by KJ Sheerin
‘Why, what’s so different at Tace?’ their new comrades asked.
‘It’s a hell hole with only sub-primates below! The Lizards keep trying to colonise it and I say let them have it,’ a newcomer replied.
Kyla watched Colin from her table as the next deployment was announced. He looked over also and gave her a knowing smile and then looking around further saw the newcomers talking animatedly. He became alarmed and went to see what the trouble was.
‘Any problems?’ he asked, noting the look of concern on the newcomers’ faces, but was greeted with silence.
‘I take it you’ve been there before?’ he asked the fighter closest to him.
‘Been there, took it and held it aboard the Retribution. We lost over a third of our men doing it.’
A hush fell over the mess and all eyes followed them as they spoke.
‘Then I can see why you might be apprehensive about going back in. The Redemption and Retribution are the same class ships and I dare say we would have much the same crews aboard. The only difference would be the method of engagement we employ, which I’ve personally brought you up to speed on. If you fellows can hold it together and follow those instructions to a tee, then perhaps we can atone for some of our fellow Legionnaires lost there.’
Colin looked about at the intensity of the faces in the mess and punched his fist into the air, ‘WHAT SAY YOU FELLOWS!’
A deafening roar filled the mess from both fighters and pilots as they stood to cheer.
The noise settled and Colin put a hand on the fighter’s shoulder, ‘See me later and we’ll have a beer,’ he said, and walked off.
Kyla watched him as he left the mess.
Later that night Colin was back in the mess to mix with the crews and keep an eye on the pulse. He stopped to watch a couple of minutes of the movie. It was one of The Lone Wolf series from Japan, and held a number of pilots entranced.
Someone approached him. It was the newcomer he had spoken with earlier.
‘Sorry about the outburst before,’ the newcomer said.
‘Don’t worry—it’s perfectly natural when you consider the pressure we’re under. You should be in my shoes for a while. The Lizards actually shot my fighter down above Verdi and put a rocket into our craft. Then on Almeta, a Legion Bastion, they blew my room to smithereens.’
‘Yes, I heard about it, and no thanks.’
‘The thing is, by using concentrated fire we can down the cream of their craft before we ever get to tangle with them, although they’re trying a lot of new stuff in order to get past us these days.’
‘I’ll certainly do my best—by the way, the name is Jim, Juliet Three.’
‘And mine’s Colin,’ he said, and raised his drink, ‘to victory.’
Jim drank the toast and departed just as Kyla approached.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ she said, ‘that harvest is going to need a lot of practice.’
‘Oh?’ Colin said, surprised. She left the mess, leaving him to watch a bit more of the movie and to finish his beer before following her.
The next morning they woke to the sound of the launch sirens as they wailed. Pee Wee had already departed and was closed up with the Karen in defence of the Carrier. Colin dressed quickly as those around him hunted for their coveralls and footwear—nursing headaches as they stumbled, hopped and then bolted down the corridors and up to the hangars.
He spoke with Battle Command while waiting for the green light, ‘What have we got?’
‘It looks pretty normal. They’re coming through all four quadrants.’
The light changed and they went out and under to await the rest of the squadron. He gave the order to load proximity as Kyla led them away. ‘One combined salvo and then two from each wing. Stagger formations.’
Colin waited until the target was clear before he gave the order to fire. Then he selected two of the enemy craft and called in the co-ordinates, before targeting another. Nine of the enemy exploded in a short burst of flame to disappear into the vacuum moments later. The remaining Lizards split into two groups—one chasing the Red Leader, while the other made a bee-line for the drone. So far Alpha Squadron was still intact as Kyla led the Lizards on a merry chase. Colin did a quick assessment of the situation and revised his tactics.
‘Charlie Wing go high and help us out, Bravo, you chase the other bogeys. Ben, take Alpha Wing back to the Lizard Carrier. Don’t get too close just stagger and test their defences, and watch it, their Carrier should call this mob home.’
Charlie Wing went high and came down to strafe the Lizards who chased Kyla, whereas Bravo split—Red going high to strafe, while Green used rockets to decimate the Lizards who had targeted the drone.
Ben approached the Lizard Carrier and flew along the perimeter as their defences opened up. Others of the wing probed higher and lower, while Ben got braver and entered into their space. More Legion craft appeared from other quadrants, causing an immediate recall of the remaining Lizard fighters, who were chased all the way home. The Legion fighters had a parting shot as they rejoined their Carrier moments before it disappeared—and then returned to their own victorious.
The fighters spilled from their craft on landing, Juliet Three amongst them. He wore a look of surprise at the difference in fighting styles and cast an eye over the unbroken line of fighters now secured to the hangar deck.
When Alpha One landed Colin walked over to him, ‘So how did you go?’ he asked.
‘A walk in the park,’ Jim replied, a smile etched across his face.
The P.A. came alive with the call for all One Red Weapon Officers to report to Battle Command and they ran to obey.
‘Come in, Gentlemen,’ the Colonel said, and waited until they were before him.
‘Not a bad first up effort. You certainly put the wind up them by attacking their Carrier like that, although with a little more aggressiveness you might have downed it and got a few more fighters.’
‘No way,’ Colin replied, ‘as you say, they’re spooked. They would have jumped long before then.’
‘It still would have left a few fighters to mop up,’ the Colonel insisted.
‘We got most of them and with the minimum of casualties to ourselves,’ Colin said, defensively.
The Colonel read from a clipboard, ‘Golf lost one and Delta has one down disabled. Not bad figures. You’re all to be commended. Now all we have to do is hold on to it. Well done Gentlemen, you may go.’
Colin hesitated a moment, ‘What, no drink?’ he asked.
The Colonel stared at him for a second before turning to the Admiral. ‘What did I tell you? He’s become addicted to the stuff.’ He went to the locker and took the bottle and glasses from it and then poured a little for each.
‘You were toying with them out there today, weren’t you?’
‘Well it certainly wasn’t the busiest day at the office,’ Colin confirmed.
‘Aha! I thought so,’ then turning to Captain Jorgen the Colonel said, ‘he’s enjoying himself way too much.’
‘Tell me, who was it that downed the bounty hunter on Almeta?’ Colin asked.
‘That would be yours truly and my trusted pilot,’ the Colonel said, ‘we were the only crew left onboard, and I must say it felt good—just like the old days.’
‘I thought as much,’ Colin said, grinning, ‘but wasn’t there a Carrier on guard above us?’
‘There was, but I’m afraid the Lizard’s actions made it quite personal.’
Colin nodded his understanding, ‘Well I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.’ He turned and saluted the Admiral and then waved an arm at the others before departing.
Most of the crews went to the gymnasium after lunch in order to work off some of the tension. By the time they hit the mess that night the atmosphere was more subdued, although the hostesses were just as much in demand along with Sami, as he added Tace to the Redemption honour rolls. Once again the battle was inked onto the newcomers’ bodies and while the old battles repres
ented sorrow and hardship, the new one was spoken of with pride.
The outcome came within the parameters of what the crew expected these days. The newcomers sensed it and were amazed. Both groups understood the calls that were made, especially the one to send the fighters back to harass the enemy Carrier. It was done purely because they could and to cause a recall of the remaining Lizards. The tactic was a popular talking point, viewed favourably for not sending the Legion’s Wings closer to the deadly automatic fire of the enemy’s gun batteries, merely to harass them instead.
The Redemption successfully defended the space above Tace twice more, although they seemed half-hearted attempts by the Lizards. They appeared to be running out of battle plans and the crews they sent in were much younger and inexperienced, which didn’t help.
After the last battle the Colonel spoke to the Alpha One crew in the Command Centre. ‘We’ve still got a week to go before rotation, but somehow I don’t think they’ll bother us again, not after the dismal performance they just put in.’
He sat and contemplated the problem a moment longer before saying, ‘No, I think it’s more likely that they will try to get you both on the ground again.’
Kyla looked at Colin worriedly.
‘So what would you have us do?’ Colin asked.
‘Well the best thing would be for both of you to stay aboard.’
‘That would make the ship our prison and they will have won.’
‘I knew you’d say that. The other option is to arm you and give you communicators so we can monitor the situation, but as you saw on Almeta, they could just blow the place and be done with it. Although we can have the Prathkos guard your room for you.’
‘It does seem a little excessive. How about we think about it and get back to you?’
‘Where is the next leave to be spent?’ Kyla asked.
‘On Linus—it’s the closest recreational facility.’
‘Will there be other Legion Carriers there as well?’ Colin asked.
‘Most certainly—it is a Legion Complex after all.’
‘You know, given the parameters we’ve just discussed, it shouldn’t be too hard to organise at least some leave. I don’t know about Kyla, but I firmly believe in compromise where possible.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Leave is still a week away, so you can have the Prathkos on Linus monitor all newcomers. If you wanted to, you could set up a decoy to ferret out any bounty hunters. I don’t mind sacrificing the first week of leave and then hopefully we could get to see a bit of the facility in the second week. We could even beam over to another ship in case the endpoint was being watched.’
The Colonel switched his gaze to Kyla, ‘How about you, honey, would you be prepared to do that? It would mean having to stay here and put up with his ugly face for a week.’
Kyla nodded her agreement.
‘Good, that’s settled then,’ the Colonel said, and watched as the Alpha crew departed.
Then turning to the Admiral he said, ‘Do you know, if that fellow doesn’t get shot down he’s going to end up here in Battle Command.’
‘No doubt—he’ll probably drink as much as you, as well,’ the Admiral confirmed.
‘What do you mean? It’s just that I’ve got a lot to celebrate, that’s all,’ the Colonel replied, defensively.
Once out in the corridor, Colin turned to Kyla.
‘How do you feel about it?’
‘What, being cooped up with you?’ she beamed, ‘and with the whole ship to ourselves?’
The Harvest
In the days before leave was due Kyla visited the medical centre to get advice about securing DNA from them both. The staff on duty was sympathetic to her situation and supported the reasons behind the decision whole-heartedly. They informed her that although there would only be a skeleton crew on duty over the leave period, those left would be more than qualified to carry out the procedure, so she made an appointment for the next week.
When the Redemption was finally relieved from its deployment above Tace, it sped through hyperspace to arrive at Linus and tether above the Resort Complex along with the other Legion Carriers already there. The crew spent extra time bathing and dressing before leave, their quarters awash with the smell of deodorants and aftershave. Brochures had been distributed the night before and the crews were still poring over them at breakfast time. Barry, Jimmy and Pee Wee were in a huddle trying to decide on which theme to rock with, while Tiddles and Dave were content to abide by their friends’ choice.
Eric watched as Kyla sat with the pilots and leafed through the options. He and the other Red Leaders were well aware of the security situation with the Alpha team and would be on the alert for anything suspicious over the leave period.
‘Where will you be, Eric?’ she asked.
‘Hopefully the Blue Moon—I hear it’s tremendously popular. If not, we’ll try the Saturn Club. Will you be going down at all?’
‘Maybe in the second week, we’ll see.’
‘I think it’s a disgrace.’
‘It’s just a glitch and they’re working on it. After all, it is war.’
‘The problem won’t go away—you know that. The fact that you’re a female pilot makes you stand out wherever you go,’ Eric persisted.
‘That’s what makes it so bearable—that I’m a woman and so madly in love. The fact that this is happening only validates our efforts to date. It’s a wonder they don’t target other Red Leaders as well.’
‘Point taken—I’ll let Olaf sign for the room and warn Tiddles to do the same.’
Kyla waved to her friends as they went to draw credits from the paymaster and beam down. Others followed them and the mess slowly emptied until there was only her and Colin left.
‘Which facility are the boys heading for?’ she asked.
‘The Venus of course, was there any doubt?’
She laughed, ‘I suppose not, if Pee Wee had any say in it.’
They kissed and gazed into each other’s eyes as the emptiness of the mess enveloped them, before walking around familiar parts of the Carrier that were now eerily deserted. Colin gave Kyla a guided tour of the fighters’ quarters and pointed out where he and the boys bunked, along with the amenities. While there, he took a change of clothes as well as gym gear from his locker and put them into a small bag. Afterwards they went to Kyla’s cabin, where he deposited it before both lay on her bunk—content to rest in each other’s arms.
She woke him ten minutes before lunchtime and they freshened up before going to eat. Sami was there to greet and serve them as usual.
‘You’re not going ashore, Sami?’ Colin asked.
‘No, I swapped with the duty cook. I have no desire to squander my hard-earned credits in the casinos below.’
‘I take it you’re talking from experience.’
Sami laughed and confessed, ‘Yes. I was seduced by the bright lights, wine and women on my first few trips—and ended up broke.’
The Alpha crew took their meal and sat well away from the servery so they could talk more privately while they ate.
‘What are your plans for tomorrow?’ Kyla asked.
‘You’re the social secretary, you tell me.’
‘Well don’t factor anything in for 1000 hours.’
‘Why, what’s on?’
‘I’ve arranged for the medical crew here to do the harvest,’ she said, smiling.
Colin nearly choked on the food he was eating and Kyla looked on concerned.
‘It’s all right, isn’t it?’ she asked.
‘Perfectly—it’s just that you surprised me, that’s all. Tell me, how is it to be done?’
‘In order to create a direct lineage from us both, there is only one way—that is to harvest my eggs and then fertilise them using your DNA.’
Colin looked up, alarmed, ‘You’re still going to help with that, aren’t you?’
‘Of course,’ she said, laughing.
After lunch they went back to the ca
bin to change into their gym gear, however their clothes came off much easier than on again and it was another two hours before they finally made it to the gym, not that it mattered. After dinner that night they turned in early.
The next morning was one of great importance for Kyla and she couldn’t contain her excitement. To Colin though, it was all new. He was used to the way things were done on Earth—that was ‘the normal’ way, and usually quite unexpected when it occurred. However he understood the Zylon logic behind the move and was honoured to be selected as Kyla’s mate and possible father to her offspring.
At the breakfast table she positively bubbled over.
‘After this you’ll have to change your N.O.K form and direct any credits due towards the upbringing of our offspring,’ she informed him.
Colin hadn’t really thought about it, but it seemed logical—if it came to pass it would mean he was dead anyway and it wouldn’t matter. Kyla would be doing the same, and it would be better to use the credits to raise their offspring than have it sent back to a sleeping earth. He nodded his consent, ‘Was there anything else?’
‘Not really,’ she replied, ‘but I will hold you to a firmer commitment.’
‘Have you a timeline for that also?’
‘Ordinarily there would be a sequenced time factor for each step of the courtship including the engagement and marriage, but ours is not an ordinary alliance. Our life expectancy is very short. If we survive this hitch, there will be others and all at Alpha level. We have to pack as much into our lives as possible while making provision for when we’re not here. What I’m saying is, maybe it would be more prudent to make it sooner than later—especially in light of today’s event. It would be much better if our children could hold their head up and call you a parent also, instead of a donor—don’t you think?’
‘What about making it the next time we’re back on Almeta?’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘I was just thinking of the cruise we were on. Do you know that the Captain of a ship has the power to marry people?’
‘But we might not be back there for years.’