by Saxon Andrew
“DES! GO DOWN AND PICK UP THAT WOMAN AND CHILD NOW!!” Grady ordered.
“Sir, I’m detecting large predators moving into the clearing from all sides!!” Maranda interjected.
“THEN YOU NEED TO GET MOVING NOW!!” Grady ordered.
• • •
Desmond looked at Maranda, as he jumped out of the pilot’s chair, “Take us down, Maranda.”
“But you can be killed!”
“That will give you what you want! Get us down now!!” Des shouted as he ran down the corridor to the ship’s exit port.
Maranda turned the ship and went into the planet’s atmosphere bow first. She controlled the ship’s speed so as not to produce a sonic boom and she saw on the monitors that giant lizard like predators were moving in quickly toward the center of the clearing.
Des was thrown from his feet as he arrived at the exit port and he held on to a handhold as his body was thrown toward the landing bay’s walls. He had a blaster in one hand and only had one hand to hold on with, but he managed to keep his grip. The ship landed hard and Des collapsed to the bay’s floor. He punched the port’s button and jumped out ahead of the landing ramp. He saw the woman and child about a hundred feet ahead of him and a predator was moving in on them at high speed. Des raised the blaster and knew using it would give away a ship had landed here. He set it to low power and fired at the predator’s legs.
The predator screamed and came to a sudden stop. Des hit it again and it turned and ran. More predators were moving in at high speed and Des fired the blaster at the grass in front of them. The grass exploded into fire and the giant beasts came to a stop. Des arrived at the woman and held out his hand, “COME WITH ME!!” The woman stared at him unmoving and Des grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. “GET MOVING!!” Des hit another predator in the feet rushing in from behind them and the woman started running with him. He ran up the ramp with her in tow and punched the port’s close button, “Get us out of here, Maranda!”
The rabbit lifted as twenty of the huge predators ran under it. The woman fell to the deck holding her daughter and stared up at Desmond. “Can you understand me?” The woman only stared at him and Desmond repeated louder, “CAN YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!”
“I can understand you,” the woman said softly.
“Come with me…please.” Desmond pulled her to her feet and led her out of the landing bay toward the bridge.
• • •
Maranda heard over the monitor, “What’s happening, Maranda?!”
“I’m not sure, Sir. Des made it back on board, but I don’t know if he managed to save the woman and child; the predators were moving in at incredible speed.”
Des entered the bridge, “I’ve got them safely on board, Sir.”
“Get your ship out of there and meet us above the star!” Grady ordered.
Maranda lifted the ship making sure she stayed below the speed that would cause a sonic boom and moved into orbit. The woman sat down on the floor holding her weeping daughter and looked out of the viewport. The stars appeared, and her expression turned fearful. Des knelt beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, “You’re safe now.”
The woman shook her head, “I may be safe, but you might have just killed everyone on the planet.” Des stared at her and prayed she was wrong.
• • •
Maranda rendezvoused with the other rabbits and shook her head; she was filled with mixed emotions. Des going out to save those two was idiotic and insane. But if he had died, all her problems would be over. She wouldn’t have anyone to operate the weapons console and she would have been sent back to Melbourne. But she really didn’t want him killed. One thing was certain, if she had been forced to go out, she would have turned around instantly and saved her own life. Des was an idiot! And Col. Henricks was a bigger one for ordering them to make the effort to save them! Grady appeared on the main monitor and asked, “Can she understand our language?”
“Yes Sir, she can,” Desmond replied. Des saw the woman’s expression and turned to the monitor, “Sir, I need some time to discuss what’s going on with her.”
Grady’s eyes narrowed but Taffy interrupted and said, “Contact us when she’s ready.” The monitor went instantly dark and Maranda was surprised Taffy could overrule her husband.
She turned back to Des and he ordered, “Maranda, please raise three chairs.” Maranda pushed the controls and three chairs came up from the bridge’s deck. He helped the woman stand and then assisted her to a chair. She sat down holding the young girl in her arms. Des sat down next to her and stared at her in silence for a moment, before saying, “Do you know anything about your history?” The woman nodded. “Did your ancestors arrive at this planet on the colony ship America?” The woman flinched and stared at Des in silence. Des began speaking, “Three colony ships were launched from Earth thousands of years ago; the America, the Britannia, and the Australia. My ancestors were on the Australia. We’ve come out here searching for the colony founded by the America.”
“Why?!” the woman asked firmly.
Des hesitated and replied, “Because we finally have the technology to do it.”
“Where were you when the Fagan attacked us eighty years ago?!”
“About half-way across the galaxy from here. The three colony ships did not share with each other where they were going when they launched long ago. That was to prevent Earth from finding the others if one was found. We were searching in another place for you and it’s due to the young woman here that we’ve been able to finally find you.” The woman looked at Maranda and she nodded. The woman turned back to Des and he noticed the young girl had stopped crying and was listening to them. Des smiled and said, “My name is Desmond, you can call me Des. What is your name?”
The woman hesitated and then said, “My name is Louisa and my daughter’s name is Kendal.”
“I need you to tell us what’s happening here.”
“Why?”
“Because we want to help you.”
“Helping us will only get us killed!” Louisa replied harshly.
“Please, tell us what’s happening and if we can’t help you, we’ll leave. Will you please tell us what’s going on?” The woman stared at Des and took a deep breath before she nodded. Des turned to Maranda, “Get the others on the monitor.” The others appeared, and Des made the introductions.
Louisa stared at them and Maranda was surprised when Taffy spoke first. “Louisa, I’m sorry for your loss. Was the man you tried to protect your husband?” Louisa lowered her head and nodded. “Why did the alien kill him?”
Louisa’s tears had started again but she looked up at Taffy and said, “Anyone who can’t work, dies.”
“But why would they take you off to die. You can still work.”
“The Fagan learned early on that when they kill a spouse or children, it would cause them issues. It often led to the other workers attacking them. They also learned it was critical to kill the deceased’s family. The surviving family members would ferment rebellion if they were allowed to live. They learned how to control us over the years and they do it brutally.”
“Tell us about how all this happened, please.” Desmond asked softly.
Louisa looked at him and sighed, “We had a beautiful planet. We possessed advanced technology and were moving toward making a paradise here on America. Eighty-five years ago, a Fagan fleet showed up and did not attempt to communicate. They attacked, and our fleets destroyed them down to the last ship. They only had two-hundred warships in that initial attack but a year later, another Fagan fleet showed up with seven-hundred warships. We defeated them again, but we lost ships in the fighting. Over the next four years, a Fagan fleet would show up every six months, each larger than the previous one. Finally, they destroyed our last warship.”
“Why didn’t you flee?” Abby asked.
“And go where?” Louisa replied. There was no time to build a colony ship and we were trapped on this planet.”
“What happened
next?” Des asked.
Louisa sighed, “The victorious Fagan fleet moved in above the planet. The defenses on America’s surface opened fire at their ships but any one that fired on them died. The Fagan hit them from orbit and they didn’t miss. They then systematically fired on any people on the surface that appeared to be planning a resistance. That often led to entire cities being destroyed. Finally, it broke through to us that it was certain death to resist them. That’s when they contacted us.” Louisa paused and then continued, “They learned our language while they were pacifying the planet and they offered us a choice. We could become their slaves and raise crops that would feed them, or we could die. The choice was simple and there was no avoiding it.”
“I believe I would have chosen death,” Maranda responded.
Louisa looked at her, “Do you have any children?” Maranda shook her head. “Tell me your decision again when you do.” Louisa hugged Kendal a little tighter and then continued, “I suspect if we knew what being slaves really meant, we probably would have chosen death. They landed and put collars on every human and put us to work. We learned that resistance would get you killed; there was and is no escape from the collars. We were told that if we revolted or showed resistance to them, everyone on the planet would die.” Louisa turned to Des, “That’s why saving me could lead to the death of everyone on the planet. If the Fagan learn a ship came and removed us, they’ll kill us all.”
Grady looked at Des, “Des?”
Des turned to Maranda, “Show me the recording of the sled that took them to the clearing.”
Maranda started the recording and they saw the driver land the sled and take the collars from Louisa and her daughter. He went back to the sled and lifted it, “Freeze it there!” Des ordered. Maranda froze the recording and Desmond directed, “Enlarge the area under the sled.” Everyone looked at the area under the sled and saw smoke appear directly under the thrusters. Des turned to Grady on the monitor, “Sir, I reduced the power of the blaster to one-third. It wasn’t hotter than a wood fire and I suspect the aliens will just pass off the burned grass because of the sled’s thrusters.”
“There won’t be any bodies there,” Maranda interjected.
Abby snorted, “I don’t believe those predators would have left any.”
Grady looked at Louisa, “I don’t believe these Fagan will be able to detect our presence. I find it odd they don’t have any ships above your planet, Louisa.”
Louisa’s frown was instant, “Why would they need them. With the push of a button they can instantly kill everyone on the planet. There is no escape from their collars.” Louisa paused and said, “The only ship that comes to the planet is a freighter that picks up all the crops we’ve produced.”
“How often does it come?” Grady asked.
“About every three weeks. It should be arriving shortly.”
Grady leaned back and looked at the monitor, “Please tell me that someone did a passive scan on that sled when it dropped them off.”
Everyone was silent, and Maranda said, “Sir, I ran a scan.”
“Send it to me now!” Maranda sent the scan and Grady stared at his monitor as it came in. “Computer did the scan capture the frequency that was used to release those collars.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Are we capable of duplicating it.”
“No. Our current system doesn’t reach that high frequency.”
Taffy looked at Grady, “What are you thinking?”
“This is something for the scientists on Melbourne to work on. However, before we do anything here, we need to know what we’re up against. We must find out just how extensive this Fagan civilization is and the numbers of warships they have to use.”
“What do you intend to do, Grady?” Dunhan asked.
“We’re going to follow that freighter when it leaves here and investigate where it goes.”
“Is that a good idea, Sir?” Maranda asked.
“Computer pull up a map of the Milky Way,” Grady ordered. The map appeared, and Grady added, “Highlight the known areas where we detected those high frequency communications.” A large area on the spiral arm turned yellow and Grady nodded toward it, “Notice that the Fagans are almost directly across from Melbourne in the Sagittarius-Carina Arm. They’re closer than Earth is and represent a real danger to us. We must find out what we’re up against here.”
The three crews stared at the map and Maranda felt the first inkling of fear start to rise. Maranda thought for a moment and had an idea, “Sir, should we take Louisa and Kendal back to Melbourne?”
“No, they’ll have to stay on your ship until we complete our scouting of this civilization,” Grady replied. Des looked at Maranda and saw her fear. If she was going to command Melbourne’s forces in the future, there was no place for fear in her. She saw him looking at her, stood up, and went to the weapon’s panel where she focused on the monitor. She hated that he saw her fear. It was clear in his eyes that he did. He wasn’t the only one; Louisa saw her fear as well.
• • •
Maranda sat at the pilot’s console and stared out of the viewport; the three rabbits were holding position high above America waiting for the Fagan freighter to arrive. Maranda glanced at the monitor and nothing was showing up on it. The Fagan on the planet appeared to not detect anything out of the ordinary by the removal of Louisa and Kendal from the clearing; farming around the planet continued as usual. Maranda sensed something, and she quickly turned around. Kendal was standing behind her staring at the wall monitor. “What’s the matter; couldn’t sleep?” Kendal nodded. “So, you’re standing there watching what I’m doing?” Kendal nodded. “Come up here and stand beside me.” Kendal’s eyebrows went up and Maranda smiled, “It’s alright.” Kendal walked up and stood next to Maranda’s chair. Maranda glanced at the monitor and asked, “Do you ever talk?” Kendal nodded. “Now would be a good time to start.”
Kendal pointed at the monitor, “What are those white things?”
Maranda smiled, “Those are large pieces of debris from destroyed starships. There’s a huge field of them out from the planet.”
Kendal pointed at the optical monitor, “That is where mommy and I used to live.”
Maranda saw the image of the fields being worked and nodded, “Yes, it is.”
“Are you taking us back there?”
Maranda thought for a moment and decided that lying to this young girl was not an option, “Kendal, you know the Fagan took you out to that clearing to die, don’t you?” Kendal nodded. “If we take you back the Fagan will know we saved you and they’ll probably kill everyone.”
Kendal looked from the monitor to Maranda and nodded slightly, “So, this is our new home?”
“Until we can get you to our planet. For the moment, you will stay on this ship with us.”
Kendal looked back at the optical monitor, “Good!”
“Why do you say that?”
“This is so much better than working in the fields all day.” Maranda laughed and answered Kendal’s questions for the next few hours. At that point, Kendal said, “The large ship is coming.”
Maranda’s brow furrowed “How do you know that?”
“Because everyone in the fields are moving toward the storage building.”
Maranda looked at the optical monitor and saw Kendal was right. The humans were moving out of the field toward a large building. She pressed the communicator and said, “Attention Rex Rabbit and Roo Rabbit. The Fagan freighter is going to arrive shortly.”
Des came rushing out of the bedroom and looked at the monitor, “Nothing is on the monitor.” As he stared at it, a large red blip appeared.
He turned to Maranda with his eyebrows raised and she smiled, “You know…a woman’s intuition is better than the best scanner.”
“Come on Maranda, how did you know?”
Maranda looked at Kendal and smiled, “A little angel told me.” Kendal lowered her head into her shoulders and put her hand over her
mouth to keep from giggling.
Des shook his head and moved into the pilot’s chair. Louisa entered the bridge looking somewhat distraught and saw Kendal standing beside Maranda, “Kendal, move away and stop bothering her.”
Maranda smiled, “She’s not bothering me. I’m enjoying her company, Louisa.”
“Even so, the freighter is coming, and she shouldn’t get in your way.”
Des turned to Louisa, “How did you know the freighter is coming?”
Louisa pointed to the optical monitor, “All the people are moving out of the field toward the collection building. That means they are preparing to move the crops collected to the freighter.” Des jerked his head around to Maranda and saw her smiling at Kendal. He shook his head and turned back to the monitor.
Chapter Five
The giant freighter moved into orbit above America and large transporters flew out of the landing bay and headed toward the different farming communities on the planet’s surface. Grady sat in his chair watching the freighter on the long-range scanning monitor and exhaled softly. “That freighter is larger than the ones on Melbourne.”
“Yes, it is.” Taffy replied. The bridge was silent for a few minutes and then Taffy broke the silence, “Grady.”
“Yeah.”
“All three colonies have been put in danger from advanced alien civilizations. Is that what we have to look forward to for the rest of our lives?”
“Technically, Melbourne is threatened by Earth, not an alien species.”
“Are you suggesting this species is not a danger to Melbourne?” Grady took his eyes off the monitor and turned to Taffy. “I mean…is this how the universe works, Grady? You’re always in danger from alien attacks?”