Stars Fell on Alabama

by M. Alan Marr

  Dev and Chaz approach the ladder-stairs to the fighter assigned to him. The ground crewman come to attention as he and Chaz descend the short ladder from the catwalk. Chaz puts his hand on the nose of the fighter and wishes he could go along.

  Dev turns to Chaz. “The Fourth Leftenant will take you back up to the Quarterdeck, Chaz.”

  “I’ll be there,” Chaz says supportively. “You be careful.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve done this a—”

  The alert sounds a fraction of a second before a massive vibration is followed by a huge explosion somewhere above, downing everyone on the deck. Damaged metal and debris rain down on the catwalk just a few feet away. The ship’s structure audibly strains, and the deck heaves. Atmospheric integrity is being lost somewhere, and klaxons wail. A rush of air fogs in an ongoing decompression, and the temperature begins to plummet. The tossed personnel scramble to pick themselves up from deck. Weapons stores spill over and the Adonis shudders. Almost immediately after that, another series of explosions are heard in the aft sections of the ship, and a fire breaks out on the deck, the flames burning up oxygen as quickly as the decompression. Dev yells for Chaz in the confusion and sees him tending to the clearly dead Fourth Lieutenant, who was struck with debris at the top of the catwalk stairs. Dev grabs Chaz and hauls him around by his shoulders and pushes him around toward the fighter. “Get in the ship! Get in the ship!”

  Chaz scrambles to climb into the fighter, while Dev yanks the power cable out of its receptacle. One of the fighter crewmen reappears, bloodied and injured to assist. Dev tosses the cable aside and shouts to the crewman, “Get to safety!”

  Chaz instinctively starts strapping into the right seat as Dev jumps in and rapidly initiates engine start. The fighter pad begins rotating to launch position before the engines even power up and the canopies fully close. More explosions rip through Adonis.

  Dev yells, “Are you in?”

  “I’m in!” Chaz yells back. There is an explosion behind them. Chaz turns around and sees a fiery hurricane sweeping through the deck. Dev is simultaneously wrestling into his harness while activating various systems as the engines reach idle power. The pad rotates through ninety degrees, and it is just empty airlock ahead. The pad strains and jerks to a stop, and the airlock lights go out. Dev and Chaz both pause for a quick second.

  Chaz looks around. “What happened?”

  “Outer doors didn’t open.” Dev exclaims. Another heavy jolt is felt from somewhere in Adonis. The dark airlock shudders, and they hear a muffled explosion behind the airlock. Dev quickly cues up the launch pad graphic on the screen. The display screen indicates the interior airlock is sealed, but the pad is stuck just a few degrees off center launch position. The exterior doors graphics are flashing INOPERATIVE. “Airlock’s jammed. We have to get out there. I’m blowing the doors.” Dev quickly arms the emergency system and fires explosive bolts on the airlock. The outer doors suddenly explode out toward Lyra. Chaz’s field of vision goes from black launch bay to vivid alien world. They are so close to the planet, the ejected launch doors immediately start burning up in the Lyran atmosphere. Dev jams the throttles open, and the fighter blasts forward out of the bay. Dev instantly maneuvers around to engage the enemy, scraping the uppermost reaches of the atmosphere along the way.

  Adonis is in a slight downward yaw, burning in space with large-scale impact damage along her hull. Five gleaming silver metallic ships swarm the area. “Yeti!” Dev yells and maneuvers swiftly to put one of the enemy in his sights. He fires his energy weapons at the nearest enemy target, blasting apart the Yeti’s upper fuselage and sending the ship spiraling out of control toward Lyra.

  A harried voice says over the radio, “Fire at will. Fire at will. Brigands heading toward the surface.”

  “What’s a Brigand?” Chaz yells.

  “That!” Dev shouts at the silver Yeti ship dead ahead.

  The firefight continues unabated. There are so many gravity fields being generated by the close proximity of all the Yeti, the ride is very rough. The enemy ships are larger than the Tertian fighters and are well armed and very sturdy. The Brigands fire a type of unruly energy weapon. Chaz sees the strange weapon strike Adonis, ripping at the hull plating and dancing over the metal like angry lightning. Dev fires. A direct shot, but causing little damage. The next shot breaks the Brigand apart. The next causes it to explode.

  “Keep an eye out for the Yeti mothership!”

  “What’s it look like?”

  “Seriously?” Dev says, then advances the throttles, leaving a momentary spectral trail behind. He chases down another Brigand, heading in for a strafing run on the Adonis. To Chaz’s astonishment, the Yeti abruptly pulls up at an impossible angle.

  “Whoa!”

  “Hang on!” Dev pulls up hard and has to maneuver to match course of the Brigand. He fires a few shots. Only one volley finds its target, but alters the Brigand’s course just enough for Dev to roll over and get him. The next shots destroy the Brigand completely, having struck its engine and fuel supply. The other Tertian fighters are on the job and taking out the Brigands one by one. Two Brigands converge and concentrate their fire on one of the Adonis fighters, destroying it in a blinding salvo.

  The computer in Dev’s ship signals, “Command lead destroyed. Command instated.”

  “What does that mean!” Chaz yells.

  “It means I’m in command!” Dev keys the communications switch on the control stick. “Adonis, Adonis, Dev Fighter Lead.”

  There is some delay, and then a scratchy signal comes through. “Dev Fighter Lead, Adonis…”

  “Adonis—what is your condition?”

  The next reply is scratchy and garbled. “Fighter Lead . . . mult . . .ventral impact . . . sust . . . heavy dam . . . init . . . evac . . . protocol . . .”

  “Are they abandoning ship?” Chaz yells.

  “Maybe,” Dev says, making a turn to lay chase to another Brigand.

  He should have waited to call Adonis, because now he’s engaged in the fight and Adonis is running down a laundry list of problems over broken comms.

  “Damage to Gun Deck . . . Decompression deck fi . . . four, and . . .”

  A female pilot sees another group of Yeti heading towards Lyra. “Fighter lead, fighter lead,” Brigands heading for the surface.”

  Dev looks out to his left and sees the two Yeti in question. “Fighter Lead, aye, stay on them.”

  “. . . Propulsion Deck . . . Fire . . . Weather De—” then increased static until the com line fails and falls silent.

  Chaz notices a glint of silver out his window. He looks and sees a Yeti ship headed right toward them. “Two o’clock!” he shouts. Dev banks hard to the right and enters into another series of maneuvers to chase down the enemy ship. Dev fires his weapons, but the Brigand breaks off in an instantaneous ninety-degree turn toward Lyra and then dives just as steeply downward into the atmosphere.

  “Did he just make a right-angle turn?”

  “Yes. Hang on!” Dev rolls the fighter over and follows, entering the atmosphere much faster and steeper than normal. The engines begin straining. The fighter shakes in the turbulence. Flames course over the canopy. The engine readouts are in the yellow and rising. The Brigand ahead is flying very erratically, darting left and right, trying to evade Dev’s pursuit. Heavy turbulence from the atmosphere and the wake turbulence from the Brigand aggressively shakes the fighter, forcing Dev to keep both hands firmly on the controls. The Brigand’s atmospheric turns are not as abrupt as in space, but still difficult for Dev to match. The Brigand’s speed is so erratic, Dev’s throttle hand is as busy as his flight control hand. Dev uses a thumb switch on the control stick to switch from energy weapons to projectile guns and fires several short bursts at the Yeti. It takes more hits to do damage, but a few find their target, causing the Brigand’s dive to become even more unpredictable and even more turbulent. The damaged Brigand trails smoke from the damage, making even visual tracking that much harder
.

  “Damn, he’s all over the place!” Dev yells as alarms begin sounding in the fighter cockpit. The engine readings are now well into the red zone as the engines overheat. Turbulence wildly shakes the ship as Dev works hard to match the erratic maneuvers of the Brigand. “Chaz, I can’t take my hands off the controls! I need you to open up the engine vents!” Dev fires again and jockeys the throttles.

  “The what?”

  “Atmospheric Engine Vents—below the throttles,” Dev yells, yanking the ship left into a series of barrel rolls, while modulating the throttles and keeping his eyes locked on the Yeti ahead. “Four switches, all flashing red!”

  “I see them!”

  As Dev’s engine power drops off again, the Yeti abruptly turns right and starts accelerating away from the fighter. Dev yanks the ship to the right. “Switch them now!”

  Chaz fights the turbulence and mashes down the four toggles, opening the fore and aft engine vents around each engine pod. The toggle switches change from red to green as the vents open. The engines surge, and the readouts turn from red to yellow and then to green as internal engine temperatures normalize and power up. The reconfigured engines allow Dev to open up the throttles and quickly close the distance with the Yeti. Dev flips a small cover on the control stick, arming a missile, which locks on almost instantly. Dev fires the missile at almost point-blank range, obliterating the Brigand. The fighter flies through the explosion and is pelted with fiery debris. They hear and feel chunks of the Yeti ship striking the fighter. Electricity arcs across the fighter’s fuselage from the highly charged debris.

  “Splashdown!” Chaz yells.

  “That was a bit close,” Dev says. He levels off from the dive, adds power, and climbs, but remains below orbit. Chaz looks up and sees another Tertian fighter chasing a Yeti high above them just at the outer edge of the atmosphere.

  “Hey, look up there,” Chaz says, looking straight up.

  Dev looks up and sees the traffic, and he powers back on the throttles to extend the relative spacing of the Tertian fighter and Brigand above, letting them pass slightly.

  “Shouldn’t we go back up?” Chaz says, wondering why Dev is loitering.

  “Not that simple,” Dev replies, while watching the action above him. Instinctively, Dev switches his weapons select to projectile guns and waits. The Tertian fighter above fires on the Brigand, which dives straight down, plunging into the atmosphere directly ahead of Dev’s ship, buffeting it as it passes. Dev rolls his ship over and dives after the Brigand, firing the projectile guns. The Brigand makes a near instantaneous course change from the dive to level flight and attempts to flee on the horizontal. Dev levels out, but dips well below the Brigand. Undeterred, Dev climbs, re-selects energy weapons, and fires from below. The direct hit destroys the Brigand, sending its wreckage crashing down toward the Lyran surface. Suddenly, all seems calm. As quickly as it started, it is over. Dev looks around, as does Chaz. Dev also checks the detection grid in the center display.

  “I think that was the last,” Dev says, looking at the detection grid. There is nothing in the search radius, above or below. The uneasy calm is inconsistent with the heightened adrenaline pumping through Chaz’s body. Still in full combat mode, Chaz methodically scans the horizon and sky above and below with his eyes. He looks at the detection grid, trying to understand its display and compare it with what he sees.

  Dev looks around at Chaz. “It’s over.” He takes a breath and then banks left and adjusts course toward the settlement. It is easy to locate, just follow the line of thick gray smoke rising into the sky. Two Adonis fighters in the atmosphere join in formation with Dev. He keys the communications line. “This is Fighter Lead Dev. Report.”

  “Flight Leader,” a female voice replies. “Flight Leftenant Dela Quick, sir. Nine Brigands engaged Adonis. We chased two into the atmosphere, and we found another strafing the primary settlement and production complex. All destroyed by fighter craft.”

  “Thank you, Quick,” Dev says. “What are our losses?”

  “Sir, one Crown fighter lost. Four plus one remain.”

  “Damage to the settlement?”

  “Heavy damage, sir.”

  “Damn. Two of you rig for orbital ops and watch for stragglers. Adonis was implementing evac protocol, so be on the lookout for them. They may need detailed scans for damage assessment. Assist as needed. The other two go on high guard and patrol the system. I’m going to head to surface.”

  “Understood, Flight Lead.” The fighters leave Dev’s wing and climb away. Dev starts a descent toward the city.

  Chaz looks at Dev. “Four plus one?”

  “We’re the plus one. Four fighters, plus one lead ship.” Dev switches communication channels. “Lyra station, Lyra station, Flight Commander, Air Defense.”

  They hear static. As the fighter approaches the settlement, Dev powers way back to slowly assess the damage. Dev repeats. “Lyra station, Lyra station, Flight Commander, Air Defense.”

  The static continues. Then a break . . . and a weary voice. “This, this is Lyra station. We need help.”

  “Help is on the way.” Dev keys another switch. “Adonis, Adonis, Fighter Lead Dev . . . Adonis, Adonis, Fighter Lead Dev . . .”

  Chaz watches Dev’s sullen expression. “Adonis, what is your condition?” No response. “Adonis, what is your condition?” No response.

  “What do we do now?” Chaz says cautiously.

  Dev takes a deep breath and looks at Chaz and answers in a single word: “Triage.”

  Dev’s fighter overflies the massive line of destruction that begins at the Lyran military garrison and leads through the city all the way to the ruined production facility. As they overfly the burning and destroyed industrial complex, Dev spots a crashed but largely intact Brigand inside the complex itself. Dev sets down in a field outside the facility perimeter wall and quickly shuts down. The canopies open, and both Dev and Chaz cautiously climb out of the fighter, Dev with his weapon already drawn. Chaz looks around, aware of the danger, but also intrigued by the notion of being on another planet. An acrid burning smell pervades the air. Sirens wail in the distance. Dev, keenly aware of the danger, climbs down off the ship and accesses an external panel and pulls a second weapons holster from the hold and hands it to Chaz. Dev also pulls two communications ear-sets and puts one in his right ear. Chaz clicks his holster in place on his uniform belt and quickly draws the weapon.

  Dev hands the other com device to Chaz. “Put this in your ear.”

  Chaz does so quickly, never lowering his guard. “Check-check,” he says quietly. Dev nods.

  “Okay.” Dev shows him the profile of his weapon. “Pull the aft end of the barrel back to arm the weapon. Two modes of fire: the trigger will fire pulse volleys. Below the trigger there’s a button. Holding the button in then pulling the trigger will fire a beam shot. Both are lethal.”

  Chaz arms his weapon. He holds the weapon combat ready and follows Dev toward the wall. “Which one should I use?”

  “Pulse shots are good for combat,” Dev says, tactically looking around. “Beam shots are good for accuracy . . . and Bears. It pumps a lot of energy into the target. Better for long-distance shots. Downside is it gives away your position.” Dev adds, “If you’re not used to two-finger firing, stick with pulse volleys.”

  Chaz runs alongside Dev toward the factory perimeter wall. They cross a shallow drainage canal and alight against the wall near a broken, gaping hole.

  “Isn’t there a stun setting?” Chaz says, slightly out of breath.

  “Stun?” Dev says as he cautiously peers through the break in the wall. “The point of a gun is to kill something. So don’t fire at anything you don’t intend to terminate, blow up, or atomize.”

  “Got it.”

  A new and different klaxon begins wailing in long, repeated blasts throughout the complex. Next sound is the rumbling of a booster engine powering up. Chaz feels the ground tremble all around him, and part of the broken area of th
e wall even crumbles further. He looks upward and sees the vapor trail of what looks like a conventional rocket launching from the factory.

  “What the hell?”

  “It’s the reactor from the complex.” Dev touches the com-set in his ear. “All airborne units be alert, we have a loose reactor on escape trajectory. Repeat, loose reactor on ascent.”

  “What’s happening?”

  “Don’t look at it,” Dev cautions. “When a fusion reactor reaches critical mass, it launches itself into space.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  Dev renders the obvious, “Sometimes they don’t make it. Best not to be looking at it when it explodes.”

  The exhilaration and danger makes Chaz smile. “Always something.”

  “Come on.”

  Cautiously, and in team fashion, Dev and Chaz round the wall by the gap and point their weapons downfield as they check the area. Their position now affords a direct view of the crashed Brigand wedged headfirst into the ground, dirt and debris covering most of the silver hull. The noise from the escape rocket’s booster engine fades away. No explosion, so it must have made it out. There is now a surreal silence to the complex. Reactor, Chaz thinks, the complex has no power. No alarms now. Nothing but eerie silence, except for the sounds of burning flame.

  Chaz motions toward the downed ship and whispers, “That’s not one of yours, is it?”

  “Nope.”

  “Enemies at the gate. Damn.”

  “I know, right? Be on your guard.”

  They hear a strange, bloodcurdling roar ahead, immediately followed by the horrified screams from Human survivors from several directions; the screams of people in hiding.

  “Yeti,” Dev declares, and then takes off on foot in the direction of the roar. Chaz hurries after him. They run around a corner, where they see a large dirty-white Yeti grabbing a civilian worker of the plant right off his feet. Dev fires his weapon in the air. The thunderous blast of the gun jerks the head of the Yeti toward him, though it maintains a death grip on the Lyran’s neck. The Yeti roars again, triggering more screams from people in the burning building.