by Aaron Hubble
The governors and their retinue exited the ship. They were escorted from the hangar into the much warmer living area. Facility staff living quarters lined the hallway. To their right was a cafeteria. They were shown in where a man in a blue jumpsuit and glasses was waiting for them. Idi strode toward the man with extended hand.
“Mr. Medlev, I presume?” Joshua Medlev was a brilliant engineer and the driving force behind the design and implementation of the warp technology.
“Yes, sir. It’s an honor to meet you,” the man said.
“No, no. The honor is all mine, Mr. Medlev. You and your team have done fine work here. We appreciate it and I regret you had to stop what you were doing in order to escort us to the construction platform.”
“Nonsense. It’s not every day that the leaders of the free globe stop by your workplace. I assure you that a guided tour will be much more enlightening to you than if you just took the flight without commentary.” Medlev addressed the entire group. “If you will follow me, I will lead you to the two transports which will take us out of our atmosphere and to the construction platform. I must apologize for the accommodations onboard the transports. They’re the equivalent of semi-trucks used to ferry supplies and materials up to the platform, so they weren’t built with comfort in mind. We’ve retrofitted them with seats now in order to give you some comfort on the flight.”
Medlev turned and began to lead the group past the staff quarters and stopped in front of a large steel door. He keyed in a code. Idi heard the loud clanking of locks disengaging and then Medlev pushed the heavy door open. It swung open more easily than Idi expected, for such a large door. A second expansive hangar spread out before them. Stacks of crates and boxes filled the room, but there was a great deal of open floor as well.
“This place was full of raw materials we ferried to the platform not long ago, but now that construction is complete, all we’re doing is gathering supplies that will need to be transported with the ships,” Medlev said as he strode quickly across the floor. He pointed ahead of him. “Ah, there they are, the carriages which will take you where you want to go.”
In front of them stood two large ships, roughly the size of an airliner. Boxy and mostly windowless, the transports had been constructed with labor in mind.
Medlev stopped before them. “I just have a few instructions for you. You will need to remain strapped into your seats for the duration of the trip. You will feel extreme pressure as we escape Earth’s gravity, but the dampeners will lessen that for you. Just try to breath normally and it will be over soon. I promise what you see will be worth whatever discomfort you experience.”
The engineer turned back to the transports when a loud alarm began to blare through the facility.
“Mr. Medlev, what does that mean?” Idi asked, trying to remain calm.
Medlev moved toward a small windowed office set just to the side of the transports. He activated the communication device.
“This is Medlev, why are the sirens going off?”
A static garbled voice came back through the device. “We are under attack. I repeat we are under att—”
The communication cut out just as the far wall of the facility exploded.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Earth - Antarctica, CPF warp ship facility
Bobby and his men charged through the gaping hole in the building. In the hangar he saw two long rectangular ships supported by heavy landing struts, their engines warming. The roof was open. They’d made it just in time. Near the ships a group of men and women, roughly thirty in all, huddled together, dressed in matching blue parkas. He recognized one of the men from pictures he’d seen all of his life. It was Idi Kalu, the lead governor of the CPF.
Bobby spoke into his comm. “Charles take your team and secure the ships and the rest of this building. Make sure the pilots are unable to take off. My team, follow me. We’re on the governors.”
Through the door at the far end of the building a group of CPF soldiers dressed in white gear entered and began moving toward the governors. They would reach them before Bobby’s team did. His team was exposed. As much as he wanted to charge in after the governors, he knew the smart thing to do was take cover now and then follow.
“Find some cover and make it hard for them to escape. We’ll need to pursue,” he yelled at his men.
Gunfire echoed through the cavernous building and ripped through several of the crates in front of Bobby. He dove out of the line of fire and pointed his rifle at the soldiers forming a defensive barrier around the governors. He took several shots as the soldiers kept backing up, giving the governors time to escape through another door. Bobby cursed as he watched the last of the blue parkas slip through the door followed by the CPF troops. He waved to his group and they sprinted toward the door. Reaching the door first, Bobby took a quick look down the corridor. He saw no one. He moved in, staying low, his senses tingling with adrenaline. He reached a corner and called a halt. Hazarding a quick glance around the corner, he pulled his head back, narrowly missing the bullets that tore through the wall.
Bobby took a deep breath, tossed a grenade down the hallway, and covered his ears. His fingers did little to block the deafening boom or the screams that followed.
Looking around the corner again he saw two men bleeding in the hallway. Feeling confident that they had been left behind to slow down he and his troops, Bobby stepped into the hallway and moved quickly past the men. One did not move and the other lay face down, moaning. He kicked their weapons out of the way and moved on.
Through an open door at the end of this hallway, Bobby saw another large hangar. He approached the edge of the doorway and carefully looked in. A ship sat in the middle of the hangar, presumably the one the governors had just arrived on. The roof was slowly opening, trying to give the ship a way of escape.
Bobby gritted his teeth. He couldn’t let that happen. This was supposed to be the mission that ended it all on Earth. If these men and women escaped, it still left the brain trust of the Continental Peace Federation in power.
Fifty yards in front of him a line of soldiers had taken up positions behind several wheeled vehicles that must have been used to ferry the supplies to the ships traveling to the construction platform. He sighted in on several of the soldiers and squeezed the trigger. They ducked out of the way. There were several more vehicles closer that he and his men could take up positions behind. Bobby sprinted toward the vehicles and slid to a stop near the bumper of a large truck. Gunshots followed his progress. Looking behind him, he saw his troops follow. One went down, struck by a CPF bullet. The others took up positions around him.
Roughly half the men and women had been loaded onto the ship. Several more grenades hung from a belt around his parka. If he could sprint toward the line of soldiers, lob the grenades into their line, he had a chance of breaking through and possibly stopping the ship from taking off. There were only a couple of soldiers forming a last line of defense by the gangway of the first ship. He gripped one of the grenades and readied his feet for the sprint. The chances of this working were very slim, but it was the only chance they had of keeping the ship on the ground.
Just as his legs tightened, ready to propel him forward, he heard Samantha’s voice in his head. The words she’d spoken to him just before leaving for this mission echoed in his mind and he paused. If he ran out there and did what he was considering, there was no way he’d make it back to Sydney alive. His wife would be a widow and his son would grow up never knowing his father. Bobby knew what that was like, and it wasn’t a future he wanted for his son.
But the governors…
It was a tough loss, but they’d captured the facility and would have the construction platform soon. Bobby would find the governors eventually and then there would be justice. He took his hand off the grenade and watched the soldiers fall back toward the ship and disappear up the gangway. It shut, sealing them inside, and Bobby felt the backwash of the powerful thrusters as the ship rose from the han
gar floor and disappeared beyond the roof line into the sky.
Silence settled over the hangar, the only sound the wind outside and the movement of his men.
“Go ahead, Charles.”
“Did you get the governors?”
“Negative,” he breathed. “They are rather impressive escape artists.”
“Tough luck, boss.” There was a pause as Charles must have been relaying information back to his men. “Get yourself back here. We’ve persuaded the pilots to join our cause, and we’re ready to take a little space trip, if you’re up for a ride.”
Bobby hopped to his feet. “We’re on our way. Don’t leave without us.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Charles said.
Bobby looked at his men and then waved them on. “The job’s not done, men.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Low Earth orbit - CPF warp ship construction platform
Bobby really wished this was simply a joyride. He wished at the end of it he would go back home and tell his wife about the amazing journey he’d taken and how it felt to look at the Earth from above the heavens. Unfortunately, that luxury wasn’t afforded him today.
Oh, it had been a thrill rocketing through the atmosphere at incredible speeds, and he hadn’t even minded the extreme thrust pressure. It wasn’t lost on Bobby that he was now one of a privileged few who had ever looked down on their home world from space. He leaned forward in his seat to get a better view out the forward window and could just see a structure of gleaming metal in front of them. It was massive.
Leaning back, he addressed his men. “Here’s the deal. We can’t take our guns onto the platform. A stray shot could pierce the hull and rip it apart. So, it’s knives, batons, fists and stunners. Our pilots tell us the platform has a relatively small security force, just ten individuals, and then workers. They’re expecting the governors. The security team will probably be split in half, part will meet with us and the rest with the second transport. Once our ship docks and the door opens, we shouldn’t have any trouble overwhelming the guards and taking control.”
“What do we do with the workers?” Hollins asked.
“I want to lock them down somewhere until we can determine which ones want to jump to our side and which ones will remain loyal to the CPF. They have us at a bit of a disadvantage because we don’t know anything about these ships or this platform. They hold the cards, but hopefully we can convince some of them our way is the better option.”
Hollins nodded and then his gaze shifted and he pointed toward the front of the ship. “Sir, you might want to take a look at that.”
Bobby turned and took in the full view of the platform, which he’d only caught a glimpse of earlier. The platform reminded him of an enormous catamaran. Two gigantic, long, rectangular construction bays sat parallel to each other, open-ended, connected by a smaller structure in between. Bobby could see the nose of a massive ship inside the closet of these bays. He assumed the section connecting the two long structures had to be where the crew lived and performed daily duties when not working on the ships. The ships were constructed inside of these large bays. It made sense from a safety and efficiency standpoint. There was less of a chance for material or people floating away if something went wrong. A view of the second bay was hidden from him, but he assumed the smaller ship the governors were set to take to Aereas was located inside.
Their transport ship slowed and began to turn. Bobby’s view of the platform slowly changed to the black of space. The pilot maneuvered his craft so the rear of the ship was now pointed at the platform. The aft of the ship would dock with the platform making unloading of materials easy and convenient.
Like a semi-truck backing into a loading dock, Bobby thought.
The pilot spoke. “Construction platform this is Material Transport One requesting permission to dock and unload.”
“Copy, One, you are clear for docking. Standard procedures apply. Are the governors with you?”
The pilot turned around and looked at Bobby, a question on his face. Bobby nodded, feeling a surge of anxiety. He didn’t like putting so much trust in someone he didn’t know. If the pilot wanted to, he could blow the whole operation right here. Holding his breath, Bobby waited for the pilot to respond.
“Affirmative, Platform, I have the governors,” the pilot said.
Bobby let out his breath. Perhaps it was the reality of thirty well-trained and armed men in the back of his ship that had convinced the pilot that cooperation was the best way to keep himself alive. Whatever it was, Bobby was thankful.
“Let them know security will meet them at the airlock,” the nameless voice responded.
“Will do. One out.”
Bobby felt the change in momentum as the ship stopped swinging about and began to reverse itself toward the platform. The pilot had switched displays so a camera view of the rear of the ship plus a targeting array were visible on the forward window. He noted the targeting array was blinking red and warning the pilot they were off by several degrees. Bobby gripped the edge of his seat, wanting to say something, but holding back. There was nothing worse than a backseat driver. The pilot appeared calm as if this was just another day at the office, which it probably was. This was a maneuver he’d probably performed hundreds of times over the last several years. Sweat trickled down Bobby’s forehead and he wiped it way with his sleeve. He’d never been this nervous in an airplane before. At least in an airplane crash he had a theoretical chance of surviving. Here, in the vacuum of space, one little mistake would spell instant death.
The pilot made two quick flicks of his thumb on the joystick, and Bobby watched the targeting array turn green indicating correct alignment had been achieved. A soft thump told Bobby they had reached their destination.
He looked at his men, all dressed in confiscated blue CPF uniforms. Most likely, the uniforms of a staff in the Antarctic would not be the same as those of a governmental delegation, but maybe it would cause the security officers to pause just long enough for Bobby and his men to gain the upper hand without a fight.
Bobby stared at the pilot. “What’s your name?”
“Advik Saxena.”
Bobby searched his face. For some reason he felt he could trust him. Gesturing toward the hatch, Bobby continued. “I want you to be the first one they see. They know you.”
“Look, I’m not a soldier, just a pilot. I said I would get you up here, and I did that. Getting into the middle of a fight was not part of my plans for the day,” Saxena said.
“Your plans just changed.” Bobby gestured at the rear door. “Open it.”
The pilot looked at Bobby for several long seconds and then, resigned with his fate, brushed past Bobby and keyed in the access code to open the door. The door irised quietly open revealing a brightly lit airlock with another large steel door in front of them. Bobby’s men lined up behind the pilot in orderly rows as the pilot waited for the door to be opened from the inside of the platform. The door unlocked and slid to the side, revealing a corridor and five men in matching black uniforms standing in formation, their hands clasped behind their back.
One man stepped forward. “Welcome to the construction…” His voice trailed off as he began to see that something was just a bit off, but was too late. The resistance troops swarmed into the corridor and surrounded the stunned security detail. One guard recovered enough to make an attempt to contact the control deck, but Bobby silenced him by shoving a stunner into his neck and sending 50,000 volts coursing through his body. The man dropped limply to the floor.
“Anyone else care to make a move?” Bobby looked at the faces of the soldiers and was grateful to see the fight had gone out of them. He turned to Hollins. “Secure them and stow them in the transport ship. Amodela, you and Imbira will stay behind and guard the security detail. I want the rest with me.” Finding the pilot, he gestured him to come closer. “Where would the other ship dock?”
“Next corridor over. I suppose you want me to take you there?”<
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Bobby nodded. “You’re not as dumb as you look.”
Saxena grimaced, but began walking. “Follow me.”
The prisoners were secured and herded on to the transport ship. Amodela and Imbira positioned themselves inside by the door, and then sealed the ship making sure no one would be able to escape or alert anyone that intruders were aboard.
Bobby and the rest of his team followed the pilot through an empty corridor and turned to the right and then back toward the outside hull. He was pleased to find Charles and his men had been equally successful in surprising the security detail assigned to welcome them. The five black-uniformed men were kneeling on the metal deck as several R3 troops zip-tied their hands behind their back.
Charles saw Bobby approach, waved and gave him a wide grin. “I get the feeling this lot was expecting someone else to step out of that shuttle.” The CPF soldiers were stowed in the transport. Doors were shut and sealed before Charles turned toward Bobby.
“What now, mate?” he asked.
Bobby turned to the pilot. “Where will everyone be?”
“The command crew will be on the main deck overseeing preparations for the arrival and then departure of the governors. Most of the assembly workers have already returned planet-side within the last few weeks as their jobs ended. A lot of them were still in Antarctica and then in part of South America. All of the engineers and those workers necessary for prepping the ships for their flight are still here. The plan was for everyone to assemble in the staging bay and give the Unity Council a grand welcome.