They became silent as they left Rogers’ office. Ray knew he needed to talk to Jennifer, but tried to remain casual; he didn’t want to do anything that would make her even more upset. He also felt he had to apologize to Gotlieb.
“Listen, David. I really should have backed you up when Thompson started to get on your ass. I mean, it was my problem, not yours.”
Gotlieb waved his hand at Ray. “No, I wanted to do it. She pissed off both of us and I thought it was time we gave her a taste of her own medicine. Besides, Johnson gave me back my rank and command as soon as he issued the arrest order for Thompson. Damn! I don’t even want to think about how much somebody’s brain has to be messed up to do what she did.”
Ray nodded. “I wish we could figure out where she escaped to.”
Nobody would say a thing. As a military commander, Thompson was the equal of anyone in the fleet. As a fugitive, she was a threat not only to the Rockoids, but to the entire Alliance. There was no telling how many supporters she had gathered. If she knew how to bribe the Alliance Fleet and lie her way into military contracts for RECOM, she knew how to play the political game, big time.
Jennifer stared at Ray. She gripped him in a tearful embrace. “Ray, if I had the chance, I’d rip that bitch’s head off.”
As Ray held her, he didn’t respond to her remark. Jennifer became nearly hysterical, sobbing uncontrollably. Ray tried to comfort her, with little success. He whispered soothing words, finding within him what he needed to say. It still took several minutes before she finally recovered enough to wipe the tears from her eyes.
“Don’t you worry, Jennifer, I’ll see to it that she doesn’t do any more damage. I swear it. Please, trust me.”
Jennifer stared at Ray, disbelief in her misty eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that one man might be the instrument of their salvation. Still she sensed his determination, and began to half believe it herself. Jennifer managed a faint smile.
“If you ever find Thompson, bring her back to me alive. I want the pleasure of killing her myself.”
Ray nodded and stared at both his friends, realizing this might be the last time he would see them.
* * *
Several hundred light-years away, a Rockoid super cruiser escorted eight huge oval ships. These transports seemed to dwarf the super cruiser in size, but were no less maneuverable. Their primary cargo consisted of thousands of ground troops; they were now closing in on the solar system where Earth was located.
They had stopped at a small planet, in an uninhabited system, a world rich in raw materials, to replenish propulsion systems. After recharging the crystalline generators used to power the hyperspace engines, the ships took off once more.
The trip to Earth would take about a day at the immense speeds at which they traveled. They flew on toward the scene of what might prove to be the most intense, most destructive, battle yet in the war.
Chapter 18
That night, Ray returned to the base with Jennifer. They both went off to their own rooms when they arrived, but not before one last embrace. They held each other, clinging to one another. Jennifer sensed Ray’s worry.
Deep in his heart, Ray still wondered whether he might have, in another life, fallen in love with Jennifer. She seemed like the perfect woman. A guy would be blessed to have someone like her. Yet he couldn’t shake the glorious image of Zanther from his mind. For some reason, he felt drawn to Zanther more deeply than he’d been drawn to anyone in his life. Maybe he would meet her at last, in the flesh.
As soon as he entered his room, Ray grabbed the viewscreen from his end table and sat down on the bed. He felt it was time he recorded everything he remembered from his dreams, hoping some tidbit of information would help the Alliance—in the event he didn’t come back from this mission.
He turned on the viewscreen, using its logging mode to capture his comments. He was amazed at the flexibility of twenty-third-century computers. A soft female voice prompted him to enter his description in an organized fashion. The contents of the log were forwarded to Alliance command, so they could evaluate his information.
After he completed the last section of his report, he went to sleep, but woke a few hours later, barely refreshed, despite having taken medication to calm him down. He was about to go into the bathroom for a desperately needed shave and shower when he got an urgent call from Commander Johnson.
Johnson’s face looked ashen. He looked as if he hadn’t slept all night. Ray noticed the bags under his eyes, that he hadn’t yet shaved. “Commander, you look awful! What’s the matter?”
“We have received reliable intelligence that several large spaceships are about to exit hyperspace close to the moon. We still can’t pinpoint their exact location. The time for the great battle is almost near, Captain. It is going to be a very long day, indeed.”
Ray looked shocked, barely able to reply. He stared at Johnson for a few seconds, and stammered, “I guess I’d better get ready to leave then.”
Johnson nodded in return, and managed a lame response. His image disappeared from the screen a second later.
Ray put down the portable viewscreen and got up slowly. He haphazardly grabbed a freshly cleaned Alliance military outfit from his closet and ran into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, fully dressed, he walked out the door.
Breakfast was served in one of the briefing rooms. Ray was surprised to see President Rogers there, as well as Commander Johnson.
Rogers waved him over. “Come, Captain Perkins. Sit down, we’ll talk while we’re eating. I ordered pancakes for us. Is that all right?”
“Yes, sir. That’s fine,” Ray replied absentmindedly, as he sat down.
Over breakfast, they began to talk. Ray didn’t begin to consider the possibility this might be his last meal.
“Captain Perkins,” the Alliance President said with studied efficiency, “Commander Johnson gave me a voice recording of everything you told us about your dreams last night.
“We really should have paid more attention to this before, but you know dreams; we’ve never thought of them as anything but subconscious images. How do you propose you’re going to get onto the Rockoid ship?”
“That’s the hard part. My dreams tell me Rockoid ships use some sort of grappling field to capture objects and bring them to the docking bay. It’s run by a computer that reads ID codes, and decides whether or not to open the door. I may know just enough to help you fake those codes. At least I hope so.”
Rogers sighed. “You’re betting your life on this, Ray. You better be right or you’ll be a dead man and we’re gonna be in for one hell of a fight.”
“I feel I’m right; I know I am. What other choice do we have?”
“I’ve heard about those grappling fields you’re talking about. We have something like them in the testing process right now. If you get aboard their ship, though, how will you keep from being captured as soon as you land?”
Ray sounded more confident than he felt. His voice betrayed his nervousness; he did his best to keep his feelings in check.
“The Rockoids feel they are the superior race. They don’t post guards in the docking bay because they don’t expect there would ever be any intruders. Plus, the Rockoid female I’m in contact with will let me aboard; I believe that, completely,” Ray lied.
Ray didn’t want to reveal his belief that she already helped him in some fashion, by diverting the firepower away from his fighter when he was immersed in that first battle above the Mars colony. He felt certain the Alliance would begin to suspect his loyalty. He couldn’t help but remain a little paranoid; it was his nature. Ray also knew that if he didn’t take on this mission, he’d never know the truth about this Rockoid, why he was drawn to her and, he suspected, she to him.
“All right, Ray. The battle will commence sometime this afternoon or evening, which is when we expect the enemy transports to arrive. You’ll have until fifteen hundred hours, when the Rockoid ultimatum expires, to get to their command ship and in to
uch with your alien girlfriend.” Rogers’ voice was as much serious as sarcastic.
“When the war resumes, we won’t be able to stop it. The pressure is on you, old man.” Rogers smiled slightly when he used Gotlieb’s nickname for Ray. “You’re going to have to produce. We’re depending on you now.”
“I know, sir. Should I leave now?”
“Yes, there’s no telling how long it’ll take for you to get on board their ship and find this female. I would suggest you get your ship ready and be off as soon as possible. Fly slowly and directly to your destination. Be casual, as if you know where you’re going, one of the crowd; don’t make any threatening moves. Otherwise, the Rockoids may think you’re trying to attack.”
“Yes, sir, I understand.”
Rogers and Ray got up and shook hands. Rogers stepped to the side. Commander Johnson delivered the message he’d clearly been preparing for this moment. His craggy face seemed more lined than usual, seeming to buckle under the pressure of what might be the Alliance’s final hours as a free society.
“You know, Ray, from the time you started enduring all those painful tests and interrogations, when you had to get used to our way of life in so short a time, I knew you had potential.”
They shook hands quickly. Ray started to walk out of the room. Rogers came over and stopped him.
“Captain Perkins, I need some way to ensure that if you contact me you’re not being held prisoner. We’ll use code words. When I ask you if ‘The sun is shining,’ you’ll respond ‘Yes, but the ice is slippery.’ Do you understand?”
Ray thought the phrase was utterly silly, but figured it was unexpected enough that the Rockoids wouldn’t catch its meaning.
“Yes, I do, sir.”
“If you are a prisoner, give any other response, understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“To make sure you’re not doing it under duress, I want you to record that statement now, so our voice analyzer can compare it with the one I hope you’ll make when you’re aboard that ship.”
That’s the reason!
Ray looked straight at the president and calmly said the silly little phrase intended to confirm he was safe and sound once…if he reported back from the Rockoid ship.
“Very well, Captain Perkins. You can go now.”
Ray saluted President Rogers and Commander Johnson before turning on his heel, finally walking out of the room.
The first step in getting ready for his mission was modifying the computer system of his fighter craft, using Ray’s recollections of communications protocols and some of the identification codes that had been intercepted from a downed Rockoid ship. Memories of his dreams provided enough additional information to let the Alliance engineers adapt the system to Rockoid communication protocols.
Once the programming was finished, Ray entered the command codes designed to generate the bogus signals that would allow him to enter the enemy flagship’s docking bay.
The Alliance commanders were informed the battle would commence at 15:00, when the ultimatum expired—that is, if Ray didn’t return by then, or send a message. Intelligence indicated the Rockoids would begin landing their troops around that time to stage a ground assault. There was no doubt about it. Based on the estimated forces involved, the space and ground battle would result in catastrophic losses on both sides.
Ray realized again there was little prospect of him surviving this insane venture. What do I do once I get inside that ship? Well, might as well make it up as I go along. That’s what I’ve been doing so far.
Ray looked up with a start. He felt a presence, in his mind. He struggled to concentrate, but it faded away as quickly as it appeared. Was someone…something…calling out to him? Zanther?
Help me, please, Zanther!
He repeated the message over and over again in his mind, trying hard to send it…somewhere…in the unlikely event she could pick it up. He knew he had to get under way, confront his fate…whatever it was. At least he’d die a hero! Quite a far cry from his hermit-like existence as a computer programmer.
After making some final modifications and checks on his fighter craft, Ray jumped into the sleek ship.
He engaged the pre-flight computer scans with efficiency. Once systems were pronounced to be in battle-ready condition, he took off. The ship flew off with hardly a sputter; it accelerated rapidly and was soon heading toward deep space.
Earth receded swiftly. Ray swung his craft over to the moon, making a beeline toward the dark side, now hidden in shadow. Intense feelings led him there.
If the enemy appeared where he suspected, Ray planned to use the cover of the Rockoid exit from hyperspace to get close to the flagship, hoping he wouldn’t have to fire on any ships in self-defense.
Not that he would be able to inflict any damage on those huge ships. They could destroy him with just one shot; very reassuring when one was trying to stop a war.
Before long, Ray’s computer alerted him to a disturbance in the fabric of space near the moon; the signature lasted just a few seconds. A dozen Rockoid cruisers popped into normal space as if by magic. His little craft was now immersed in the disturbance field. His instruments were rendered temporarily useless as the ship was buffeted sharply by the field’s impact. He could hear metal groaning, stretching.
For a second, he feared he would be blown apart. Just as quickly as the pounding started, it stopped. It would be a short while before his instruments could function again. Ray had to proceed on dead reckoning alone, hoping he set his course properly to intercept what according to Alliance intelligence reports was the approaching flagship.
The super cruisers passed him in about thirty seconds. He didn’t have much time. The battle would be raging in full force soon, if he wasn’t successful.
Ray wanted to reach the docking bay of the flagship as quickly as possible, but he knew if he flew too fast he might draw unneeded attention. In minutes, he reached the entrance to the landing bay.
* * *
At the same time, the Alliance armada, having swelled with the addition of forces from other Alliance planets, began approaching the Rockoid super cruisers and the fleet of smaller battle cruisers. Both sides started to warm up their weapons. The Alliance troops on Earth commenced final battle preparations in the great Ardennes forest of northern France, historically known for major ground battles during all prior world wars.
The giant ships, transporting millions of Rockoid troops, began entering Earth’s atmosphere and couldn’t be stopped. Trying to shoot them down wasn’t possible. The intensity of firepower needed to make a dent in the shields of those ships was enough to destroy everything on the planet’s surface within one hundred miles.
President Rogers, Commander Johnson, the entire Alliance command and the troops preparing for battle, as well as worried civilians, stared at their viewscreens in nervous, fearful anticipation.
Chapter 19
A press of a button here, a touch of a viewscreen there, and Ray started sending the stolen identification codes to the Rockoid flagship.
The silence seemed deafening. Every second appeared to tick by with the most incredible slowness. Ray became more and more impatient. He wanted a response, any response.
It wasn’t long in coming.
After thirty seconds, he could hear strange words being spoken in an almost musical tone, the Rockoid language, coming from his radio. He didn’t attempt to answer, but waited patiently for long, suspenseful moments.
He began to fear his ruse wouldn’t fool the Rockoids; he wondered if they’d just fire on him, destroy his little ship where it flew.
He looked aft and saw an opening appearing, as huge doors began sliding slowly apart, revealing a gigantic entranceway. In less than a minute, Ray found himself staring at that dark, gaping hole, as if the mouth of a beast had opened to consume its prey.
Ray’s craft began to move slowly, unerringly, toward the powerful Rockoid ship, and down into a long, cave-like tunnel.
R
ay realized trying to control his ship was useless and turned off the engines; he put life-support systems in low power just in case they were monitoring his ship’s computer. The invisible force field continued dragging his fighter craft into the command vessel.
What seemed like hundreds of Rockoid craft flew around him. As the other ships sped past his tiny fighter, Ray became more and more nervous, hoping they wouldn’t recognize the ship of an intruder. A few times faint, untranslatable voices could be heard on the trans-space radio; he ignored them.
Was Zanther trying to find him? Did she know he was now within her flagship?
Help me, Zanther! Take me to you! His mind cried our her name, over and over again.
* * *
Still seated in her huge throne room, Zanther was ready for battle. At the same time, she felt there was another force at work. She prepared herself for what the gods willed. Though reluctant to confer with her defense minister, she realized she had to summon Xorax to her chambers for a final briefing. His response was swift, almost obedient; he practically marched into the throne room only seconds later.
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Minister, make the final battle preparations. I wish to be alone, in contemplation, before the attack begins.”
“Very well, Your Majesty. Shall I tell our commanders to start landing troops?”
“Yes, tell them to proceed with the surface assault.”
Zanther kept her tones measured, deliberate, but there was a faint touch of husky emotion she could barely conceal. She hoped Xorax hadn’t noticed.
Without a further comment, Xorax bowed quickly and left the room.
The young warrior Empress knew something Xorax could never anticipate would soon occur.
As Ray’s fighter craft drifted slowly through the bowels of her ship, Zanther sensed his arrival. He had been calling out to her; of that she was certain. The human male was summoning, beseeching her to allow them to meet at last.
Zanther sat in deep contemplation, praying for inspiration from the gods to help her make the right decision that would save them all from more useless bloodshed.
Attack of the Rockoids Page 23