by Saxon Andrew
“Alex, it appears those guards didn’t report in; I have ten security craft moving this way at high speed.”
“Move above the house and hold your position, Ringie.”
Gerald took his head covering off and the woman fell back away from him. He looked at her and smiled, “Relax, I’m one of the good guys.”
“I have no proof of that!” She replied.
Gerald turned to Alex, “What are you doing?”
“I’m reasonably certain that everyone in those security ships are allied to the Kahn. We’re going to remove them if we can do it without harming any of their neighbors.”
The woman released a breath she had been holding; these men were not employed by the Kahn.
The ten security craft landed, and guards poured out of them. “Ringie, use your blaster on those guards and then use it on those security vessels. Try not to burn the house down or start a major fire.”
A wide blaster beam leapt out of the scout and swept across the guards running toward the house. The beam then began hitting the security craft melting their hulls. “Why didn’t anything explode?” Gerald asked.
“I didn’t use enough heat to get through their hulls, Gerald. However the heat from the hulls will pretty much kill everyone inside.”
Alex went to the pilot’s chair and Ringie added, “The Overland and Wilds’ fleets have arrived in orbit.”
“Get us back to Bucket and contact Jingle. Tell her we have the family and they will meet their father there.”
“Transmitting now.”
• • •
Jingle was talking with some of the Representatives when Jangle said over their link, “Alex has the family and is taking them to Bucket.”
Jingle smiled and said, “I’m sorry but I have to leave. It’s been a pleasure talking with you.”
“Where are you going Jingle?”
She turned to the President, “We’ve picked up the Overland Representative’s family and I’m taking him to be with them.”
The Representative’s head jerked up, “IS THIS TRUE?!”
Jingle smiled, “Yes, it is. And you and your family will remain on Bucket. It wouldn’t be safe for you to go back to Overland after what’s happened.”
“Are you sure about this?”
Jingle smiled, “Jangle, open a channel to Ringie and get his family on my communicator.”
The family appeared on the small screen on Jingle’s communicator and he actually began weeping, “JOHN!”
John wept and said, “You’re safe, thank God you’re safe!”
The President turned to Jingle, “You never cease to amaze me at determining who our real enemies are. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.”
“You can send out the recording of what happened here today to every planet in the Wilds, Sir. I think it will help the relations between our governments.”
“I’ll make sure that happens.”
• • •
Jingle walked out of the giant building with her arms over John’s shoulders. A scout ship landed directly in front of them and Jingle led John on board. She knew how he felt. If her family was in jeopardy, she would be insane. This man loved his family as much as she loved hers.
• • •
Three weeks later, Jingle went by the modest home John had bought for his family. “How’s it going, John?”
“Things are going well, Jingle. Living here is a radical change from our former life but we’re very happy. Thank you for getting Clayton to give me a job.”
Jingle waved a hand, “I didn’t know you were a communication scientist before you were chosen to be Overland’s representative. Clay thanks me every day for finding you.” John smiled and Jingle asked, “Do you miss anything, John?”
“Not really. I was quite wealthy on Overland, but wealth means nothing without my family.”
“I had a discussion with the new President on Overland yesterday.”
“What about?” John asked with his eyebrows raised.
“I told him that you are owed reparations for the harm perpetrated on you and your family. He didn’t even attempt to resist, and all of your wealth along with an equal sum of damage payments has been sent to the bank here on Bucket. You no longer have to work.”
“Can we keep this just between us?” John asked. Jingles eyes widened. “I don’t want to stop working with Clayton and my children need to learn the value of hard work. They were quite snooty on Overland.”
Jingle burst out laughing and then she lowered her eyes, “Are you going to tell your wife?”
“There are no secrets between us and I’m sure she’ll agree. They can have it after we die.”
“John, you are very wise.”
John smiled, “I’ve always been a good provider and father. But giving your children things without them working for it can lead to a misunderstanding of how the world works. I’m not making that mistake again.” Jingle hugged him and John returned her hug.
Chapter Nine
Jingle sat rocking Belle when the link to Jangle activated, “It looks like they finally caught him.”
“Caught who?”
“That new Kahn or whatever he calls himself. When the mobs rushed the government center on Overland, he had a secret escape route out of the building. He’s been on the run for the last month.”
“How did he manage to stay hidden that long?”
“He was living in trash dumpsters and finding food in them to eat. He was dressed in rags and was quite dirty when he was found.”
“What did they do with him?”
“I don’t want to describe it, Jingle; it’s quite gory.”
“Is he the only casualty?”
“I’m afraid some innocent people lost their lives. Every member of the government was executed, and it was discovered afterwards that some of them knew nothing about the plot.”
“How was that determined?”
“It was given up by some of the ones that were tortured that they knew nothing.”
Jingle shrugged, “Oh well. Perhaps the next elected leaders will not take a risk like that again.”
“I will tell you that it took a week for the Kahn to die.”
“He deserved to have it take longer than that.”
“Then maybe I should tell you how he was killed.”
“That’s ok Jangle. I’m fine not knowing.” Jingle looked into Belle’s face and saw her eyes were closed and she was smiling. “Sweet dreams, my darling.” Jingle stood up and put her to bed. She contacted Alex and asked, “What’s going on with the attack on an LMC warship?”
“The scouts have scouted the LMC Civilization and have now moved out to scout the rest of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Ten scouts remained behind to find a good target for our attack and Admiral Wolfe is standing by to move in.”
Jingle sighed, “Ain’t it funny how the night changes?”
“Yes, love.”
“Are you going to be there?”
“I intend to watch it, why do you ask?”
“I knew you left to be there, but I didn’t know if you were going into the LMC.”
“I’m on Puddles and I won’t be detected by their forces.”
“Puddles?”
“Hey, you named Ringie, so I named our second scout. You don’t like the name?”
Jingle giggled, “No, it’s a great name. Just stay safe, my love.”
“I promise I will.”
Jingle shook her head, she should be out there with him, but…leaving Belle for weeks at a time wasn’t something she could do. She looked up and prayed, “Please don’t allow him to be harmed!”
• • •
Adam turned and looked at Lynn, “Are you ready?’
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
“You should have married me when I asked you.”
Lynn turned to Adam, “It would never work, and you know it!”
“Why not?!”
“Because you’re so hell
bent on getting promotions that you can’t make time for anything, or anyone else. I won’t live that way.”
“I admit that we’ve been separated a lot but we’re back together now.”
Lynn’s lips pursed, “And that’s really great! You pull me in to take part in an attack on a huge battleship.”
“But you’re the best one to do the job.”
“That’s exactly what I mean! The job is more important than I am!”
Adam blew out a breath and said, “Lynn, I asked for you to be moved to my ship before I was assigned to do this.”
“I notice you haven’t asked for me to be replaced.”
“I’m afraid if I do that, Fleet won’t allow me to bring you back.”
“Did I also tell you that you’re very selfish!” Lynn turned back to her weapon’s panel. Adam turned to his console and knew she was right. He just couldn’t help it; his ambition ruled him.
• • •
Alex was holding position far out from the Timber Wolf and heard a scout report, “I’ve found one of those new warships moving from one of the inner planets and heading out into open space.”
Alex knew Admiral Wolfe had heard the scout’s report and activated his communicator, “Admiral, you will not attack that ship until an analysis is done of the scan the scout makes.”
“Yes Sir.”
Alex watched the scouts feed on his monitor and saw the giant battleship was picking up speed. The crew on the scout announced, “Commencing active scan in three…two…one…”
Alex saw the scan appear on the tactical monitor and he quickly asked, “Puddles, what can you tell me about that ship?!”
“The hull is thirty feet thick Alex. It’s more than twenty feet thicker than the battleships sent against Canis Major. It is also thirty-percent larger.”
Alex shook his head, “Admiral Wolfe, call off your attack!”
“Sir, this attack must be done. We must find out how it stands up to our weapons! There’s also the matter of delaying their next attack on Canis Major!”
Alex hated it but he gave in, “Make your attack and be prepared to get out of there!”
• • •
Lynn looked at Adam, “You have no regard for my safety.”
“Lynn, if we don’t do this, every Terminator in the Union will be at risk. I hate having to do this but hundreds of thousands of lives could be lost if we don’t find out that ship’s capabilities. Once this is over, I’ll sign off on you transferring off my ship.”
“If we survive this! That ship is a monster!”
“Launch a hundred defense missiles at it and fire our blasters into it’s hull as tight as you can get them and at maximum power.” Lynn sighed and began working her panel.
• • •
Alex couldn’t see the Timber Wolf, but he could track the low-frequency transponder on it. Wolfe flew in on an intercept course and nothing happened. He wondered what was going on and then the giant LMC warship’s hull had massive explosions blow out from it. Ten brilliant blaster beams lanced out hitting the ship without any effect. The giant launched a huge missile barrage just before the second round of defense missiles began hitting it. Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the huge warship and it fell out of its stardrive.
Puddles?”
“It appears the aim of Admiral Wolfe’s weapon’s officer is incredible. They managed to hit the same places on the hull the first blaster beams hit. It was one of those double hits that broke through.”
“GET OUT OF THERE!!” Alex ordered.
Adam turned the Terminator and activated the force field. The missiles immediately turned and began homing in on the Timber Wolf. “Sir, those missiles can detect my force field. If they can, I’m reasonably certain the ship can as well.” Missiles began impacting the Timber Wolf’s force field and Adam poured on the speed and soon left them behind.
“Alex, ten more battleships have arrived and have launched a massive missile barrage at Admiral Wolfe’s ship!”
Alex shook his head as Adam whipped the ship around just ahead of the giant barrage and flew directly away from it. His force field flared as twenty missiles hit it in short order, but it held.
“Wolfe, you need to get away from those missiles and shut down your force field!!”
“Sir, there’s another barrage headed directly toward me. LMC warships are moving toward me in high numbers.”
“Shut it off now and go vertical!!”
“There’re five more warships moving in on Admiral Wolfe’s trajectory preparing to launch another barrage he can’t avoid!”
Alex turned the ship and went to maximum speed, “Activate the weapons!”
“You’ve been ordered to stay out of combat Alex.”
“We can’t allow them to destroy that Terminator! Activate the weapons!!”
Adam saw the five ships moving in ahead of him and knew there was no way he could avoid the barrage they launched. He shook his head and put his hand on the force field control. Once he turned that on, every missile the battleships had fired would turn and home in on his ship.
Alex roared in on the five giant warships and ordered, “Target each of those warships with two of the new defense missiles!”
“Sir, only eight have been installed on board.”
“WHAT?!”
“Glennon approved the limited number saying you weren’t going to be involved in combat.”
Alex shook his head, “Activate the blaster on its tightest focus and use three reactors to power it. I’m hitting the front warship in the reactor room and hope the scientists are right about it being more powerful than a Terminator’s blaster. Launch now Puddles!!”
Alex lined up the front warship and the targeting computer put the cursor over the ship’s reactor room. Alex pressed the firing button and a blinding beam leapt out from his scout and hit the lead warship but not before it launched its missiles. The ship blew up in a series of explosions from the rear to the front of the huge vessel. The missiles it launched detected the blaster beam and all of them turned toward the scout. Alex activated the force field and turned the ship away. He pushed the thruster handle fully forward but the ship was rocked violently from side to side as the missiles homed in and hit the force field. The explosions were massive.
The four LMC battleships targeted by the new defense missiles seemed unaffected for a moment, but then they all went up in giant explosions. The missiles didn’t penetrate to the interior but detonated inside the thick metal hulls. The small nuclear explosions were released against constraining metal making their blasts four times more powerful.
Adam had the five warships on his tactical monitor and saw them explode. He also recorded missiles hitting something invisible and causing a massive explosion. He went to full speed and lowered his head shaking it. Lynn turned to him and Adam shouted over his communicator, “Admiral Berringer, please respond!” Adam waited and shouted again, “Admiral Berringer, please answer me!” Nothing was heard over the channel and Adam’s head fell to his chest, “That had to be Admiral Berringer’s ship we saw explode in the middle of that missile barrage.” Lynn put her hand on his arm and Adam sighed, “He knew we couldn’t allow a Terminator or its wreckage to fall into enemy hands. He gave his life to save us.”
“I’m so sorry Adam.”
“I pray I don’t have to be the one to tell his wife.”
Lynn stared at Adam and shook her head, “That’s the real reason I decided not to marry you.” Adam turned to her. “I couldn’t bear hearing of your death. But this shows me I’d rather die with you than hear about it from someone else. If you still want me, I’ll marry you. At least we would die together.” Adam nodded and activated his communicator.
• • •
Jingle put Belle to bed and sat down in the living room. She heard the doorbell ring and went to the door. She opened it and saw Admiral Glennon, Gee, and Dolly. Her hands went to her throat and she started shaking her head, “NO! NO!” Mike rushed in and caught Jin
gle as she collapsed.
A week later, she stood at the marker being placed at the spaceport and listened as Mike was awarded the Union’s and Wilds’ highest award for bravery. Dolly and Gee were standing beside her and Jingle muttered, “He finally got his wish.”
“Why do you say that?” Gee asked.
“Alex always wanted to die a hero fighting the Union’s enemies.” Jingle didn’t remember anything else after she accepted the medals. Her life was crushed, and she felt completely lost.
• • •
Alex turned the ship vertical and went to maximum speed but there was no avoiding the huge barrage of missiles. The ship was violently rocked, and Alex was thankful he had buckled in tightly. He cleared the missile field, but he heard a thunderous whine building and he began being pressed back violently in his chair. He pulled back on the thrusters, but the weight was still increasing at a painful rate. He shut down the force field, and pulled the thruster handle all the way back as he changed course. The weight began falling off and he managed to take a breath. “Puddles, talk to me!”
“This ship wasn’t built to handle that much stress. The blaster was ripped off the hull and blown up by the missiles. The communication antenna was also ripped away along with the mounts holding the gravity handlers in place. They are no longer operative.”
“Is there any good news?”
“The reactors’ mounts held.”
“What about the stardrive?”
“It’s still operational but…”
“But what?”
“We can’t use the gravity drive to accelerate; the G-forces would kill you.”
Alex shook his head. Puddles was silent but then added, “Admiral Wolfe was able to escape.”
“That’s some good news.” Alex looked up, “So, what do we do?”
“I suggest starting back home but it could take a while.”
“How long?”
“At one-gravity it will take two years and there’s not enough food on board to feed you that long.”
“What about four-gravities?”
“The time will be greatly reduced but your body can’t hold up long enough.”