Alliance (Terran Chronicles Book 4)

by James Jackson

  Peter keeps looking around while he replies, “It’s okay. I was worried too, for a moment.”

  Emma stares at the growing number of natives and smiles. The loose skin flaps on the side of their heads reminds her of a puppy she once had as a child. She notices their sharp looking pearl colored teeth, then glances at the penned up animals. The pig-like creatures are stark reminders that these people probably eat meat.

  Jux tilts his head at Cindy and asks, “You do not like other sky people?”

  “Some are great,” Cindy replies, and then adds with a sigh, “while others are not.”

  With a wide wave of his hand, Jux says, “You are welcome to share our day meal.”

  Emma quickly turns her head to Cindy and whispers, “I haven’t tested the local produce yet, who knows....” She stops mid-sentence when Cindy lifts her hand, smiles, and replies to Jux, “It would be an honor to share your meal.”

  Peter raises his eyebrows, but says nothing, as Cindy continues, “My crew will return to the ship while we dine, they have much to do.”

  The return trip to the Terran is both short and quiet. They all wonder what it is they have to do. As they step onto the bridge Joe rises, then seeing that Cindy is not with them, asks warily, “Is everything okay?”

  Peter replies, “Yes. Cindy stayed behind and sent us up here to wait.”

  The stand-in crew leaves their posts, allowing the main crew to sit down. Joe returns to his usual station while Peter takes over the captain’s chair. All of this takes place easily and seamlessly thanks to the countless practice runs.

  Less than thirty minutes pass before Cindy contacts the Terran, “I have great news. Jux has agreed for us to land the Terran in a nearby field, in exchange for us assisting with their metal salvage operations.”

  “We’re on our way,” Peter responds. He nods to John and says, “Take her down.”

  John turns back to his console and with the tap of a few symbols, has the ship descending.

  Meanwhile, on the planet, Cindy walks with Jux toward the edge of a large field and waits. They stop and gaze upward, but do not have to wait long. Cindy gasps when she notices a bright red dot, one that gets ever closer. A minute later the full size and scale of her ship, the Terran, comes into view. The underside of the massive spacecraft glows brightly, while a faint hum emanates from it. The glowing red hues fade away to reveal a shimmering effect beneath its hull. She smiles as she recalls Johnny’s description and silently agrees, the enormous main drive engines do indeed appear to be a pair of binoculars attached to the rear of the ship. The nose of the ship not only tapers in from above and below, it is slightly narrower. She gazes in awe as the Terran approaches, and then extends its landing gear. The landing struts make contact with the ground, then immediately sink into the soft soil. The Terran finally stops sinking into the ground and comes to rest. The shimmering underside and faint hum that resonate, tell Cindy that the gravity lift system is still engaged and thus prevents the ship from sinking further into the soft ground. The ship’s ramp slowly opens, and as soon as it reaches the ground, vehicles begin to drive down it. An open jeep heads her way at a steady pace, and stops nearby.

  Peter steps from the vehicle, grins, and says both in surprise and admiration, “It runs!”

  “I see,” Cindy replies as she gazes at the rough idling jeep. She motions to the Terran and says, more than asks, “The gravity lift system is still running?”

  “Yes, and once everything is unloaded, John wants to put the ship back into orbit. Something about not wanting to hear Joe complaining about the power usage.”

  Cindy frowns, then says, “Surely it can’t take that much energy to just sit there?”

  With a shrug of his shoulders Peter says, “Well, to hear Joe talk, you would think we will never get off the planet again.”

  Jux stares at the spacecraft that dominates the field, then finally he says, “You are truly mighty sky people. You could take anything.”

  “She is big, isn’t she?” States Cindy proudly. The jeeps that drive up and down the Terran’s ramp are mere dots in comparison to the size of the ship.

  “She?” Jux responds questioningly as he steps back. “It’s alive?” he adds nervously, obviously a little anxious.

  Cindy stares at him, confused by his agitated state, she smiles and says, “No, it’s not alive.” She pauses to try and find the right phrase, and then explains, “Sometimes we like to call things he or she. It’s just the way we are.” She shrugs her shoulders and hopes her translator managed to carry the gist of her answer.

  Jux warily steps forward again to stand beside Cindy. The ramp of the Terran is a busy place as dozens of jeeps and trucks begin the task of unloading vast amounts of equipment, which they transport to a safe distance. One hour turns into two, then three, and still the vehicles ferry crate after crate from the ship’s vast innards.

  During this entire time, Jux stands and stares at the spectacle in complete awe. Cindy remains with him, and answers his occasional question. Five hours pass before the Terran is able to lift off from the field. As smoothly as the ship landed, it launches and retreats into space. Almost all of Emma’s team is now on the planet. Of the three hundred and sixty-four a mere seventeen remain on board. The amount of supplies they have arrayed around them is truly staggering, even to Cindy.

  An hour later John lands his shuttle near the tent city that is being established by Emma’s team. He, Peter, and Robert, exit on foot while Patrick and George stride down the ramp in their bodysuits. They head off in search of Cindy and Emma. Finding them, the group spend a long time debating whether or not to bring down a small defense force. Ultimately they decide not, as such an action may cause further distress to the peaceful Oglans.

  Cindy takes a break and steps outside. Watching the picturesque scene of the setting sun makes her smile. She steps back inside and contacts the Terran using a portable transmitter, “Joe, come in.”

  Joe taps the console on the command chair and replies, “Terran here.”

  “Joe, we have a lot to do down here, so we’re going to spend the night in order to get an early start.”

  “Understood,” Joe replies, “Do you need anything?” He quickly adds.

  Cindy gazes around the camp site and replies, “No we’re good. I think Emma’s team brought everything.”

  Joe chuckles as he replies, “I think you’re right, the hangar deck has a lot of open space now.”

  Cindy adds thoughtfully, “Tomorrow, I want to begin a proper planetary survey, so get some rest yourself.”

  “No worries,” Joe replies automatically.

  Joe’s Command

  It has been a long day for the entire crew, Joe included. He yawns and stretches in the Terran’s command chair, then focuses on the replacement bridge officers. Watching the trainees who occupy four main consoles causes him to smile. He shakes his head as he recalls how little he knew when he first sat in front of the alien controls. With little happening, his thoughts turn to a warm meal in the mess hall, and his waiting bed.

  The Terran maintains its orbit directly over Emma’s position, and as the sun sets on those below, the ship begins to cross the terminator into night. Joe watches the long shadow slowly roll its way along the hull of the Terran. The peaceful scene causes him to yawn once more, so he turns away and focuses on the chairs armrest console instead.

  However, they are not the only vessel orbiting the Oglan world. Six small spacecraft, slowly and stealthily, approach the Terran. This group of vessels stay well concealed, and remain unnoticed until they are directly above the Terran’s darkening hull.

  John’s replacement, Robyn, points at the screen and asks nervously, “What are they?

  Joe looks up and immediately blanches when he recognizes the small craft. He slams his hand onto the chair’s armrest console and shouts, “Effen Raiders! This is not a drill. We have an unknown number of hostiles on approach. Action stations.”

  Robyn stares at her main
screen in disbelief, then in a nervous tone asks, “What do I do?” Her eyes go wide as she scans the alien symbols before her. Her fingers hover over her console apprehensively.

  Joe taps his console and reviews the data before him. He gulps, then watches the small craft as they begin to land on the hull. He considers fleeing, then quickly dismisses the idea. He sighs deeply, then responds, “Nothing, we’re not leaving our people behind.” He sighs, then presses the ship’s intercom and says, “Prepare to be boarded. Ship lockdown in three minutes.”

  “Ship lockdown?” asks Glenn, the man who occupies Joe’s normal workstation. He gapes at his console, suddenly bewildered by its controls. With mounting fear asks, “Do I do anything?”

  Joe blinks in surprise at the question, then he stands up and hurries to his usual console. He touches a few symbols, then grabs his laptop and powers it up as he returns to the command chair. He stares at his laptop for a few seconds, then rapidly types on its keyboard. He taps the ships intercom and says, “David, sentry guns are live.”

  “Understood,” comes David’s impassionate reply through the bridge speakers.

  Glenn and Gordon move aside as Joe quickly and efficiently uses their consoles as well. He is both doing, and showing, at the same time. They watch as Joe closes numerous corridors off, effectively turning the Terran’s lengthy walkways into shorter sections.

  Joe takes precious seconds to ponder how he wants to tackle the impending attack. The four secondary officers all stare at him in trepidation as they wait for his instructions. Coming to a decision, Joe turns his attention to Robyn and tells her, “Using thrusters only, move us to a higher orbit. Glenn,” he says, looking at his replacement, “monitor for hull breaches.” Gathering his wits, he tells Gordon, “You’re from reactor control, so I want you to monitor the ship’s power and capacitor levels for any unusual activity.”

  Mike, who occupies Emma’s station, gulps as he awaits his orders. Joe nods to him and says, “Work with Glenn to maintain atmospheric pressure in the sealed off areas, but,” he adds with grim determination, “in areas that are breached I want the life support systems completely shut down.”

  The four trainees turn to the consoles, each one wishing the main crew was onboard. Robyn frowns and says, “Shouldn’t we warn our people on the planet?”

  Joe shakes his head and replies gloomily, “They have no means to defend themselves, besides, the raiders may not know that we have people down there. And if they do know, then I just hope the raiders are more interested in us.”

  The second Joe’s alert went out, Radclyf and Hayato’s team quickly gathered weapons and gear from special lockers in the hangar deck. Dozens of these lockers are spread out throughout the ship, each one is secured via biometric locks. These elite soldiers quickly don special purpose space suits, then arm themselves with a variety of rifles and pistols that have been modified to fire specialized ammunition. The men assume positions around the hangar deck, and then wait.

  During this time David’s mercenaries gather at pre determined locations around the ship. Each heavily armed group also waits for the inevitable incursion by the raiders. The five Army Corps of Engineers spread their forces out throughout the ship, occupying key areas. Based on their last experience with the Effen Raiders, Joe knows that none of these teams have the weapons needed to defeat the mysterious attackers. Their assignments include reactor control, the medical area, GUS, and the access points to the command levels. The engineers will be their last stand, but if all goes well, they will not have to fire a shot.

  Joe’s mind races as he stares at the data on his laptop. A rash and crazy idea suddenly springs to mind. He gulps then says, “Glenn, seal the Hydroponics bay and reverse the gravity in the area. Mike,” he adds, pointing to the man’s console. “Over pressurize the area to three atmospheres.”

  Glenn begins to sweat as he stares blankly at his controls. A few agonizing seconds later he asks, “How do I do that?”

  Joe leaps from the captain’s chair, then using Glenn’s console, he fulfills his own request.

  Glenn watches in awe as Joe’s fingers deftly touch a series of alien symbols. He frowns in confusion and asks, “Why are you doing that?”

  Grinning like a crazed man, Joe replies, “As soon as the raiders cut through the hull, our own gravity will push the slug of armor into their ship, instead of it falling into ours. That’s my theory anyway.”

  “Genius,” Robyn states, genuinely impressed as she stares at Joe with renewed respect.

  Seconds later, one of the Effen Raider’s craft which is over the Hydroponics bay, completes cutting its way through the hull. The effect is as instantaneous, as it is impressive. Suddenly the craft launches into space. Unbeknownst to the bridge crew, the violent expulsion of gasses along with the heavy plug, causes catastrophic damage to the tiny craft. Joe watches as it explodes spectacularly, its fiery plume lasting for a mere fraction of a second before the vacuum of space extinguishes the flames.

  Joe thumps a fist into the air and shouts enthusiastically, “Yes! Got one!”

  Robyn grins at their success while her three colleagues hoot and holler in jubilation. The celebratory grin freezes on Joe’s face when he glances back at his armrest console. He slams his hand on the ship’s intercom and shouts, “Hull breach in section seven, main hull, level one.” He reviews more data then quickly reports. “And another one in section twenty, also level one.”

  Robyn puts a hand to her chin and says nervously, “Well, we’re about to find out if our defenses are good enough.”

  The second craft over the hydroponics area does not cut through the hull, and thus saves itself from a similar fate to its compatriot. The raider that cuts through the hull in section seven does not fall for Joe’s surprise either. Instead, the massive plug that is cut out of the hull is slowly extracted, then somehow discarded harmlessly into space. Two humanoids immediately drop from the opening and into the darkened corridor. They crouch down and prepare themselves for anything. They activate their bright helmet lights and shine them around as they examine their surroundings.

  A split second later the powerful multi-barreled gun, Retribution, acquires its target, and fires. At four thousand rounds per second, the corridor is instantly filled with lethal projectiles. The body armor belonging to the pair unbelievably withstands the initial volley, but the sheer force from the impacts send both invaders hurtling backward. Joe watches the video feed from his laptop with wide eyes, incredibly one of the attackers lifts an arm and fires a weapon. The Retribution continues to fill the area with projectiles as it tracks downward to the prone figures.

  Joe watches as the suit belonging to one of the prone men abruptly fails. Hundreds of rounds enter the chest area, but none exit immediately. Unexpectedly, the suit explodes outward, spraying the area with viscera. A split second later the remaining attacker meets a similar fate, splattering the area with gore. Joe turns away in revulsion, then as the images replay in his mind, he resists the urge to throw up.

  Steam wafts from the Retribution’s super heated barrels as they cycle down. The cooling metal ticks while the unit’s complex tracking system continues to scan the area. The entire battle lasted mere seconds, yet the walls and floor are peppered with thousands of dents and gouges from spent rounds, along with the splattered remains of the pair of would be assailants.

  “Take that!” Shouts Joe loudly while he pumps the air with his fist once again, his revulsion at the gore-splattered corridor momentarily forgotten.

  Staring back at the video feed, Joe frowns as something enters the ship through the hole created by the raider. The object appears to be a metallic arm, one which swivels around then points directly at the camera. The Retribution’s sensors detect the threat, track to it, and fire at the same instant that Joe’s screen flares brightly then goes blank.

  No one hears, or feels, the tremendous explosion as the Retribution’s entire storage of ammunition detonates, along with that belonging to the backup
sentry guns. The combined energies unleashed by the raider’s weapon, and the detonating ammunition, are so strong that the Effen Raider’s craft is shredded along with a long section of the Terran’s hull.

  Robyn gasps and points at the main viewer. With fear in her voice she croaks feebly, “Look at that!”

  Glenn is too busy to look up, instead he gapes at a number of flashing symbols which have just appeared on his control panel. He nervously tries to figure out what they all mean.

  Joe lifts his gaze and stares dumfounded at the zoomed in view of a jagged rent in the ship’s forward hull. Gas and debris freely vent from the gash. He gulps and says, “Let me guess, section seven?”

  Finally Glenn understands what he is looking at. He slowly replies, “Yes, and we have hull breaches in sections three through ten, on levels one and two in section seven.” He gingerly works his console and seals off the affected areas.

  Mike is also busy figuring out how to fulfill his instructions. With a flash of insight, he taps on a number of symbols, and then proudly reports, “Zero atmosphere in the open sections.

  Joe smiles and replies, “Good job, now what of the other four raiders?”

  “Four?” says Gordon in confusion as he shakes his head, “There are only two left. The one over Hydroponics, and another over section twenty.” He points off into the distance at the two craft that are resting on the hull.

  The out of sight fifth and sixth craft belonging to the Effen Raiders, land on the hull over the hangar deck. They immediately begin to cut their way through the thick armor. Just as Joe is about to explain where the other raiders have gone, Glenn states with unease, “Ah, we have a hull breach in the hangar deck. He gulps, then turns to Joe with wide eyes.

  Joe nods his head and replies, “Maintain gravity and life support, for now.”

  A large round section of the ceiling’s armor falls to the deck, and lands with a powerful thud. The atmosphere does not vent out into space, indicating that the raiders have sealed their craft to the hull. Hayato grins with anticipation as his adrenaline kicks in. He is kneeling down in the vast open area of hangar, securely latched to the deck in case they lose gravity. His position affords him the best view of the ceiling, but is he is also a sitting duck.