by S A Pavli
I had little faith in the Kuàisù Niao’s battle computer. I would have preferred to put Alfred in charge. But it was not my call. But I did have one major concern.
“Captain, this is Paul. We must evacuate the ground crew.”
“Paul, yes I agree. We will send a couple of fighters down now.”
“Right, I’ll go with them if you don’t mind.”
“If you wish. You should be back before we engage the Saraya.”
“Should be no problem there Captain. See you in an hour or so.”
I left the bridge and headed for the fighter bays. I boarded the one that was identified by the ships AI and strapped in. As the fighter was manoeuvred out of the bay I contacted the ground crew. Major Wei came on line.
“Hey Captain, are you coming to get us out?”
“On the way Major. What’s your disposition?”
“We are packing our goods and chattels now. All personnel are present and correct, including a certain young lady.”
“Thanks Major, see you soon.”
Exiting the bay in the lee of the giant bulk of the Settang was always impressive, and then, almost instantaneously, as the fighter activated its engines to slow, the giant starship shrank to a dot and disappeared. The aircraft dropped like an elevator down into the atmosphere, the ground approaching rapidly.
Fifteen minutes into my journey and there was a buzz from the comm.
“Paul, this is Major Wei. We have an emergency down here.” There was alarm in the major’s voice. “The Saraya are armed and we are under attack.” My heart lurched with alarm.
“Damn, how can that be Major. They are supposed to be scientists.”
“We were misled. Some are, like Arane. But most of them are not and they had arms hidden somewhere. I’ve lost a couple of men, and we have retreated to one of the buildings. We have Arane and a couple of the real scientists with us.”
“What about the robots Major?”
“The bastards had heavy weapons, RPGs. The first thing they did was to take out the two robots. The robots did them some serious damage before they were destroyed but it hasn’t stopped them. There’s about thirty of them and they are heavily armed and bloody suicidal. We’ve killed about ten so far but they keep coming.”
“Which building have you taken shelter in Major?”
“The main one where we were housed.”
“And where are the attackers?”
“They have taken cover in the surrounding buildings. If they start using their heavy weapons on our building it will be curtains for us. It’s very flimsy.”
Captain Hamolatonen’s voice interrupted us.
“Major we have you on line. We are sending another fighter with half a dozen robots to support you. Paul, your fighter is now under the control of the Settangs AI and is being programmed to attack the Saraya.”
There was no question in my mind that we would win in the end, and the suicidal Saraya must know that. Clearly their only desire was to kill as many of us as they could. I tried not to be selfish; it was not just Manera down there. But I cursed myself for putting her in danger.
“Hamo, is there anything I can do? Or am I just a passenger in this thing?”
“If you want to help Paul, then go through that narrow door at the front of the aircraft. We are activating the interface and you can interact with the aircrafts AI. Good luck.”
“That’s more like it. Thanks mate.” I leapt up and headed for the door which whizzed open. Inside the narrow cockpit there was a chair with a control panel in front and a wrap around 3D screen in front of it. It was similar to the normal Hianja starship interfaces and I had some familiarity with it. The controls activated automatically.
“Displaying target area,” said the AI. The display lit up to show the Saraya buildings. The location of our team was in blue and the Saraya were shown in red. There was only one red spot, located at one end of the square.
“Describe known enemy location,” I instructed the AI.
“Last known location of artillery, believed rocket propelled with armour piercing shells.”
Sneaky bastards I thought. Hiding weapons like that and pretending to be defenceless scientists.
“Enemy soldiers believed to be taking cover in these buildings.” I picked out the buildings around the square, other than the one where our people were.
“Which target should I attack first?” asked the AI.
“The artillery location. Wait for visual sighting before attacking.”
The AI accepted my instructions. I waited impatiently for the aircraft to get to our destination. We were at ten thousand feet and just a few hundred miles from the Saraya site. It was just a few minutes before the Major came back on the comm.
“Major Wei here. They have opened fire with the RPG. The building is on fire. We are going to make a break for it from the rear exit. There’s some cover at the back of the buildings and a rocky out croft protects us from the rear. We should be able to hold out there. What’s your ETA Paul?”
“Ten to fifteen minutes Major. The other Peacekeeper is close behind. We will take out the RPG first then hit your attackers.”
“It’s mounted on a small jeep. There’s another jeep with a machine gun. We haven’t taken any more casualties, so far so good.”
“Good Luck Major, be with you ASAP.”
It was becoming clear to me that we had seriously underestimated the Saraya. What other surprises did they have up their sleeves I asked myself.
“Hello Settang, this is Paul.”
“Yes Paul, Captain Hamolatonen here.”
“Captain, I’m suspicious of these Saraya. They may have some other surprises for us.”
“What did you have in mind Paul?”
“More hidden weapons. Particularly aircraft. We haven’t checked out all their sites yet. Can you make a scan of the planet for aerial activity, particularly close to the main site.”
“Right, seems unlikely but will do. We have adjusted the Settangs orbit to stay above the main site in synchronous orbit. Be in touch if we see anything suspicious.”
My aircraft was approaching its destination and we were almost at ground level. . The aircraft banked and turned. Below me I could see the buildings around the square. Smoke was coming from the main building. Figures scurried between the buildings, diving for cover. The two jeeps the Major had mentioned were nowhere to be seen, but the infra red detector showed a couple of hot spots in the trees behind the main building.
I spotted the rocky outcrop the Major had mentioned and the small figures of our people taking cover behind the rocks. The two jeeps were manoeuvring to give themselves a clear shot at the hidden humans. I clicked the crosshairs on the two hot spots.
“I believe these are the artillery targets,” I said to the AI. “Proceed with attack.”
“Affirmative.” The aircraft banked to align itself. I felt the thump as the two missiles were released. Two gouts of flame and smoke among the trees followed as the missiles hit. Amongst the flames I could see the remnants of the two jeeps.
“Pick on someone your own size next time guys,” I advised the luckless Saraya. The aircraft floated over the area where our people were hiding and I could see figures leaping up and down and waving.
“You’re welcome,” I grinned. “Now to mop up the remnants. Strafe enemy soldiers in the square,” I instructed the AI. Again our infra red showed the presence of hidden Saraya and the aircraft aligned itself and hammered the square and its buildings with its heavy machine guns. Saraya broke cover and ran desperately for the forest but were gunned down by the massive deluge of bullets. I almost felt sorry for them. My smug satisfaction was interrupted by Captain Hamolatonen.
“Paul, we have three Saraya fighters approaching your location. The other Peacekeeper is a couple of minutes away.”
“Shit! These bastards really had us fooled.”
“It appears so,” said the Captain “You will have to engage them otherwise they will attack
our people.”
“Of course.” I knew my Peacekeeper fighter had the legs of the Saraya fighters. But as the Captain said, if I abandoned our people they would be sitting ducks for the Saraya attacking aircraft. I had to defend them until my support arrived.
I examined my display and instructed the ships AI to intercept the incoming Saraya at maximum speed. I was pressed back into my seat as the ship accelerated straight up. It must have hit seven or eight ‘G’ because I temporarily passed out, before it levelled off and banked and then again hit me with seven ‘G’s. I groaned with the pain, the seat was not designed for such acceleration and I desperately tried to stay conscious. The ship thumped and shuddered as it released a number of missiles at the incoming Saraya. I just about managed to stay conscious as it again banked and accelerated with ferocious power.
I focused on the display which showed the three Saraya fighters in line one behind the other.
“Clever. Give the missiles as little to aim at as possible.” But the Peacekeeper missiles were not fooled, they selected their targets and zeroed in with incredible speed and accuracy. Two of the fighters exploded in flames, the last one in line managing to dive out the way and escape. At the same time it released its full missile load, all six of them, two at a time. Two were aimed for my Peacekeeper, the other four at our ground team. The Saraya were grimly determined to kill as many of us as possible.
My Peacekeeper intercepted the two missiles aimed at it without difficulty, but getting the other four and stopping the last remaining Saraya fighter at the same time was beyond even its amazing capabilities.
“Major, you must all take cover, incoming missiles,” I shouted into the comm. We banked again and raced after the Saraya fighter as it dived down towards the settlement. I knew what it would do and my guts churned with fear at the possible consequences. I saw its missiles hit the ground and its bombs drop just before the Peacekeeper missile hit and the fighter exploded in a thousand burning fragments.
I found myself shouting with frustration and rage.
“Take us down,” I instructed the Peacekeeper where to land. The only fortunate aspect to the disaster was the lack of anything to burn where our people had been hiding, and lots of big rocks to hide behind. I hoped desperately for the best.
“Captain, we will have casualties on the ground. We will need more medical assistance down here.”
“Right Paul, we’ll get a team together and get to you as soon as possible.”
The fighter came down in the clear scrub behind the building, which was now burning fiercely. I leapt out carrying the first aid kit and ran towards the rocks. A couple of soldiers came out from behind a boulder and waved. The Peacekeeper lifted off to provide aerial cover. When I got near I recognised Major Wei, looking battered and limping. The other soldier was a blonde woman, tall lean and tough looking.
“Captain, you are a sight for sore eyes. The corporal here is a medic.” He indicated the blonde woman. I handed her the first aid kit.
“How many injured?” I asked anxiously.
“We have some injured, a couple serious, but no fatality,” he said. I looked at him anxiously and he carried on quickly. “Manera is okay, she has a flesh wound, some shrapnel.” We followed the blonde soldier as she ran behind the boulders. “We were lucky,” continued the major. “The missiles were out, except for one which hit high up.” He pointed to some burning trees to the left. And a smoking crater high up the rocky incline.
I found Manera sitting with her back against a rock, her leg gashed and bleeding.” Her face lit up when she saw me.
“Captain Constantine to the rescue,” she said though gritted teeth.
“Darling I’m sorry.” I knelt down and took her in my arms for a tender kiss. Her face was contorted with pain. The blonde medic knelt next to her but Manera waved her away.
“Attend to the seriously injured Gina.”
Gina gave her a couple of pills and handed me a bandage and a small bottle.
“Pain killers and cleansing lotion…”
“No worries Gina, I know what to do. Attend to the others.” Manera swallowed her pain killers while I sprayed her wound and bandaged it.
“Almost left it too late there mister,” she said.
“I had a few soldiers with rockets and three fighters to attend to,” I said. “I would never have forgiven myself if anything happened to you.”
“I would never have forgiven you either,” she said.
“Bloody Saraya. What is it with those buggers. Never know when to stop.”
“I’ve got to know Arane and her colleagues a little,” said Manera. “I think they would prefer things to be different. But it all seems to have gone too far. History and all that.”
The other Peacekeeper fighter had arrived and after a pass of the area it settled down in the clearing while the first one flew overhead to provide cover. The doors opened and a group of soldiers exited carrying stretchers and first aid boxes. One of them was Captain Norton and he came over to us.
“Manera how are you love?” He bent down and examined the bandage. “That looks okay, let’s get you on the aircraft and out of here.” He turned to me. “Stirling work Captain.”
“All down to the Peacekeeper Alex. What a machine.”
“Nah mate. Peacekeeper plus human. Unbeatable!” He winked and gave me a comradely punch on the shoulder.
“Let’s get you back to the ship for some professional attention.” Before we could put Manera on the stretcher she shouted to some individuals hiding in a crevice between boulders. I was surprised to see Arane and her two colleagues come nervously towards us. Manera turned on her translator.
“Arane, do you want to stay here or come with us?” The scientist looked at her then turned to her colleagues. They conversed in whispers for a minute before Arane turned back to us.
“We all wish to come with you,” she said. Manera looked at me and Captain Norton and we both shrugged.
“Could be useful for future negotiations.” I suggested.
We loaded Manera onto the stretcher and carried her to the Peacekeeper. Inside the aircraft she had to leave the stretcher and get into a seat so Alex could go back and get the next casualty. I stayed with Manera while the casualties were loaded up. We took off and the other Peacekeeper landed to load up the remainder while we patrolled the sky.
All loaded, the aircraft accelerated to rendezvous with the Settang. The seventeen Saraya starships were on their way and we needed to come up with a strategy to stop them or defeat them.
Chapter 31
The Kuàisù Niao had the best medical facilities and so the more seriously injured were taken there. Manera and I, Captain Norton and the three Saraya scientists were dropped off first at the Settang.
Manera’s wound was examined by our resident medic, who also doubled as astronaut and crew. He put in a few stitches and bandaged it professionally.
Meanwhile we kept in touch with proceedings as the Saraya warships closed in. After Manera’s treatment, Captain Hamolatonen invited us to the Bridge. Alex Norton was there, with Jana and Santol and the full crew. Alex and Jana seemed to have become inseparable which struck me as a very odd relationship. What was going to happen when Lanatra recovered her faculties I asked myself.
We were joined by Arane and her friends, a male scientist called Tastok and an older female called Narasa. They were apparently a couple and old friends and colleagues of Arane. They sat nervously against a wall, looking around them wide eyed.
We were greeted warmly by our friends and Manera was surrounded by her female friends who all wanted to check out her wounds and listen to her adventures. The Captain called me over and we got into a huddle with Colrania and his first officer Commander Pariso.
“The seventeen Saraya ships have exited hyperspace at two different points,” explained the Captain. “They are converging towards the north and south poles.”
“That seems a bad tactic,” I said. “Splitting their forces in two.”
“Eight and seven ships against four. They probably reckon they can take us on,” said the Commander.
“They may be giving us an escape route,” said the Captain. “Their preference I am sure is for us to leave quietly.”
“What does the Earth command think about that?” I asked.
“They are quite sympathetic to the idea,” said the Captain. “They don’t see this as their battle. The Cypraeans have abandoned their planet, it’s finders keepers.”
“Just run away with our metaphorical tail between our legs. What kind of impression will that leave behind?” I asked. “And should we hand over this technological gold mine to a species that despises us. All of us?”
“That is the crucial question Paul. This worm hole generator is way beyond our technology,” said the Captain. “And it represents an enormous investment by the Cypraeans. One that we should not hand over to the Saraya.”
“I agree,” I said. “Our people back home will not forgive us.”
“But if we take them on, there is a chance we will lose one or more ships.”
“And gain a huge prize,” I said.
“This planet does not belong to you or the Saraya.” Jana’s voice cut across our conversation.
“Jana, you have given up this planet,” I reminded her.
“No Paul, I believe my people will return to reclaim it.”
“By then, the Saraya will have picked it clean,” I said, impatiently.
“We will be contacted again,” she said. I looked at her, and she saw the doubt in my face. “It was a mistake to abandon this planet. We could not anticipate the conflict between the Dansai and the Saraya, or that the Saraya would be so aggressive and warlike,” she continued. “Once our parent civilization know these facts, they will act.”
“If that is the case,” said the Captain. “Then the sensible thing for us to do is to leave.”
“Jana could be wrong,“ I pointed out. “And even if she is right, it would be more sensible for us to hold the fort until they arrive.” Everyone seemed to understand what I meant by ‘holding the fort’.