The Gravity of Anti-Gravity II

by Tim Blagge

  “Yes and he’s still in jail in Grapsner.” I answered proudly. “Jerry was the one who caught him. We showed the Constable the video of the Cromwell and I think he will keep the information about his prisoner quiet, at least for now. Let me show you CEO Blosh and you can be the judge as to whether we should try to air it worldwide.”

  After Blosh viewed the video he commented angrily. “So the Cromwell’s think we are vermin and should be exterminated? I have a contact in our Capital that should be able to accomplish the worldwide transmission of what I’ve just seen but Rolf and Stella work for the largest media company on Velador. They should be able to do it too.”

  “Our people must see this video!” Blosh added, “If we ever needed a rallying message, this is it. Either the Cromwells are so arrogant they think they can’t lose, or they are stupid. Either way let me know what needs to be done and I will find a way to do it.”

  “I’ll give Rolf a copy of this video but I recommend we wait for the right time to broadcast it. We may need a boost of some sort down the line.” I said.

  “Let’s go somewhere and organize our plan of action.” Blosh requested.

  We went to a small room on the perimeter of the cavernous main area. We all sat on old rickety wooden chairs surrounding a large, thick old conference table made of concrete or a similar material. Loud creaking sounds came from the chairs as we settled in.

  “Pops, have you moved all the equipment here that you need to accomplish everything on the list we gave you to do?” I asked.

  “We have several more loads to bring here and I think we should complete that in two more nights. It will take a third night to relocate our engineers, assembly workers and their families.” Pops answered. “So if we aren’t hassled by any Cromwell ships, we should be able to start full scale production this week.”

  “Great Pops,” I said. “Now let’s get to the crux of this meeting.”

  We informed Blosh about our feelings that, except for nuclear weapons, the Cromwells were no match for us. We outlined my plan to return to Earth from a few years ago and steal some nuclear devices from the Russians. He had no idea who the Russians were but it didn’t matter. Blosh thought the plan was genius because he too was aware that building enough nuclear weapons to pose a credible counter threat would take time.

  After discussions about the logistics of our return to Earth, it was decided that Rolf, with the help of Jerry, me and a small crew of Veladorians would carry out our mission. We would need to land near the vicinity of nukes in Russia, assemble the Veladorians living in the area, and enlist their assistance.

  “We need plans of the Russian facility so we know how to enter the facility and have some possibility of success.” Rolf commented, “Once we get back to Earth, I should be able to get into the Russians computer system and acquire the information we need. From there we will formulate a plan. It will take us three or four days to pull this off – if nothing goes wrong.”

  “Blosh, we may need one of those ITC devices if you can get your hands on one.” I began. “We may want to erase the recent memories of that Cromwell we are holding. And I had another thought. Rolf can you get the program that was used to teach your people in Russia how to speak that language. If Jerry and I and our new crew could speak Russian, it could improve our odds of a successful mission.”

  “I know they have one on Earth but any we have on Velador would be in Prossfell and getting to them is not possible now.” Rolf responded. “Blosh, do you have a machine?”

  “We should be able to get one out of our university where we did a lot of research in that area years ago.” Blosh responded. “I’ll send one of my assistants there tomorrow.”

  “OK, I don’t know about you Jerry, but I’d like to get back to Grapsner and continue my honeymoon,” I offered. “Maybe the girls have located a residence for us to move into.”

  “I second that motion,” Jerry responded happily. “Rolf, are you coming?”

  “I’ll be back later,” Rolf responded. “You men should be able to get back on your own I assume.”

  “You’re assuming a lot, Rolf but we’ll call if this Green Beret and his dopey sidekick get lost.” I joked.

  -Chapter 22-

  An hour later, Jerry and I were sitting along the side of the road, in some forest, lost.

  “We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way, Bill”

  “I agree but we are only supposed to use our phones in an emergency. Do you think this qualifies?” I asked.

  “If our wives ever want to see us again, it might be a good idea to make the call.” Jerry answered.

  I called Rolf. “Rolf, Jerry and I are lost and we are not joking!”

  A roar came from Rolf like I’d never heard before. “Disconnect this call and hide! The Cromwells are searching for you all over Velador and may have the frequency of your phone. Don’t call back, retrace your path back here and stay out of sight!”

  “Damn it!” I yelled as I disconnected. “It’s another unforeseen complication. The Cromwells may be hot on our trail so let’s drive these scooters off the road and into the trees. If we can stay hidden and still see to follow the road, we might be able make our way back to New Pasadena or possibly Grapsner.”

  We both got onto our scooters and drove down an incline into a thick forest. Even though our scooters relied on anti-gravity for motivation, they were not designed to travel over rough terrain. Since the scooters were not as quickly maneuverable as wheeled vehicles, trying to miss the trees was a tricky proposition and forced Jerry and I to keep our speeds below twenty kilometers per hour per hour.

  “It’ll take us hours to get back to civilization at this rate Bill.”

  “But Jerry, according to Rolf, if we use the road we’ll be sitting ducks for the Cromwells who may have intercepted our call.” I replied. “Why don’t we continue to follow the road from the trees for a while and see if the Cromwells show up? If nothing happens within fifteen minutes, we’ll get back on the road.”

  Jerry looked at me and his eyes grew large. We both heard a whooshing sound and we knew it was an anti-gravity ship and it was coming our way.

  “Grab your weapons Bill,” Jerry yelled. “We need to leave the scooters and hide in the woods. I think I saw a rock outcropping about 100 meters over that way,” as he pointed to an area through the trees.

  We both jumped off our vehicles and quickly dropped to the ground just as the ship flew overhead. “Damn it,” I whispered just loud enough for Jerry to hear. “It’s a Cromwell ship.”

  “Don’t move Bill. If they haven’t seen us or the scooters they may just fly by and continue looking.”

  After the Cromwell ship glided past our position, we both stood up and ran for the rock outcropping. We discovered a shallow cave on the backside and crawled in.

  “I hope this isn’t home for a Veladorian bear or gorilla or something,” I whispered to Jerry. “Why don’t we call Pops and let him know about our situation.”

  “Isn’t that how they found us in the first place?” Jerry yelled. “I think we should just wait and see if the enemy comes back.”

  It was less than a minute and while Jerry had his head stuck out of the cave to look around, he scrambled back in and announced, “They’re back!”

  Suddenly a loud explosion rang out from the direction of our scooters followed by several more. There were more and more explosions followed by the sound of trees falling.

  “It sounds like they are carpet bombing the area Jerry.”

  “Unless we take a direct hit, this cave should give us some cover,” Jerry said as we both hunkered down waiting for the barrage to stop.

  Just as Jerry finished his comment, a huge tree that had been hit by a Cromwell laser cannon slammed down just at the entrance to our cave. It collapsed much of the rocks and dirt nearly covering the entrance.

  “The Cromwells will probably come looking for us on foot, Bill,” Jerry whispered. “We should probably wait here until they c
lear the area.”

  Since the fallen tree had blocked our view of the outside world, Jerry began pulling a few rocks and branches down from the cave entrance and after a minute, he was able to create an observation port and view the field in front of the cave. He then replaced a large rock or two so that our location would look less like a cave and more like a pile of rocks with a tree on top.

  “Bill, I know you understand this but the Cromwells want us dead. If they find us, we might as well fight our way out and kill as many of them as we can before they get us.”

  “Jerry, believe me I understand. I’ve got a laser pistol and you have a rifle and wave gun. These are no match for an airship if they are able to locate our position. If I were them and I found us, I wouldn’t engage us directly. I’d just blow up our little love nest and move on.”

  “Bill, even though I didn’t sign on for this,” Jerry whispered, “I want you to know I wouldn’t change anything about my life. Now that I think of it though, I did sign up to head up your security detail; what was I thinking?” If I knew it would be this dangerous and we’d end up on another planet, I might have reconsidered my decision at the time.”

  We both had to smile at Jerry’s comment even though we both knew we were facing our probable demise. We began hearing men’s voices and they weren’t Veladorian.

  Jerry leaned over and whispered in my ear. “If we get enough of the enemy out front in this direction, I want you to break out here by pushing the rocks and branches out of the way and stand up. Immediately aim and fire the wave gun in the direction of the enemy. I’m going to stand up with my rifle and shoot any soldiers I see. After the men out front are put to sleep, turn around and fire the gun to the rear first and then to each side. Remember, I’m covering you and whatever you do, don’t get me in your line of fire or you’ll be on your own.”

  Jerry quietly pulled the large rock out of the rubble, moved some branches and saw four Cromwells talking and pointing at things on the ground they thought might be indications that we had been in the area. Jerry looked at me and nodded. I pushed my way though the rocks and branches aimed the wave gun and pulled the trigger. A click and a whoosh and the four men collapsed. I immediately scrambled to the top of the rock pile, peered over the back side and saw three more men. I pulled the trigger and they went down.

  As I turned to my right, a laser blast obliterated the rock right next to me and sprayed rock particles across the side of my face. Jerry fired back and the shooter fell to the ground. Jerry then dove to the right and a laser shot hit the tree right where be had been. He fired back and that shooter was killed.

  Immediately a gigantic explosion followed by several smaller explosions came from the vicinity of the road. Great I thought, they’re bringing their ship back into the battle!

  “Jerry, we’ve got to get out of here. It sounds like they are warming up the cannons on their ship again.”

  We took off running darting right and then left to make us a little harder target to hit but as far as we could tell, no one shot at us. After about a hundred meters we found another rock outcropping and dived behind it.

  “I can’t believe it but we’re still alive!” I commented. “General Smith, again you have fulfilled you duty to protect the nerd and you have performed splendidly.”

  “Bill, we’re not out of this mess yet. And your face is pretty bloody. Take my scarf and wipe yourself down. Looks like there’s some rock shrapnel still embedded. Try to pluck them out as you find them. I’ll keep watch for more of the enemy.”

  As I was tending to my wound with Jerry standing guard, a strange quiet came over the entire area. ”Jerry, I think it’s over for now,” I said, and it was. We heard a voice, one I knew well. “Bill, Jerry” the voice was calling. It was Pops.

  Jerry and I looked over the top of the rocks we were behind and saw Pops, Rolf and several other men spread out and walking in our direction. Suddenly a laser shot fired and Pops grabbed his shoulder and went down. The entire rescue group plus Jerry fired back at the origin of the shot and a Cromwell soldier fell out of the bushes, dead.

  Terrified, I took out running to Pops’ location. By the time I got there, I was crying.

  “Pops, Pops are you alright, I screamed as I arrived at the place where he was lying on the ground. I grabbed him and thankfully Pops looked at me and gave a weak smile.

  “Thank God that Cromwell was a bad shot,” Pops said. “He grazed my shoulder and it hurts like hell but I’ll live and it’s really good to see you too Bill. I was afraid we’d find you dead. And what happened to your face? You look like something out of a horror movie.”

  “I guess this little episode qualifies both of us for a Veladorian Purple Heart,” I said through a bloody smile. Then Rolf waved over a medical technician who had accompanied the group and he tended to both Pops and me. Within fifteen minutes, he had us cleaned up and administered the tool that accelerated healing to both of us.

  “The medical technology on this planet is amazing,” Pops said as we both stood up and brushed off the debris we’d picked up in our encounters with the ground. “I feel okay. How about you Bill?”

  “I’m alright now too,” I answered. “Now what just happened? How did you find us and what was that huge explosion?”

  “We knew the Cromwells had ships patrolling all over this section of Velador,” Rolf answered. “When you made your call, we were able to identify your location. We were going to send out a land vehicle to pick you up but we saw that the Cromwells also identified your location by the way their ship changed course. We knew we had to move quickly so we called for one of our ships to leave its bunker in the desert, pick us up and take us to you. Unfortunately, the Cromwells got here first. That loud explosion you heard was us destroying their ship. Because of our sensor evading device, they never saw us coming.”

  “So what do we do with the Cromwell soldiers here when they wake up?” I asked. “We can’t let them wander around the countryside after they emerge from their coma. There’s no telling what they might do and killing them seems a little inhumane.”

  “That’s what they plan on doing to us!” Rolf answered. “We should probably take them to a holding area and interrogate them like we did our other prisoner. When we are done with them, we’ll see if our ITD can strip them of their recent memories. I’ve got a large transport device with some of our soldiers on the way. We’ll secure the Cromwells on the ground and wait until our men get here. Then we’ll return in the airship we came in on.”

  “Don’t you think the other Cromwell ships on Velador will be looking for their downed ship?” I asked.

  “Yes, and let’s hope we are out of here by the time they do find it,” Rolf answered.

  About twenty minutes later, the Veladorian crew arrived, loaded the prisoners and left. The rest of us boarded our airship.

  “Why don’t you have your men pick up the prisoner who’s in the Grapsner jail? That way all the prisoners will be in one place.” I suggested to Rolf.

  “Good idea Bill,” Rolf said and instructed the men to do just that.

  “Where to Bill?” Pops asked.

  After our near-death ordeal my mind started spinning like an ice skater at the Olympics. “Grapsner, right Jerry? We’re trying to find our wives and see if we have a new home. Rolf, is there another communication device that the Cromwells can’t track? I don’t think we should ever use these again. And what do you think the Cromwells will do when they find their ship is destroyed and their men missing?”

  “Slow down Bill,” Rolf cautioned. “I have a new device for each of you. To use an Earth term, they have an unlisted number. The only way the Cromwells got your existing phone’s designation is if the people in Prossfell gave it to them and that’s against one of our privacy Guidelines. That makes our government part of the conspiracy to take over the planet. Regarding your second question, I expect the enemy will come looking for us as soon as they find their ship that we just destroyed. Until they get reinforceme
nts however, they will be very cautious. By now they realize that our ships are more potent than theirs.”

  “Why don’t we search out the remaining ships and destroy them too?” I began again in a verbal frenzy. “After we eliminate them on Velador, we can park our ships at the entrance or exit from the jump zone and blast them to smithereens when they come through! Good strategy, don’t you think.”

  “Possibly Bill but what happens if we miss some ships.” Rolf explained calmly trying to get me to quiet my mind some. “If the ones that escape our trap have nukes on them, they will certainly pick some cities away from our fissionable material sites and decimate them. No I think we need a credible deterrent and our trip and theft of nukes on Earth is a good plan.”

  “Bill, you need a chill pill Bro. Your first time in combat is making your brain go a little wonky,” Jerry said and sounded quite serious. “After the adrenaline wears off, we will all want to review our options.”

  Five minutes later, our ship set down in a small field on the outskirts of Grapsner.

  “I don’t think we should call our wives until we get these new communication devices in their hands,” Rolf said as he gave me three additional units. “The women should be at the Doctor’s office and with any luck; the Doctor’s wife was able to find a new residence for us. I’d go but I need to return to New Pasadena and tend to our new prisoners. If you have any trouble, it’s okay to call on your phones now.”

  Jerry and I left the airship and began walking toward the Doctor’s office. When we arrived, all three girls were still there waiting.

  “What’s happening ladies?” was my greeting of the moment. Joanna rushed toward Jerry and gave him a hug. Brenda did the same to me but noticed the pock marks on my face.

  “Bill, what’s happened? Brenda asked with serious concern in her voice.

  “I’m proud to announce that I’m battle tested just like you Brenda and I’ve never felt this energized. Cheating death is a real rush; one I won’t soon forget.” I commented. ”I’ll tell you about it but first, have you found any residence to rent outside of town?”