The Gravity of Anti-Gravity II

by Tim Blagge

  “Let’s get moving people,” Rolf barked his orders. In pairs, we pushed our four racks to the elevator door. Only two at a time fit in. The first two went up to the next level, were unloaded and the elevator was sent down for the second two. After all four carts were on the middle level; we repeated the procedure and had our prize at ground level.

  Our two other crew members helped us move the racks in position near the door to the outside. Then Rolf got a message from his men outside.

  “Rolf, there are about thirty men coming our way. What do you want us to do?

  “Disable as many of them as you can.” Rolf ordered. “I’ll call our ships and have one land as soon as it can get here. Since we didn’t secure as many nukes as we’d hoped, one ship will handle it. Then he contacted our ships and within three minutes one landed just outside the building and lowered the ramps.

  Shots began to hit the area near where we were supposed to begin loading. Rolf ordered us to get behind the ship while it activated its wave gun. The shooting stopped and we began to load our cargo.

  It took six of us to push each rack of munitions up the ramp and into the ship. Within five minutes we had everything loaded and secured inside. Just as we were entering the ship for the last time, shooting began again but this time it came from our rear. One of our men was hit and two other men quickly helped him onto the ship. The door went up, lifted off, turned and used the wave gun on the men who were shooting at us from behind.

  “We’ve got to go now so hang on!” the pilot yelled. “There are two Russian aircraft coming our way and too many people here already saw us when we landed.”

  Soon we were high in the sky out of harm’s way. We needed to drop our Veladorian crew assigned to Earth back at their primitive headquarters but decided to wait until the Russian aircraft in the vicinity went back to their base. About a half hour later, the area had cleared so we landed and our local crew got off. The wounded man was treated on the ship and even though not fully recovered, he walked off under his own power.

  “I’m sorry we weren’t able to get more weapons,” Rolf said to everyone. “And these were made in the 1950’s. I’m not even sure they still work.”

  “If they register on the Cromwell’s sensors as nukes, it may make them pause while they figure out what to do next.” I said as I thought out loud.

  “Is everyone ready to return to Velador?” The pilot asked. “We can be at the jump zone in ten minutes.”

  “Rolf,” I interrupted. “I suggest you send our other ship through the jump zone first. Since the Cromwells were increasing their forces on Velador when we left, they could be waiting for us.”

  “Good idea Bill,” Rolf said and instructed the first ship to return while we waited on the 2008 Earth side.

  “Rolf, I have another question or maybe an observation.” I began. “All those reports of flying saucers that have allegedly been seen on Earth over the years; they were yours, weren’t they?”

  “Probably,” Rolf answered. “We minimize our exposure but we have transported many people back and forth. The interesting thing is that as much as we have been seen by ordinary people, governments and militaries, the information always gets classified. And the regular citizens who have reported sightings are, more often than not, branded as kooks.”

  “What about big foot? Are those from Velador too?” I joked.

  “We have a similar legend on Velador.” Rolf explained. “Ours looks like a hairy dinosaur that walks upright. It has never been captured but many of our people insist they have seen it and believe it exists in some of our more dense forests.”

  Our ghost story exchange was interrupted by our pilot announcing that our sister ship was emerging from the jump zone. We all listened directly to his information.

  “The news is not good,” he began. “The Cromwells have begun their full scale invasion. I was told by our people at New Pasadena that the enemy has over twenty ships patrolling the space around Velador. There are two of their gigantic transport vessels that are in orbit transferring soldiers to the ground and later they will be used to transport the material they mine back to Cromwell.”

  “Our people suggested we wait until nightfall to return to Velador. With our sensor evading technology, they believe it will be safer then. If we run into opposition, they have five fighters and crews standing by to assist.”

  “Rolf, if our fighters come out to defend us, won’t it give away the location of New Pasadena?” Jerry asked.

  “Yes it could,” Rolf answered. “But our options are limited right now. If we go back now and tell our forces to remain hidden, there is a good chance we’ll be seen in the daylight. If we are discovered on our night time return, our hope is that between our two ships and the new fighters, we would be able to destroy the enemy ships in the area and return to base before the Cromwells can bring in reinforcements.”

  “Sounds a little optimistic Rolf, but I guess we’ve got to start fighting back sometime.” I added.

  We needed to kill about three hours so we all began to engage into small talk. “Rolf, I’m curious about your employer. What’s the name? Mindcon?”

  “Yes, that would be the translation,” Rolf answered. “What do you want to know?”

  “How big and how old are they and how much entertainment do they produce and control on Velador?” I asked.

  “The company is over 250 years old; one of our oldest businesses. They are the largest entertainment and news agency on our planet. They have other interests but none of us knows exactly what they are or how the organization functions exactly.”

  “Are they free to do whatever they want to?” I continued.

  “As long as they don’t violate any of our Guidelines and pay a small percent of their earnings in taxes, they are free to pursue any endeavor.”

  “Has anyone ever suspected them of doing anything wrong, crooked or underhanded?” I probed some more.

  “Bill, no one’s perfect but Mindcon has a sterling reputation for presenting information accurately and intelligently,” Rolf answered sounding a little more perturbed.

  “I’m sorry if I annoyed you, Rolf. I was simply trying to understand the purpose and structure of a company that has been able to finance and support thousands of operatives on another planet just to get a little juicy material. Our little reality show must generate lots of money to support a production of that magnitude.”

  “Keep in mind it is our primary desire to assist civilizations through their anti-gravity transition so there is an altruistic motive too.” Rolf elaborated.

  “Does your Planetary Government subsidize that effort prior to the discovery of anti-gravity?” I continued. “Since no one can predict when that discovery will be made, it could get expensive waiting around for it to happen,”

  “Bill, first the government never has subsidized our efforts. The question I have for you is, what are you driving at? If it weren’t for Stella and me, you’d be dead or stuck in some prison somewhere. I’m surprised you aren’t more appreciative. And you have Mindcon to thank. If you want, maybe I can get permission to send you back to Earth and recall all our associates. We’ll see how long you last after that.” Rolf said with an angry tone I had never seen him display before.

  “Hold on Rolf, I wasn’t trying to piss you off. I am just trying to understand the players in my life now and how they all inter-relate,” I said in an attempt to calm Rolf down. “I meant no harm and I do apologize and appreciate the help you’ve given all of us.”

  “I know you and your love ones have been catapulted into a life you never expected.” Rolf responded after he’d had time to calm down some. “And you have certainly helped us too. Let’s all relax for a bit. Our next trip through the jump zone may get a little dicey and I’m not sure what we’ll find on the other side.”

  After about an hour’s rest, it was time to go through the jump zone and return to Velador. I was frightened and I knew Brenda was too. We held each other as tightly as possible whil
e still hanging on to some part of the bulkhead for stability. Over the clatter of the banging racks we all heard Brenda’s voice. She was praying.

  When we emerged from the jump zone, it was dark. From the light of one of Velador’s moons, we could see our sister ship next to us. Then all hell broke loose!

  A laser cannon from a Cromwell ship just missed but the sound was deafening. Our pilot put the hammer down, as we say on Earth and we were gone with four Cromwell ships on our tail. From the conversation we heard from our other ship, he had also moved out with three Cromwell ships after him. Our pilot quickly rolled to the right and then left making us a more difficult target. Several more shots missed but only barely.

  Out of the sky from above us came, three of our fighter craft. They were so maneuverable it was hard to follow their movements. In a split second one fighter looped and rolled behind the Cromwell ship and fired. One enemy ship went down. Almost immediately, another shot rang out from the same fighter and a second enemy ship exploded in mid air. Two more of our fighters attacked the remaining two Cromwell ships from above and both were instantly destroyed. This confrontation took less than two minutes from start to finish.

  From the conversations on the radio, our sister ship had two of our fighters attack the three Cromwell ships after it. One of the enemy ships took evasive action by doing a loop in an attempt to get behind a fighter. The fighter was able to loop up and around attacking the enemy from above. The other fighter got behind the other enemy ships and with two quick shots, destroyed the last two remaining enemy ships.

  I overheard the pilot of one of our aircraft say “the entire enemy fleet in the area has been destroyed. We will accompany you as you return to base to base.” It was a female voice. It sounded like Joanna.

  In about ten minutes our two large ships flew into the rocky opening in the mountain and landed. Our fighter escort broke off and returned to New Pasadena.

  “Our fighters are amazing,” our pilot went on. “They destroyed the entire Cromwell fleet that was after us before they knew what hit them.”

  “Do you think they were able to determine that we were carrying nukes during the fight?” I asked.

  “That’s unknown,” the pilot answered. “Our sensor evading device was on the whole time and may have masked the signal. And based on our sensors, those nuclear weapons are not very potent. It’s probably because of their age.”

  “Great,” I said to Jerry as we all got out of our ship. We risked our lives to steal a bunch of duds.” As I finished my comment my phone rang. It was Pops.

  “What’s up?” I answered.

  “What’s up with you Billy Boy?” Pops began, “Did you get any nukes? I guess you’ve heard the Cromwells are stepping up the pressure on us. Did you see your sister in action protecting you?”

  “Wait a minute! That was her? Jerry” I yelled. “It was your wife who saved us.”

  “Yeah Bill, she shot down three Cromwells all by herself,” Pops continued. “She said it was easy because the enemy ships were no match for ours. She’s really got a knack for this air combat thing. I tried to stop her from going but she insisted. She’s got a head as hard as yours Bill. Tell Jerry it’ll be his job to stop her next time. So what about the nukes?”

  “The reality is, our return to Earth was not a rousing success. We only got sixteen tactical nuclear warheads; you know the ones that were intended to be used in the battlefield. They’re old, from the fifties I think and we are not even sure they’ll work.”

  “Even if they won’t, they may help to convince the enemy we have the capability.” Pops said. “Let’s transfer them here tomorrow night. I’ve got a plan that may be able to employ our new arsenal but first I need to have my engineers inspect them. Are you and Jerry coming back here?”

  “I’m not sure Pops, I’ll let you know. Are the Cromwells still combing the countryside looking for us?

  “They have searched a large area and they are still somewhere in the province.” Pops explained. “Fortunately they haven’t come close to New Pasadena and I’m not sure what we should do if they actually threaten us.”

  “We’ll have to deal with that if it happens. I’ve got to go. Talk to you later Pops.”

  I turned around and saw Stella who had just arrived. She was whispering to Rolf.

  “Hey Bill, it looks like your mission was a success,” Stella commented with one of her amazing smiles.

  “I’m not so sure,” I responded. “We’re not even certain these old warheads will work. Pops says he may have an idea but he needs to see the shells first. Rolf, what do you think?”

  “Bill, I don’t know about you and Jerry, but I need a little rest. Then I think all our brains will work a little better. Stella has arranged rooms for us all. They are not plush but any shelter is better than none. Let’s get back together tomorrow morning.”

  Rolf was right. After a good night’s sleep my mind was working like its old self again. Brenda and I had a television in our room and decided to see what was on. What we saw was not good!

  -Chapter 29-

  “We are sorry to inform the Veladorian people.” The announcer said with an extremely sad and serious tone, “that the Cromwells have exploded three nuclear weapons on our beloved planet. They are blaming us for this action. Because there is a small contingent of freedom fighters still active in our planet’s defense, they have decided to ‘teach us a lesson’ by killing many of our people.”

  The explosives were detonated in three less densely populated areas but our casualties are estimated to be in the tens of thousands. Fallout from the nuclear weapons will kill many more!

  The Cromwells attacked the towns of Branertoct, Shloxaton and Jafnotokin. They are threatening additional retaliation if the traitors, as they call them, do not immediately surrender.”

  After a confused pause, the announcer added.

  “Excuse me, I have just been told that we have some video that may be of interest to our people. I have not seen it nor do not know what is in it.”

  The picture got jumpy and blurry for a few seconds and what came on the screen next shocked and exhilarated us. It was our tape of the Cromwell soldier we interviewed when we first arrived at Grapsner.

  With no introduction, it started to play. The faces of people were blurred to make them unrecognizable and there were subtitles in the Veladorian language at the bottom of the screen.

  What is your name?

  “Sinatral” The Cromwell answered.

  “Sinatral, what is the Cromwell plan for Velador?

  “I am only a lowly soldier and I am carrying out the orders of my commander. I know very little”.

  The clip showed Jerry moving forward in a threatening way and the Cromwell’s eyes opening wider. He held his palms up and open, giving a sign of submission and began to speak rapidly with obviously nervous mannerisms.

  “I belong to the Norquant Society,” the soldier began. “We are trained in tracking and neutralizing enemies of Cromwell. Our initial goal was to get as much fissionable material from Velador as possible and supply all our needs on Cromwell. Since Velador has far more supply than they or we need, we first planned to work with your people and do some sort of trade agreement. When our people saw how lush and verdant Velador is, the plan changed.”

  “Since our planet is slowly dying, we are going to bring most of our population to Velador and take it over. After we get what we need from your society, we will slowly annihilate you for the vermin you are. You can kill me but your fate is certain!” There was another pause in the recording and Stella was heard to ask, “Do you have help from any of our people?”

  There was another pause in the tape and the soldier answered.

  “Of course we have help from within your government,” the Cromwell answered. “How do you think we know so much about you? Your cowards in Prossfell have told us everything. Why do you think they sent me and my partner to find you? And we are only the first of many. You are the last line of defense for
your planet and have become the highest value target we have on Velador. If you live another month, you’ll be lucky!”

  The rest of the video played as we had recorded it several weeks before. After it ended there was a short pause and the announcer came back on the screen.

  “My producer and I did not know the content of that video. Please disregard what you have just seen. We will give you more information about the Cromwell attacks and other developments as they come in. Now we will go back to regular programming.”

  “What do you think about that Brenda,” I asked.

  “It will certainly stir up the Veladorian population,” She answered.

  “How do you think the video actually got on TV? Do you think Mindcon arranged it? I’m certain this will really piss off the Cromwells!” I commented.

  “I agree Bill. After we clean up, let’s see what everyone else thinks about the broadcast.”

  Brenda and I split up, went to our respective communal baths, showered and reconvened in our room.

  “I’m starved,” Brenda announced. “Let’s see what kind of food they have in this joint.”

  We finished dressing and were walking to the make-shift mess hall when a loud buzzer alarm sounded. An announcement came over a speaker. “Cromwell vessels have been detected in our vicinity. All pilots get to your ships immediately.” The message was repeated over and over. Brenda and I ran to the airship storage area to see pilots and co-pilots entering and powering up their machines. We saw Rolf and Stella nearby and went over to them.

  “Do the Cromwells know about this place?” I asked.

  Stella jumped in and answered. “Not necessarily. I’ve been here for three days now and this is the fourth alarm. As you know there is only one way in or out of here so we have to be ready to protect the entrance. If the Cromwells ever find out about this facility, one nuke would seal us in. So far though, this appears to be just a patrol of theirs and a false alarm just like the others.”