you were going to work for your supper when you came to Verron did you. Make sure you’re here for breakfast about 0600. I’ll cook.” Thirteen questioning faces stared at King Verron when he made that statement. He smiled and added, “I haven’t killed anyone yet with my Kzki BBQ and Kinfu egg omelets. But someone else will have to make the coffee, I don’t do coffee.” About that time the Queen Mother walked in behind his back and declared, “God no. Please don’t ever let him make coffee. It’s like drinking the grounds it’s so strong. I’ll do the coffee.” Paul quickly introduced his mother to the kitchen help and she warmly greeted each of them and welcomed them to her home. She assured the guests that they could come for a meal the next night that would not require them to help.