by WADE, T I
Within three hours of the sun coming up over the horizon, Mars Noble and Commander Roo suited up and closed down the two shields, allowing the atmosphere to escape, which rocked all seven craft inside them. They strapped the black boxes together with their independent Plutonium-238 batteries onto metal catches on the outer skin of Astermine I and then Astermine II. In the meantime SB-I and then SB-II launched, their weight at maximum and their thrusters wrecking any vegetation that was not yet destroyed by the lack of atmosphere. There was no going back.
“There is a storm. You were right, Mars,” said Pluto Jane over the radio in command of SB-I as she rose out of the weak Martian atmosphere. “There is a pink cloud about 100 miles west of the base, it’s not very big but it does have an eye, a real big one. You have about 20 minutes. Dust clouds go up to 10,000 feet. We are passing through 15,000 feet, over.”
“Copy that,” replied Mars, heading with Commander Roo to the Matt craft. Their six passengers were already inside, and all they had to do was to get in, start launch procedures and take off. Astermine I lifted off as they reached the craft, and Astermine II a minute later. Asterspace Three followed the others, and SB-III had to wait until last, as her thrusters could damage the Matt craft.
“We are aboard,” said Mars over his radio. “We need ten minutes for checks, over.”
“That’s about all you have,” replied Pluto Jane from above them. “Make it nine minutes; Saturn needs a minute after you.”
Mars and Commander Roo worked as fast as the procedures for takeoff allowed them. The thrusters had to be at a certain temperature before they could launch.
“You have about a minute,” said one of the girls from above as Commander Roo lifted her off the surface.
“Saturn, follow us, we are going to climb out east, ahead of the storm, get off now! We are away,” said Mars as they headed forward.
“Copy that,” and Mars heard her breathe in hard as a gust hit both their craft hard, and with maximum thrust they were blown out eastwards and upward by the storm.
One hundred and seventy-nine long days later, all seven craft saw Earth rise over the moon, which was 20,000 miles directly in front of them. It was a beautiful site as the smaller Earth rose over the large dark moon.
They had expected this, the moon getting slap-bang in their way, and the pull of the barren satellite had pulled them in faster with no extra use of fuel. Their course would take them within 3,000 miles of the moon’s surface before it let them go, and then the Earth would be dead ahead.
“That is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen,” said Lunar Richmond, flying Astermine II.
“I don’t ever want to leave Earth again, except to return to the moon to see this eclipse again,” added Pluto Jane in SB-II.
“Certainly is romantic,” said Mars Noble, sitting next to Saturn Jones in SB-III and holding her hand. The Matt craft had been latched onto the roof of the shuttle, and it was a short spacewalk to get to the docking port.
“And by the way, I have excellent news for all now that we see Earth filling our windshields,” added Saturn Jones. She was rosy and full of health as she told all her friends what Dr. Walls had told her two weeks earlier, that she was expecting.
As expected, there were catcalls and words of displeasure that Mars was the father, and that he could have visited their craft in his spacesuit anytime. He just smiled, checking the computer readouts.
As they neared Earth 24 hours later, he kissed his sweetheart goodbye and headed back into the Matt ship with Commander Roo and its bored passengers.
“I see one through the laser camera,” shouted Penelope Pitt excitedly a day after Mars’s return. “I see one of the blue shields orbiting Earth. There is one other blip on my screen. I see it and the other radar contact. I’m adjusting the laser locking device onto it. Yes, it is another blue shield. We have two up here, which means that there are no cubes up in orbit. There can’t be.”
That was all they saw as they descended into a high 5,000-mile orbit of Earth, as instructed by Ryan. There was nothing down there, and that gave Saturn Jones the opportunity to speak to Australia on the channel that had always been open for them.
“G’day, Astermine. Need to get the boss. Good to hear you guys have returned, out.”
It took a couple of hours, and the second reply came back loud and clear.
“Astermine, good to hear you guys are back. We have been waiting years for your return. Your new home is at the following coordinates, and 20 miles off the northeastern Australian coastline. There is a 10,000 foot airstrip, 30 feet wide, ready for you. Your new base has all the electronics and radio beacons you might need to land. Within 24 hours we can have the base restocked with fresh produce, and we are issuing orders not to visit until you invite us. Is Ryan there? This is John Soames, President of the Australasian government, and I would like to welcome him home.”
“Negative. The boss is on the next flight. This is just the first group of craft returning, over,” replied Saturn. “It seems there is no welcoming committee up here?” she asked. Mars Noble had a mobile radio aboard, but wasn’t ready to use it just yet.
“No, great news, your ships have defended space perfectly since you left. The Chinese managed to hit one of your spacecraft with a nuke, one of the last they sent up. We believe that the nuclear armed countries have used up most of their missiles trying to get those spaceships of yours, only hitting one. Ryan will be surprised to learn that he has virtually emptied this planet of all nukes, and the world is a far safer place then when you left. We count six craft returning, over.”
“How did they see all six craft?” Saturn asked over their private intercom.
“I think I see something on radar,” said Penelope Pitt. “Yes, there it is. I thought I saw something hours ago. I see another, there is a second one. The computer is telling me at 22,500 miles attitude there is one over central Australia and one over the Mediterranean, somewhere above Egypt or Israel.”
“There’s a third,” added Pluto Jane Saunders in SB-II. “It is right over the United States. Somebody seems to have satellites in space. I just thought the blip was radar shadows or something.”
“This is Lunar Richmond, Ryan’s elder daughter, in command of one of our arriving spacecraft. It seems somebody has new satellites up here,” she asked John Soames.
“Yes, pretty aren’t they, Ms. Richmond? Ours was first, three years ago. Our friends the Israelis launched theirs two months after us, and Canada the third country, a year later. We track everything from them, we have complete intercontinental communications and radar, and we saw your ships approaching from 200,000 miles out two days ago. We didn’t want to scare you into leaving again. The Chinese have tried to get a few cubes up there, but they were always attracted to your cubes in LEO. We warned them a year ago and they finally gave up. The Chinese have nothing left to throw into space anymore. The United States of America is in a mess. Washington hardly works and they haven’t produced anything new now for decades. The Russians never talk to anybody and there are mass battles in Russia and China between warring factions. I suggest you guys stay out of those three countries. The U.S. is safe though and most probably needs your father’s help to get reorganized. We believe nobody wants to be President of that country anymore. Martin Brusk, Ryan’s old friend, is the Chief of Defense in Israel, and your father’s oldest friend, the old U.S. President, his youngest daughter, who was born in Canada, is head of Defense in the Toronto government. Between us three countries and your spaceships protecting us up there, we have brought this planet some peace, and it is in far better shape than when your father lived here.”
Lunar Richmond told this exact story to her father eleven years later, when he and the others awoke on DX2017, 190,000 miles from Earth.
Ryan was still groggy. To him, he had been asleep for only minutes, and he realized that this mature-looking women was his little daughter, Lunar. She and several others had returned to awaken the travelers, and every cabi
net had opened to reveal a fit and healthy human who hadn’t aged a day in thirteen years.
“How are you? Where is Pluto Katherine?” Ryan asked once what his daughter had told him sunk in.
“Pluto is down on our island looking after my two boys, your grandchildren, Mark and James. She is also married and gave birth to her son Titan two months ago. We are both married, happily to two Australian guys, pilots, and you are the grandfather of three beautiful boys, Granddad!” said his smiling 32-year-old daughter as the IV fluid flowed through his body. He looked up to see his wife slowly approaching. She had awoken twelve hours earlier and could already walk in the soft gravity.
“How’s the fishing?” Jonesy asked Saturn as she rubbed his stiff legs and then hugged her mother, Maggie. He didn’t recognize the beautiful lady in front of him, and his legs felt weird, as if they had been stuck behind his back for several years.
“You just wait, Mr. Jones. There is an 80-year-old smelly sea captain called Bob Mathews who keeps asking for you, and he says he knows every fishing spot in the Indian Ocean. Also, you have two young boys, my kids, waiting for their grandpa and grandma to take them fishing.” That made both Jonesy and Maggie smile.
“Have you seen your mother? Is she okay?” VIN asked, still not with it. Mars Noble nodded at the same man he had put to sleep thirteen years earlier. His father, although pale and sickly looking, hadn’t aged a day.
VIN, on the other hand, saw a very strong and fit man standing in front of him he didn’t recognize.
“You just relax, Dad. Our mission to return to Earth was a total success. There are many friends waiting for you to return. You have two grandchildren, two of the best boys you can ever imagine, who are dying to meet you and Mom. The world down there is better thanks to you and Jonesy and Ryan. I can’t wait to take you fishing and drink a few cold beers aboard our boat with you, Dad.
VIN smiled. He, Suzi and Mars were okay, and they were going home, forever.
Books by the Author
The Book of Tolan Series (Adult Reading)
Banking, Beer & Robert the Bruce —Hardcover and eBook
Easy Come Easy Go — Hardcover and eBook
It Could Happen — draft format only
AMERICA ONE Series (General Reading)
AMERICA ONE – eBook, Paperback (and Audio — November 2013)
AMERICA ONE II: The Launch —eBook, Paperback (and Audio — December 2013)
AMERICA ONE III: The Odyssey Begins —eBook, Paperback (and Audio — March 2014)
AMERICA ONE IV: Return to Earth —eBook, Paperback (and Audio – April 2014)
AMERICA ONE V, NextGen —eBook (mid-December 2013)
INVASION USA Series (General Reading)
INVASION USA I — The End of Modern Civilization —eBook and Paperback
INVASION USA II — The Battle for New York —eBook and Paperback
INVASION USA III — The Battle for Survival —eBook and Paperback
INVASION USA IV — The Battle for Houston … The Aftermath –eBook and Paperback
INVASION EUROPE: The European Side of the Story —eBook (2014)
THE BANKER’S CLUB Series (Teenagers and Adults)
THE BANKER’S CLUB I: Defaults —eBook
THE BANKER’S CLUB II: Acquisitions —eBook (February 2014)
THE BANKER’S CLUB III: Withdrawals —eBook (April 2014)
About the Author
T I WADE was born in Bromley, Kent, England in 1954.
His father, a banker, was promoted with his International Bank to Africa and the young family moved to Africa in 1956.
The author grew up in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and a fictional depiction of his life is humorously described in his novel EASY COME EASY GO, Volume II of The Book of Tolan Series. Once he had completed his mandatory military service, at 21 he left Africa to mature in Europe.
He enjoyed Europe and lived in three countries; England, Germany and Portugal for a total of fifteen years before returning to Africa (Cape Town), in 1989.
Here the author owned and ran a restaurant, a coffee manufacturing and retail business, flew a Cessna 210 around desolate southern Africa and finally got married in 1992.
Due to the upheavals of the political turmoil in South Africa, the Wade family of three moved to the United States in 1996. Park City, Utah was where his writing career began.
To date, T I Wade has written thirteen novels.
The author, his wife and two teenage children currently live near Raleigh, North Carolina.