by WADE, T I
“That must have been a forty foot leap,” added Allen Saunders.
“Still nothing on the infrared screens,” said Mars from SB-II.
“Nothing from my side,” added Saturn in SB-III’s copilot seat.
The astronauts had made a practice of not leaving their craft unattended, and each craft not at base always had a pilot ready to launch if necessary.
“No movement from up here either,” added Vitaliy. “Will be heading over the horizon in 20 minutes.”
“Well, they seem to arrive at the same time. We might get lucky and see movement toward dark,” suggested VIN.
For the rest of the day the adults sat in SB-III’s crew compartment and waited out. If they were going to see any movement toward their base, it would be later. The camera feed from the three robots, and the infrared and heat feeds from the two shuttles, would tell them if anybody passed by.
Saturn, suited up, and went over to Mars’s craft once her father had entered. She preferred to wait out the time with him instead of the old guys.
The robots were brought in two hours before sunset, and both craft readied for possible action. Vitaliy, who had the best view, saw nothing on his pass, and it was seconds after he headed over the horizon that SB-III’s heat sensors picked up two craft coming in from the east a few thousand feet below them.
“Incoming, 300 knots, 3,000 feet and about ten miles east of us,” said Jonesy excitedly into the intercom. They were using the intercom between the two shuttles and not the radio frequency used to communicate with the mother ship or base. “They will pass about ten miles to our south, and are gaining altitude. I’m computing their direction into my computers. That puts their base at least another 100 or so miles east of here, so this is a good vantage point. Power up; we are out of here in ten minutes.”
“Roger that,” replied Mars, the older men still in SB III.
It took the shuttles normally 15 to 20 minutes to be readied for launch. Luckily Jonesy had given orders a few minutes earlier to warm the thrusters. Also, the temperature outside in the sun was only ten below zero, so it was a warm afternoon out there.
Ten minutes later both shuttles took off and swooped down the side of the mountain to stay hidden at 2,000 feet above the surface.
“Bogeys 200 miles ahead of us, 500 knots at 9,000 feet. Mars, climb at 250 feet per minute and increase speed to 1,000 knots, over,” ordered Jonesy.
As they rapidly caught up the two alien craft, both the crew could see that they were heading west directly to The Martian Club Retreat. They didn’t get to within 100 miles of the alien craft before the aliens must have seen their tails, as both craft headed away in hard 90 degree turns, one north and the other south.
“Mars, you head after the one heading south, I’ll tail the other going north,” ordered Jonesy as he thrustered SB-III into a hard turn and increased rear thrusters to 90 percent.
The shuttles were fast, and seemed faster than the alien craft. The one Jonesy was following headed down to the ground like a hawk after prey. He followed, his speed already over 3,000 knots. It was still sunny and the flat surface came up to meet them very quickly. To Jonesy, this type of flying was what he lived for, and SB-III began skimming the red planet 1,000 feet above the flat surface, and at 5,000 knots. The alien craft was not getting away, and he pushed the thrusters to 100 percent. Now, looking out of the windshield to the others, the moving scenery looked like a fast computer game as they skimmed the surface faster and faster. Suddenly the alien craft angled up and went vertical.
Even with the weak Martian gravity, the crew could feel Gees on their body from the planet. None of the four craft had blue shields deployed, which would have decreased the pull on their bodies. Jonesy wondered if it was possible to fly inside the shield in such demanding conditions. The aliens weren’t.
Their spacesuits hid most of the force as Jonesy headed vertical under full power, catching the alien craft.
“Jonesy, 100,000 feet, 19,000 knots, your thrusters are about to overheat,” said VIN calmly, sitting next to him in the copilot seat.
“Reducing to 94 percent, 118,000 feet 21,000 knots. Fuel reserves please, partner?”
“Currently at quarter tanks,” replied VIN.
“We have ten minutes of chase left in us. Oh crap! He’s heading down again,” said Jonesy. “Going down, and he hit the side thrusters at full power and turned his craft as fast as he could in a 180 degree angle.”
“I’m heading over the eastern horizon; see both your positions and your prey,” said Vitaliy.
“I’ve lost mine, fuel low, heading home,” said Mars, sounding dejected.
Jonesy was not giving up just yet. “Heading down vertical 97,000 feet 24,000 knots. Crap this is fast, too fast, two seconds to pulling out,” and he pulled the stick up as a blue shield suddenly grew about 20,000 feet below him in the dark and directly in front of him on his radar screen. The darkness of night suddenly enveloped them as they dropped, and the blue shield sped off toward the east at an ever-increasing speed. Jonesy had his question about the blue shields answered.
“Lost it on radar,” said Vitaliy. “Can’t find it on heat or infrared.”
“Roger,” replied Jonesy. “It has disappeared off our screens as well. Fuel too low to give chase. Deploying my shield to also disappear. Vitaliy, try to see a trail, any trail. Heading back to base.”
Chapter 20
The Battle
The aliens didn’t visit again for six months. Jonesy gave up trying to find their base. They spent over a hundred hours of valuable fuel carefully searching the area Vitaliy was sure they had originated from.
The current production of liquid hydrogen up in America One was the main reason Ryan stopped the search.
VIN was happy. He was ecstatic about his new troops and said to everybody that the aliens would search them out when they were ready. Jonesy wasn’t happy, as there was only four months before it was the next planetary opposition cycle, and he wanted to go fishing.
The fuel was replaced over the period and reserves were taken down to the surface. All six smaller craft were complete and ready for an emergency evacuation if necessary. Ryan wasn’t taking any chances. His only problem that another dozen babies had been born in the last few months, and even the first of the NextGen were getting married.
He was happy about one thing though. Hans the German, the physicist who had headed to Earth and been dumped by Joanne Dithers, had recently married a pretty Matt girl, and he was now the proud father of twin girls. Joanne Dithers had fallen in love and married Elder Roo, though six inches shorter than she. Elder Roo, VIN’s good friend, had partaken of a few beers with him for the first time in his life a week before the alien’s next visit, upon the birth of his son. The first boy to be born on Mars.
Mars Noble and Saturn Jones had gotten engaged the night before the visit, and even though it had been expected by all, there were several thick heads when the alarms went off.
VIN was off duty and by the pool when Captain Pete’s warning came over the intercom. The captain gave the location of five spacecraft this time, flying in a line and abreast of the lookout mountain. The craft were very low and seemed to be creeping along the surface of the planet at 200 knots without shields. Also, Captain Pete said that the craft were a couple of hours early, and would arrive at the base an hour or two before sunset. That gave them enough time to don suits, and America One to complete another orbit.
VIN rushed out first a few minutes in front of Commander Joot and Elder Roo. Ryan was next, and Vitaliy and Jonesy followed a few minutes behind. VIN’s men were already in their defensive positions, and the three inside guards were closing the two doors to the base.
“Thirty minutes to arrival. 1,000 feet above the surface, incoming from the south, very slow at 180 knots,” said Captain Pete aboard America One. He and Dr. Nancy were on their umpteenth honeymoon, as Jonesy put it. They had headed up for peace and quiet a week earlier, and there were four technicians and
three scientists, including Mr. Rose aboard, who was producing the next liquid hydrogen and vintage wine for Christmas.
Fritz Warner, Allen and Jamie Saunders had just returned from the mother ship with two tons of hydrogen fuel earlier that morning, and the remnants were being transferred into the underground tanks.
“Jones crew, Saunders crew, Pitt crew, in the shuttle cockpits please, and warm up your thrusters,” said Ryan as a precaution.
“Eighteen minutes to arrival, 180 knots 500 feet above the crater lip above you, and they are spreading out,” added Captain Pete. “Three have broken off and seem to be heading north.”
“Thrusters active and warming, laser active,” said Jonesy ten minutes later.
“Two minutes to arrival. They are descending into the crater and will be approaching you from their usual position,” said Captain Pete a quarter of an hour later. “The other three alien ships seem to be circling about ten miles north of the crater.”
On cue, the two silver ships could be seen skimming the crater floor and coming in to take a look at the dozen shields in front of them.
There was a small area on the right hand side of the plateau that was not covered by the closest shields. It was about a quarter of an acre, and here supplies were offloaded and work done that didn’t need to be completed inside the shields. Here VIN’s robotic men lived and recharged themselves Ryan, Commander Joot, Elder Roo and VIN waited here hoping that one or both of the craft would land.
For an eerie minute, Ryan watched as the craft slowly edged forward. It was if the four men and the six robots were being scanned. The two ships identical to Commander Joot’s hovered at about 50 feet higher than the plateau and about 100 feet directly in front of Ryan. Ryan just stood there motionless, until he decided to point at the flat area in front of him, trying to show the craft that they had permission to land.
He could see the forward pilot, and it looked like he was dressed in a blue suit. Ryan remembered that the blue suits worn by the Matts weren’t good for space use, and he slowly walked through the wall of the closest shield, and then beckoned the visitors to park inside or outside.
Slowly, one of the two craft edged forward, as Ryan had his helmet unscrewed. Its forward area penetrated the shield and its rear thrusters stayed outside.
“Mr. Noble, Commander Joot, it seems that their suits aren’t suitable for non-atmospheric use,” said Ryan. “Somebody bring me two hand radios.”
“I was asked by the pilot if it is safe to land. They speak very different from us. I believe it is an old dialect of Matt. I asked him to land when he saw fit,” said Commander Joot through his suit’s intercom in English. He walked through the shield wall and asked VIN to remove his helmet.
VIN gave orders for the outer robots to hold their positions, they couldn’t enter the shields, and he ordered one of his robots guarding the doors to come forward. The inside soldier looked identical to the outside robots, except that his skin-looking suit surrounding his mechanics didn’t include the bulky Plutonium-powered backpack.
It seemed that telepathically speaking to the commander eased the visitor’s worry about the situation, as slowly the craft closed down its thrusters and one of the two pilots began readying to exit. There was no rush, it seemed, as Commander Joot said that there was a lot of dialogue going on among the pilots. He had heard five different voices.
“It seems that they are speaking to the other craft out there,” explained Joot to the others in English. “I believe this is not their commander. The voice with more authority is not in either of those two craft. The one which has landed has been given permission to talk to us.”
“I believe if I read the order more correctly, he is to figure us taller people out, and why our suits can be used outside the shields,” VIN added. “Joot’s helmet is now off. He is off the air. Orders to remove my helmet, Ryan?”
“Affirmative, mine is already off,” replied Ryan through his radio.
As a door beneath the craft opened under the cockpit area, Commander Joot removed VIN’s helmet, and then VIN watched, his radio at the ready. One small person squeezed out of the three-foot gap between the ground and the bottom of the ship, and hunched down, walked away from his ship. He stood up in his blue flight suit and gold-colored helmet and was no taller than Elder Roo, a few inches shorter than four feet. The rear pilot was still in his seat looking at the welcoming committee.
VIN asked Joot to relay to the visitor that it was safe to remove his helmet.
“VIN, Commander Joot, you can both talk to Elder Roo if there is a problem,” asked Ryan as the three helmetless men waited.
“There is much talking,” Commander Joot said as they waited. Slowly the visitor unhooked his helmet, the same way the Matts undid their helmets, and a very old looking Matt face looked back at the welcoming committee.
“Our Ruler is happy that you have used our ways of travel so well,” said the visitor with a different Matt accent than Ryan and VIN had been taught.
“Welcome to our home,” replied Ryan in Matt.
“Why are two of you so tall and so pale?” asked the old man.
“We are modern people from Earth,” and Ryan pointed at the object that was Earth above them in the black sky.
“These Tall People saved us from extinction on many planets,” added Commander Joot. “We have much to thank them for.” The visitor thought for a while then replied.
“Why have you moved to our planet? We have lived here for many generations and don’t like visitors. You must leave, tall white people. Our pure people only can stay. My Ruler has given me orders to make you leave or we will destroy your base.”
“But we come in peace,” said Ryan.
“We do not,” was the simple reply.
“And if we choose to stay here?” VIN asked.
“We have watched your modern people on Earth. You are not a happy people like our people we sent down to Earth many years ago.”
“We are from your tribe here on Mars?” asked Commander Joot, quite surprised.
“Of course you are. We needed to induce new blood and increase our population, but this planet doesn’t allow us to. So we sent ten of our finest people down to a green place on Earth. They didn’t survive, so we sent another ten. Your tribe commander, forefathers and mothers managed to survive, the tenth time we tried, and we then harvested your people as they populated the area.”
“What did you use them for?” Commander Joot asked. His face had gone pale and he was learning something his ancestors didn’t know.
“Simple, for breeding and for eating.”
“Why eating?” Joot asked in a whisper.
“We have always disposed of our old, sick and dying by eating them. Nothing must be wasted up here on the Red Planet. So we have developed a taste for eating. Even my body will be eaten when I die. It started many generations ago with one Ruler, long before you were transferred to the Blue Planet. Since then, our Rulers pick a young perfect person ten times in his lifetime for eating. It is his right, and we must produce the young people for the Ruler. That is why we populated the Blue Planet. Those people that already lived there didn’t taste correct. We have tried all the types of the two legged and four legged people from that planet. Only our type tastes perfect. We don’t even like to eat these tall white people. They taste very bad.”
“I hope so,” remarked VIN, disgusted.
“My Ruler will give you time to leave this planet, one time your blue planet gets close and then goes away. Until then, you need to give us four young pure people for our Ruler over that time, and four of your pure females for breeding. That is how we have always communicated with you. Today I will take two of each with me.”
“And if we don’t allow you to take our friends?” Ryan asked calmly.
“Then what we gave our people, the blue protections, the power systems, and everything you learned from us will be taken away from you. You and your base will slowly die, and your people will beg us to take them a
way from here. Now give me what I ask for and we will leave you alone.”
“We have our own spacecraft,” declared Ryan, pointing at his six craft. “We have our own power systems.”
“We are not interested in your weak spacecraft, or dangerous power systems. We are not interested in you, apart for leaving us in peace,” the small Matt replied. “We are only talking to our own people, and we take what is rightfully ours.”
“I don’t think so,” replied Ryan. Without a word, the Matt replaced his helmet, turned and walked back to his ship.
“Helmets on quickly,” ordered VIN. Something was tickling the hairs on his back. They scrambled to replace their helmets as the Matt walked slowly to his spacecraft, and the door to the Matt craft closed. The craft backed off through the blue shield and immediately it was outside; a bright red beam of light projected from the front of the second ship and the black box encased with a metal surface, and the ground thirty feet away from Ryan exploded with such ferocity that it blew the four men to the ground.
They had managed to screw on their helmets with seconds to spare as the shield disappeared around the fallen men, and the atmosphere inside turned into billions of bubbles escaping in all directions.
Jonesy was already leaving the third shield seventy feet away as a second bright red blast disintegrated the second shield. The other two shuttles rocked inside the explosion which halted their takeoffs.
“VIN, command your men, shoot down that alien craft before it destroys all our farms,” shouted Ryan weakly over the intercom, trying to get up.
“All robots, the visitors are destroying our shields, shoot before they deploy their shields,” shouted VIN as he went unconscious. Ryan had given the order, and now it seemed like warfare. All six of VIN’s robots fired at the second spacecraft, which seemed to hover for a moment unscathed as its outside skin sparkled like a diamond, then it simply crashed to the ground ten feet below it.
The first Matt craft turned and destroyed the third shield. Jonesy was only twenty or so feet above the exploding shield when Maggie fired the ship’s laser, and the Matt craft blew up as if it was filled with TNT. Again the explosion felled Ryan, who had just gained his feet, to the ground and lifted up SB-III like a leaf in the wind.