by Jack L Knapp
The pilots were absolutely silent, their eyes intent on Chuck.
“I can offer you three options at this point. One, you continue to fly for NFI, without specific limitations. I expect there will be an added bonus for those who choose this course. A second option is limited flying, in which you will fly shuttle routes between Luna and Mars. Those who take this option will not be exposed to enemy attack. Space is always dangerous, but your salaries already address that.”
Chuck looked around the room. Almost all the pilots met his gaze, which he interpreted as a hopeful sign.
“The third option is resignation. If you aren’t prepared to continue flying with NFI, I understand. You hired on to haul cargo, not get shot at. The terms of your employment have changed, not by my choice but because unforeseen events have happened. If you chose this third option, no hard feelings. Good luck to you in whatever the future holds.
“There are going to be changes. Up to now, NFI has attempted to avoid conflict. We closed down our first factory, we’ve stopped using our bases in Iceland and Finland, but that has encouraged our enemies to become even bolder. Starting as soon as our ground crews can make the arrangements, I intend to arm our ships. I do not intend to develop purely military spaceships, not at this time, but I recognize that it may come to that. The armament will be defensive in nature. I also intend to defend Moonbase, again passively. But I’m no longer prepared to be cast as the victim. NFI will have teeth.”
The room was dead silent now.
“You’re dismissed for today. Some of you have schedules to meet. Should you choose to not make those flights, that’s your option. For now, I think it’s safe enough. I would have no qualms about flying any of the flights myself. You are probably aware of why I no longer fly beyond the upper atmosphere.” Chuck rubbed his bald head, resulting in a few chuckles. “But the choice is yours. If you choose resignation, please report to personnel as soon as possible to begin the process. Wolfgang, you can shift people around as you see fit or cancel flights if you don’t have enough pilots. Those who are currently training in Switzerland will be offered the same choices as I gave you. Should they choose resignation, that will happen immediately. Depending on your choice, some jobs may not be available. We’re going to need people who are prepared to accept the possibility of attack. I’ll reconvene this meeting tomorrow at 9am for those who choose the unlimited option, who indicate their willingness to fly armed spacecraft. If you choose the outer space limited option, see Wolfgang. Wolfgang, I’d like you to remain behind, please. Gentlemen, the rest of you are free to go about your business.”
The men filed out, some already involved in low discussions. How many would choose the more dangerous option? Soon, only Wolfgang remained.
“Let’s go up to my office. I’ve got a couple of ideas and some questions.”
“Sure. Do you have any idea how many of my pilots will leave?”
“No, but I decided they’re not military and they’re not mercenaries either. I don’t want someone who’ll get cold feet later. We can find people; it might hamper us in the short run, but the people flying out of Luna or Mars don’t have to choose immediately. The ones I’m most concerned about now are the pilots flying out of here, from Earth. I’ll be meeting with Pete and Dolph later on today to talk about ship weapons and the best way to protect Moonbase, but I should have time to get back with you. How about 4pm?”
“I can make that. By then I’ll have a good idea of how many guys want to look for other jobs. What about training?”
“To use the new arms, you mean?” Wolfgang nodded. “We’ll need something different, maybe a range here in the Outback. Australia wants our help, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t help us. Defensive arms only, so we’re not talking about a bombing range, just a place pilots can practice using guns or missiles.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be in my office if you need me.” Wolfgang left the room.
#
“I need a way of protecting our ships and a way of protecting Moonbase.” Dolph looked at Chuck. Pete had begun sketching on the pad in front of him.
“What did you have in mind? Keep in mind that none of our ships are military, so in essence you’re doing what groundside nations have done throughout history. They stuck guns on their ships and hoped that would be enough. Sometimes it was, when the ships had to contend with pirates, but when merchant ships faced warships, they lost. How are you going to stop air-to-air missiles? A fighter can pull high-gee maneuvers, our ships can’t do that. You may be asking the impossible,” said Dolph.
“Maybe not,” said Pete. “You mentioned protecting Moonbase, and that gave me an idea. But first, why Moonbase? Do we really need it?”
“It’s not that we need it so much, but that I can’t allow the opposition to have it. As long as we can hold the moon, they can’t use it to attack our ships in deep space. It’s like the idea of territorial limits, you protect your own assets by keeping the other guy away.”
“Good enough. I can do it. It will take time, so I hope the war doesn’t start before we’re ready.”
“You sound pretty sure, Pete. We don’t have many weapons, just a couple of auto-cannons, some rockets in pods, and half a dozen elderly Sidewinders. Keep in mind that there may not be weapons to buy. It’s a sellers market; everybody is going to be lined up at their door, and I have no idea how much inventory they have.”
“We don’t need them. We’ll make our own.”
Chuck looked at Pete skeptically. “Make what? Using what?”
“Using what is the easy part. Rocks.”
“You’re not joking, are you?”
“Nope. What do we have a lot of? Rocks. Actually, I’m thinking more of cobbles, rocks fist sized or maybe just a little smaller. We’ll need a lot of those. Think of icecrete, rocks held together by frozen steam.”
“I remember that. But will they stay frozen...okay, they will, especially at high altitudes. But we don’t plan on using our ships down on the deck, they’ll be at high altitude! How do you plan to maneuver your icecrete bombs or guide them? How do you know they’ll hit the enemy ship?”
“First, I don’t intend to guide them, so they don’t need to be maneuvered. Ever shoot a shotgun?”
Dolph had listened the exchange, befuddled. “I’ve done that! I’m a pretty good skeet shooter!”
“Good for you,” said Pete dryly. “You aim where the target is going to be. The pellets spread out, so you don’t need pinpoint accuracy. As for lethality, the fighter provides that. Running into a fist-sixed rock at high speed is guaranteed to bend the bird. Since they’re cheap and not all that heavy compared with metal, you can carry four or so pods that hold twenty rocket-propelled icecrete warheads. All you need is a simple bursting charge in the middle, timed to go off maybe a hundred meters ahead of the ship. It works for missiles as well as ships. Fire a few rockets, pop their bursting charge with a cheap proximity fuse, that gives our ship time to turn and get the hell out of there. As for Moonbase, the same idea works, just make it space mines. Again, all you need is a simple proximity fuse with a lockout for friendly ships. Use something like an IFF, identification friend or foe transmitter. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Best of all, it’s cheap as rocks, so we can put thousands of the things in orbit over Moonbase.”
“I didn’t expect this! But I like it, so go ahead. Pete, see if you can buy more snakes; they’re also cheap, and a homing missile is going to get the attention of a fighter pilot. I don’t necessarily want to kill them, chasing them away works fine. Having more than one option is better, I think.”
“I’ll see what I can find, Chuck. Unless there’s something else, I need to get going.”
“Yeah, you guys have fun. Maybe think about hanging a snake or two on Lina. I’ll be doing my own flying from now on.”
#
Two men sat in a car, watching. The house was imposing, with huge columns that supported a small portico, desirable in Brisbane’s occasionally-rainy climate. The
driver watched, his passenger thumbed through a deck of photos mounted on card stock.
“Just these four? What’s all the excitement about?”
“The ambassador didn’t say. He said go watch, so we’re watching. If we see any of the blokes, we try to talk to him. We hand him the note and say thank you. What he does is up to him, not us. We go back and let the staff find other jobs. It pays well enough,” admitted the speaker, “and it’s not like we were working for some of those crazies. I’d rather go back on the fishing boats than work for the Arabs.”
“Too right, mate. What about the Sheila?”
“Hand her the note, maybe she’ll give it to one of the others. Mostly I think they gave us her picture to let us know if the others are home. They don’t mix much.”
“Ay, you know it. What are all those trucks on about?”
“Digging behind the house, I shouldn’t wonder. Maybe they’re putting in a pool or something.”
“Not a bad job, driving one of those things. Maybe we can ask one of the drivers.”
Rod, the passenger, got his opportunity a short time later.
“Say, mate, what’s happening in that big house? Some of the neighbors are wondering.”
“Nothing to do with you. They’ve got kids, the lady wants a place for them to play. There’s a wading pool too. Can’t do much today, though. Rain predicted, so as soon as it starts we’ll shut down. Probably have to wait until things dry out, ay.” The truck driver sounded gloomy.
“Thanks for the info, mate. Good luck gettin’ on with the job.” The two nodded to each other, then Rod returned to the car to inform his partner.
#
“It’s a mess out there!” said Lina. “I can’t even walk around the grounds! I’m going crazy, cooped up in here!”
“There’s no help for it, luv. Can I make you a nice cup of tea?”
“No. I’m going for a short walk, so maybe when I get back. It looks like rain.”
“Don’t get caught out in it, luv. Those cobbles, not easy to walk on when they’re wet. I’ll just have a word with your man. You can’t be going out alone, Chuck gave orders.”
“Bert’s not feeling well. He thinks it’s allergies, but I think it may be asthma. I’m going to insist he see the doctor. I’ll be all right, I’m only going around the block. It’s not as if I were going shopping or something!”
“Still, luv, you know what Chuck would say, your da too. You should listen to them. They’ve got your interests in mind.”
“I’ll only be half an hour. I’ll have that tea when I get back.”
Lina shrugged into a light raincoat as she left the house. A soft mist had begun, not yet rain, but likely the rain was on its way. Still, it wasn’t stormy, not something to worry about. And she really did want to get out for at least a little while.
Closing the door behind her, Lina looked at the sky. At a guess, she had at least enough time for a short walk, even as swollen as her belly was! She closed the gate, then turned left.
Rod had been half asleep, expecting that his mate would see anything he missed. Spotting movement, he looked idly at the house, expecting to see the trucks pull away, job interrupted by the rain. Indeed, distant motors revved behind the house, indicating that the workers were on their way out.
“That’s her, innit? The one in the piccy?”
“Let me look at it...I think you’re right. But this one is preggers, nothing in the pic about that. Did anyone mention it?”
“Not a peep. What do we do now?”
“I don’t know. You’d think if one of the blokes was home, he’d be walking with her. Wouldn’t catch me letting my missus out in the rain, not that far along I mean.”
“Well, this may be our best chance. She can always say no.”
“I guess it’s worth a try. Keep the note covered, wouldn’t do to have it soaked through.”
“You want to talk to her?”
“You too. The ambassador gave us both the job, mate.”
The two men stepped out of the car and closed the door. Rod held the note inside his raincoat as they walked toward Lina.
She had been enjoying the walk, paying almost no attention to her surroundings until she heard the car doors close. Glancing up, she saw two men heading toward her. The one on the right had his hand inside his coat. Suddenly the fears came flooding back. They’re going to kill me! her mind screamed. But the house was close, all she had to do was go back...and the construction truck was almost at the gate...
Lina turned, too quick. Pregnancy, the lack of balance, slippery cobbles at the entrance...
Her right foot slipped. Awkwardly, Lina tried to catch her balance, then realized she was falling. My baby! She had time for only a thought, then her leg was going, she tried to twist to protect her swollen stomach, and banged her head against the cobbles. Horrified, Rod and his driver stopped, frozen.
“What do we do now? They’re going to blame us for this!”
Rod turned suddenly decisive. “We call for help, that’s what we do. Get on the phone, we need an ambulance. She’s not moving. I’ll see if I can help, but you call this in, understand?”
“I’ll do it. You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“I was a digger before I took this job. I know enough not to move her, okay?”
The truck had stopped, blocking the vehicle gate. The driver swung down from the cab and ran toward Lina. The two men got there at the same time, the construction worker swearing as his foot slipped.
“What happened?”
“She fell. Careful, my mate’s called for the wagon.”
“She lives there, in the big house. You watch her, keep the rain off, like, and I’ll see if anyone’s home.”
Far off, a faint wail announced that an ambulance was on the way. Moments later, people began streaming out from the house.
“Don’t touch her, okay? She’s breathing, I think she hit her head when she slipped.”
Moments later, the siren abruptly stopped as the ambulance arrived. Two men, carrying emergency cases, ran up to the crowd. “Step back, give us room, there’s a mate.”
The men muttered quietly to themselves as they rapidly completed their examination. A police car arrived moments later. Rod backed away and signaled the driver. The two men got into the vehicle and pulled away. Two policemen questioned the construction truck driver, who saw the other car backing up, preparing to leave. He reached for a pen and wrote down the license number.
The police officer watched, then asked, “Something I should know about?”
“Maybe. That car was parked and two men got out. They were walking toward the lady when I saw ‘em.”
“Did they do anything to her?”
“No, not that I saw. Twenty meters away they were, ay. But she turned and fell, like them two scared her. Here’s the car number.”
“Thanks. Probably doesn’t mean anything, but I’ll add it to my report. She fell, you say?”
“Just started to rain, it had. Slippery, like, and down she went. Pregnant, you know, shouldn’t ‘a been out in the rain anyway.”
Chapter Thirty-four
“What the hell happened?” Chuck was furious.
“Apparently she fell. She insisted on going for a walk, the grounds were torn up and muddy because of the construction, it hadn’t started raining but there was just enough mist to make the walkway slick...”
“Where was Bert while this was going on? Dammit, he’s supposed to keep her safe!”
“Bert’s sick. Lina thought it was allergies at first, but she left instructions for him to see a doctor. She thinks it might be asthma.”
“So who called the ambulance?”
“We’ve got a name, but it doesn’t mean anything. One of the construction workers saw her fall, so he got there right after it happened. Another man had just arrived, apparently a former soldier. He said he was a ‘digger’ and had had medical training. The two kept the rain off until the ambulance arrived. There was a p
oliceman too, he interviewed the construction worker.”
“But not the bystander?”
“It doesn’t say in the police report. I asked the officer to let us know if anything else turns up.”
“You say she’s awake now?”
“She’s awake, and mad. Her doctor wants her to stay in bed until the baby is born.”
“I suppose that’s a good sign. The baby wasn’t harmed?”
“No. The witness said it looked like she tried to protect her abdomen. That’s why she hit her head. If you’re ready, we can go in. Be ready, though; I told you she was mad.”
Frenchy smiled at Chuck, and the two walked into the room. Lina’s expression showed her fury. Chuck almost smiled; a large area on the side of Lina’s head had been shaved and a sticking plaster applied.
“How are you feeling, love?”
“I’m fine. The baby is too, he kicks me every two minutes! Do you know what it’s like to be kicked in your kidneys from the inside? I have to pee every time, and the nurses won’t let me get up! I’ll be an invalid by the time they let me out!”
“Just take it easy for a day or two. You took a knock, so maybe they’ll let you use the bathroom after they’re sure your balance is okay. What possessed you to go out in the rain?”
“It wasn’t raining when I went out,” Lina said defensively. “Anyway, I was doing fine until I saw those men. Chuck, I think one of them had a gun!”
“He had a gun? You’re sure?”
“Well, I didn’t see it, but he had his right hand inside his coat. The other one didn’t, his arms were swinging normally. Both were walking toward me, I could tell that much, but I noticed right away that the other man was different. His hand was tucked in, so he walked crab-like. Not much, but I saw it.”
Chuck’s expression was bitter. “It’s happening again. I’m calling the police. I’ve had enough of this crap!” He reached for the cell phone, but it rang before he could dial.
“Chuck,” his reply was followed by a silence lasting almost a minute.
“What about our people?” was followed by another silence.