The Gravity of Anti-Gravity II

by Tim Blagge

  “About ten minutes later, three Cromwell ships arrived and using non-nuclear explosives leveled the factory. Two of our over zealous new pilots disobeyed orders and went after the Cromwells doing the bombing. When the Cromwells brought in three additional ships as reinforcements, the remaining four of our ships joined the fight. Our rookie crews took out all the remaining Cromwell vessels and we won the battle!”

  “I have no idea what it means to the war, but the good news is that our ships are more potent than theirs. Pops improvements made he difference!”

  “We’ve got to tell Chancellor ‘B’,” CEO Blosh said. “He should know how many other Cromwell ships are in Veladorian airspace. Maybe we can take them all out.”

  “Stella and Rolf, I suggest we hold up on notifying Prossfell for a little bit.” I said. “Since we feel confident we have a mole there, let’s wait and see if and when they call us and what information they communicate.”

  “There’s someone giving intelligence to the Cromwells?” CEO Blosh roared.

  “We suspect we have an informer somewhere in our chain of command.” Rolf explained. “The Cromwells were too well informed the first time they came to Prossfell with their initial demands. We also did some reconnaissance in their airspace and it was obvious they knew we were coming before we got there. Considering they knew exactly where our reestablished factories were located, there is no doubt someone in our government is giving them information.”

  “We also decided not to elaborate on the facility we are setting up here in Utah.” Rolf added. “It may end up being our last bastion of hope so we decided the fewer people who knew about it the better.”

  “Isn’t that against our Guideline requiring full disclosure at all levels of government?” CEO Blosh asked.

  “Yes,” Stella answered. “But under these circumstances, with Velador’s future hanging in the balance, it is justified.”

  “Sometimes I think you two have been on Earth too long, but I’ll go along with you for the moment.” CEO Blosh said.

  My phone rang again and it was Pops.

  “Because of the anti-scanning equipment we had installed around this building, the Cromwells missed most of the important stuff.” Pops said. “I recommend we move as much equipment, as we can as fast as we can, to the Utah facility.”

  “You start the disassembly and we’ll have transporters arriving in a few hours.” I told Pops.

  Rolf overheard my end of the conversation with Pops and began giving orders.

  “CEO Blosh, get as many heavy transporters as you can to the factory in California. Pops, will be there and coordinate the loading. Jerry, you contact some of your troops there and help them assist with the transfer. Get other troops stationed here in Utah to meet the transporters at the new facility and assist with the unloading of the machinery. Put everybody on some sort of radio silence so no one will alert anyone about our activities. Tell them it’s because the Cromwells may be listening. Stella what do think we should do next.”

  “We should try to anticipate the enemy’s next move but first let’s see what going on with Chancellor ‘B’.”

  Chancellor ‘B’ was deep in conversation with several of his assistants. It appeared he hadn’t been notified of the fight in California yet. Fortunately, we were able to hear both sides of the conversations. After listening for awhile, the overall picture of the Cromwell attacks began to emerge.

  Factories were attacked with non-nuclear weapons in at least six of the States. The government offices in all twelve State Capitols were also destroyed and the casualty counts were beginning to come in. Prossfell had not been attacked at all.

  It sounded like there were eight to ten Cromwell ships in each State that participated in the attacks. That put their invading ship total right around one hundred, I figured. Only two of their ships had nukes on board and they hung back closer to the jump zone. Chancellor ‘B’ took another call and listened to an account of what happened at the California spacecraft plant and appeared to go ‘ballistic’. Ten seconds later, CEO Blosh’s communication device rang. It was Chancellor ‘B’.

  “Let me talk to Rolf,” he demanded in a very loud angry voice.

  “What’s happened Rolf? It looks like the training of our new pilots and crews went haywire. Why did you let our ships attack the Cromwells? You know there will be retaliation. You are responsible for this grievous error! The people will demand your immediate resignation.”

  Stella grabbed the phone from Rolf and her rage exceeded Chancellor ‘B’s. “Go ahead Chancellor ‘B’! Remove Rolf and me as heads of the defense of Velador if you think that’s what is called for. The new crews flying the new ships did what they were trained to do – defend our planet! Even though these people defied an order to stand down, they should be lauded as patriots and heroes for vividly letting the Cromwells know that we aren’t going down without a fight!”

  “Talk to the CEO’s and let us know if we are to be removed. When they order us to cease our activities, we will Chancellor ‘B’. Until we hear from you, we will put everything on hold.” Stella added and disconnected.

  “You don’t mean that do you Stella?” I asked.

  “Of course not Bill, but it’s important that the traitors in Prossfell and the enemy think we are stopping our defensive activities.”

  -Chapter 16-

  “Stella, what will you and Rolf do if you are removed from your position?” I asked.

  “We could become regular citizens here again; but living under Cromwell’s rule would be impossible for me.” Stella said as she pondered her alternatives “We could all go back to Earth and help you with the launch of your anti-gravity device. With Pops help, getting a ship to take us back would be easy.”

  “As soon as the Cromwells decimated Velador, they’d come to Earth next.” I said as I also considered the alternatives. “It might take a few decades for them to get to us, but we’d be no match for them. It would only postpone your living under their dominance, Stella.”

  “We’ve got to stop them here and now!” I said with an assertiveness that had come from some unknown place within my soul. “Now we are fighting for both our planets and we cannot, and will not, lose this fight!”

  Everyone in the room clapped including CEO Blosh.

  “Unless we hear otherwise, let’s all go over what we know right now and continue with our mission,” Stella announced.

  We all took a seat in the large drawing room and began to exchange ideas. Brenda sat next to me and Joanna sat next to Jerry.

  “If you were the Cromwells, what would you do next?” Stella asked.

  “I’d probably want to send a message to Velador punishing us for taking out six of their airships. And if the rest of the Cromwells are as nasty and arrogant as Boiknest, they may do it with a few strategically placed nukes,” Jerry offered and added. “They would have to be careful however so they don’t poison the wrong areas of the planet and eliminate the ability to mine the materials they need.”

  “Do we have the ability to stop them from doing that?” Stella posed the question.

  “We know the enemy had over a hundred ships that they sent here during this first attack,” I answered. “Rolf, when you were doing reconnaissance near their planet, did you get a sense of the total number of ships they have available?” I asked.

  “They were using about thirty ships to sweep their airspace when we went there.” Rolf answered. “Our sensors indicated that there were about sixty more that we could determine based at various locations around the planet.”

  “That jibes with the number they sent here, but the question is, is that all they have? How many do we have Rolf?” I asked.

  “We have seventeen older ships and twenty three of the new models that Pops is producing. So we have forty in total.” Rolf calculated.

  A special announcement came on television and we all turned to hear what new catastrophe had occurred.

  “Reports are coming in from several areas outlining
the destruction of some of our key factories by the Cromwells. Even though the reports are sketchy, preliminary reports indicate that these facilities were building defensive weapons and are now inoperable.”

  After an awkward pause, the announcer continued.

  “New information has just come in regarding the unprovoked attack on our planet by the Cromwells. In the attacks on our State Capitols, three CEO’s were confirmed killed. Two others were seriously injured. The remaining seven survived. Our World Capitol, Prossfell, was not attacked.”

  It appears that the enemy was trying to eliminate the governments of the States to create a leadership vacuum.

  The audio feed stopped and it looked like the reporter was listening to some information in her earpiece.

  “More breaking news from Prossfell! Chancellor ‘B’ is going to speak to all Veladorians. He is approaching the front steps of the Worldwide Government Building and will begin this momentous address momentarily.”

  After a short pause, Chancellor ‘B’ arrived and began to speak.

  “Citizens of Velador. Most of you are aware of the brutal and unprovoked attack on our planet by the Cromwell Federal Republic. They recently requested that we provide them with large quantities of fissionable materials. Our subsequent refusal to do so, has, according to them, triggered the attacks. I have just completed my communication with them and I have their list of demands.”

  “First, they insist on having a central worldwide administration point. They have chosen me, as Worldwide Chancellor, to be central administrative manager for all of Velador. All the States will now report to my office.”

  “Second, they will be sending an occupational force to each State to insure our people comply completely with their mandates and requirements.”

  “Third, they will begin extracting large quantities of the material they need and will transport it back to Cromwell.”

  “Fourth, after the extraction is complete, the Cromwells have promised to leave in peace and to never return again.”

  “If we do not comply, they will use their large stockpile of nuclear weapons to lay waste to our homeland. It saddens me to say this, but we have no alternative but to comply fully with their demands.”

  “We will communicate additional information as it develops.”

  The announcer took over as Chancellor ‘B’ walked away.

  “So there you have it people. We are now under the control of another species. A species, by the way, we helped though their anti-gravity transition. Gratitude is obviously not a term these people understand. We now return to regular programming followed by our esteemed political panel who will analyze this breaking development.”

  As we all sat there silently considering what we had just heard, CEO Blosh’s communication device rang and he took the call. After listening for several minutes without a response he told the caller he understood and ended the call.

  That was Chancellor ‘B’,” he said. “He informed me that, according to the Cromwell mandates, his office was taking over the government of Utah and all the other States. I have been relegated to the role of administrator and I must get approval before I do much of anything. He also said he was suspending Velador’s defensive effort and told me that all of you have been relieved of duty and are to cease any and all construction of airships and other weapons.”

  “How does that make you feel, Blosh?” Rolf asked using the familiar term because they were old friends.

  “I’m not sure,” CEO Blosh confessed. “I’m still trying to digest what’s happened today. It started with me being the duly elected head of the State of Utah on the beautiful planet of Velador and it is ending with me being the errand boy for another errand boy who is under the control of a planet threatening our total annihilation.”

  “Stella, Rolf, Jerry, I smell a rat! And a big one at that. What’s your take on this whole mess?” I asked.

  “Bill, I’ve always trusted Chancellor ‘B’.” Stella answered. “Are you saying he’s colluding with the Cromwells or is it one of his underlings?”

  “I don’t know for sure,” I answered. “It just seems to me he rolled over and played dead a little too easily.”

  “And curtailing the production of our defensive capabilities after we’ve just got them humming again seems stupid to me. Maybe I’m concerned about Earth in the future too, but I think we need to push forward even if we don’t let anyone in Prossfell know.”

  “Bill,” CEO Blosh said. “You are proposing we violate another Guideline. Secret operations are not allowed. It violates our full disclosure mandates.”

  “I’m not trying to redesign your society, but what if I’m right and you and your people are being betrayed?” I asked and elaborated. “It may be the result of the treachery everyone in this room has recently endured at the hands of unscrupulous governments, but I say we continue building the new facility and see what happens.”

  “Bill’s right, Blosh,” Rolf said. “And if you agree, we’ve got to get like-minded people to help. My guess is that more people will agree with us than won’t and keeping everything quiet and in Utah is what we need right now. We can always stop building our defenses but restarting, after we’ve shut everything down, would be nearly impossible.”

  My phone rang and it was Pops again. “Bill, after further inspection, we have enough parts left at the spacecraft factory to build twelve more ships. I want to build those before we move all of the machinery to New Pasadena. If I double up the shifts, we can be out of here in a week. I’ll need more flight crews ASAP. Whatever machinery we can spare, we’ll send right away; but another week here will make a big difference.”

  “Pops, based on the Cromwell threat, we are under orders from Prossfell to stop producing any defensive capabilities.” I explained. “For the moment though, let’s go ahead. It’s imperative no one say anything outside your group. I hope you know who to trust because you have lots of people and they will need to keep quiet.”

  “Bill, I’ve always been up-front and honest with all my crew. I’ve got to tell them what I know and let them decide. Let’s hope we can keep things on track and not have anybody try to stop us.”

  “OK Pops keep going but hurry. We’ll talk later.” I said and disconnected.

  “Stella, Rolf, Jerry, I believe we are all in agreement as to what we think we should do.” I said. “CEO, Blosh, the decision is yours to make.”

  Joanna raised her hand like she was still in school and asked if she could add something to the discussion.

  “I have been studying the Veladorian governmental structure since I arrived. As I understand it, the real power lies in the duly elected CEO’s of the States and they in turn approve or disapprove of the Chancellor in Prossfell. If I interpret that correctly, Chancellor ‘B’ has no power to remove you or order any of the States to stand down. Technically, a majority of the CEO’s would have to agree to hand over that level of power to Chancellor ‘B’. Since that hasn’t been done, I’d say that you, CEO Blosh are still the man-in-charge here in Utah.”

  CEO Blosh’s phone rang again. It was from one of his assistants in Branklit, the Capitol city of Utah. As he listened to the person on the other end of the line, his face turned pale and he carefully sat down on the couch. Tears started to roll down his face. Brenda and I looked at each other and held our breath. The look on Brenda’s face mirrored my feelings, it must be something horrible!

  Blosh disconnected, gathered himself, breathed deeply and said. “The Cromwell attack on Branklit has killed fifteen of my staff. They also dropped one more explosive on my residence in an attempt to kill me. I was just told it killed my wife!”

  Blosh excused himself from the meeting and left the room. The rest of us walked numbly into the dining room and ate whatever we could having lost most of our appetite. Shortly after everyone was done, CEO Blosh came back in the room looking shocked but composed.

  “I have had time to think about the occurrences today.” Blosh announced in the steady,
somber tone of a man fighting to maintain control while still deep in his own personal grief. “I must return to Branklit and tend to my dead associates and my wife. If the Cromwells are aware of this residence, they may attack it to try to kill me, so I suggest you people leave too.”

  Blosh took a deep breath and began to speak. “Since I have been stripped of my responsibility to administer Utah by Chancellor ‘B’ and the Cromwells, I could interpret that to mean that I do not have the power to approve your continuance of the defense effort. Following that logic, I also do not have the power to order you to stop!”

  “Using Joanna’s logic, Chancellor ‘B’ has no authority to remove me from my elected office. Only the people of Utah can do that. Since you people were commissioned by the CEO’s to defend Velador, the same logic dictates that only they can remove you.”

  “The self appointed government in Prossfell has ordered you to cease operations. Under either of the assumptions I’ve just outlined, how you decide to respond to those orders is up to you.”

  As Blosh continued speaking, his grief began to fade and it slowly changed to anger. “While I tend to my tasks ahead, I want you to proceed with the defense of Velador. As soon as I take care of things in Branklit and get back into the fight, I will confer with the remaining CEO’s that I am certain I can trust and get their support,” he continued as his voice got stronger and louder. “The Cromwells killed my wife. I pledge my life, here and now and forever, to avenge this wrong. I promise with everything in me and on the spirit of my wife; we are going to make the Cromwells pay with their blood!”

  -Chapter 17-

  Because we had decided to take up temporary residence in New Pasadena, CEO Blosh provided us with one of his personal transporters to take us there. These vehicles were built to rise above trees and buildings but no higher. Their speed was limited to about 300 kilometers per hour making the 3000 kilometer trip about ten hours long. We could have contacted Pops to send us one of his ships, but because we figured that the Cromwells were monitoring all spacecraft travel, we all decided it would be safer to take the scenic route.