by John Zakour
“Currently we are located between the second and third of the eight planets in this solar system,” GiS said. “They are both Earth-sized planets though neither of them is capable of supporting life, at least not life as we know it, as they each have extremely high concentrations of iron in their atmosphere and very strong magnetic fields. These strong magnetic fields create a sensor blocking zone between the two planets. That is why we are here, we should be invisible to any possible enemies looking for us while we scan for the Explorer.”
Elvin and Lobi each raised their hands at the same time. GiS looked at them with a raised eyebrow. He knew they each had the same question. We all (except for maybe Zenna) had the same question. The rest of us just knew GiS would answer the question without us having to ask it. Deep down, Elvin and Lobi had to know this also, but they were so caught up in having to be the smartest they couldn’t risk not asking, just on that slim chance that nobody else had thought of it.
“I know what you’re thinking,” GiS said cautiously. “That if these magnetic fields create a sensor blocking zone, how can we use our sensors?” he said.
Elvin and Lobi both lowered their arms, disappointedly frowning.
“Well, I will tell you,” GiS said. “Our top scientists and computers have figured out a way to compensate for the high magnetic field, and therefore our sensors won’t be affected. That gives us a distinct advantage.”
The frowns on Elvin and Lobi’s faces grew.
“Why weren’t we informed of this?” Lobi asked. “We could have been of assistance.”
“Because you are still cadets!” he said sternly. “No matter how smart you may be, Earth has other resources that are at least as smart as you are and have more experience. They are the ones who solved this problem. They are the best of the best. They are what you will be if you work hard and listen and don’t let your giant egos get in the way.”
Elvin and Lobi both drooped their heads. I almost felt sorry for them. For a couple of guys who were sure bright, they weren’t smart enough to see that coming.
Before they could sulk for long, though, a warning started to blare. The control room’s lights started to flash red. I don’t know who thought of this procedure. I know it’s meant to show danger is approaching, but bloop, you would think you’d want no excess noise and the best lighting possible when in danger.
“What’s wrong, SC?” K-999 asked.
“My sensors have picked up incoming ships coming from around the third planet,” SC said calmly.
“I guess our scientists weren’t the only ones to figure out how to scan through the magnetic field,” I said.
“Yes, apparently not,” GiS sighed.
“I detect six shuttle-sized ships,” SC said.
The holographic display showed six small dashes. They were on the opposite side of the third planet but getting closer to us.
“How do we know they are hostile?” Lobi asked.
“They have activated their weapon systems,” SC said.
“Maybe they are just cautious?” Lobi said.
“They have fired upon us,” SC said.
“Okay, I’ll stop talking now,” Lobi said, dropping his shoulders and holding his hands behind his back.
“What do you mean, they fired on us?” GiS said, “They are still half a planet away from us!”
“Apparently they have very good homing weapons,” SC said. “You can see them on the screen now.”
We all turned back to the view screen. Sure enough six balls of energy were screaming toward us. We all braced for impact. The balls hit. Nothing happened.
“Now that was anticlimactic, “ I said.
GiS glared at me.
“It sure was,” Kymm agreed. “The question is why?”
The lights flickered off, then back on again.
“Now that can’t be a good sign,” I said.
“It was another data attack,” SC said calmly. “They were trying to get me to drop my computer defense systems. Which is kind of ironic since my computer defenses are always down as per our agreement with the Aquarians.”
“You can read their attack?” Elvin asked.
“Yes,” SC answered. “I have learned from the defenses you installed how to do that. Of course now I have good news and bad news.”
There was a pause. Apparently SC wanted to be prompted.
“What’s the good news?” I asked, being a bright side kind of guy.
“Even if our computer systems had been on I could have easily defended against that attack but that attack was many times more sophisticated than the attack in anti-space, so our foes seem to be learning.”
“If that’s the good news, then what’s the bad?” Kymm asked.
“They are charging up a different sort of weapon. From the energy signatures they appear to be standard energy weapons. They are also closing in on us.”
GiS was quick to react. “Fine — we will manually or animally man the sphere’s laser cannons. K-999 and I will take cannon number 1. Baxter and Elvin will man cannon number 2. Kymm and Chriz will man cannon number 3. Zenna and Lobi will man cannon number 4.
“But I’m a girl,” Zenna said.
“No matter! Just get to your posts stat!” K-999 shouted.
Elvin and I quickly moved to the lift to go to cannon number 2. I of course made it to the lift tics before Elvin did though it seemed like a lot longer while I was waiting. Finally he made it in.
“Which floor?” the lift computer asked.
“Weren’t you listening?” I said.
“I am a lift computer. I don’t listen in on command center conversations!”
“Laser cannon 2, stat!” Elvin said in his most business-like voice.
The lifted zoomed upward so fast I was glad I hadn’t eaten in a few hours. The lift stopped before I even had a chance to say slow down — I don’t want to be killed in a lift crash. The door opened to the laser cannon room turret. Actually, it wasn’t much more than a transparent bubble on the top of the sphere above the observatory. It wasn’t big, just enough space for a two-being crew. It probably looked like a zit on the top of the face that was the sphere but right now this zit and the three other zits like it on the sphere being manned by the others were all that were keeping us alive.
I moved in and strapped myself into the left gunner’s chair. Elvin sat in the right. Each of the chairs controlled one of the two guns and rotated so you could manually follow and track your targets. We put the head sets on and flipped down the eye patch sight. The way the cannons worked was simple yet ingenious. You would spin toward the target while looking at it, and to fire, you only needed to press either of the fire buttons located in both of the chair handles. Each cannon could cover half our zone. We each had to rely on the other not to miss.
I was certainly excited. It was so absolutely cool to be seeing action, live action. But I knew that this wasn’t a game or a simulation. One slip up from me or Elvin and it wouldn’t be game over, it would be life over. Not just for me, but for everybody onboard. I had to make sure that wasn’t going to happen. No way I was going to die, before I got to give a girl a real kiss.
I glanced over at Elvin. If I was nervous, he had to be terrified. After all, I was a pilot. I was the thrill seeker. Elvin was meant to think about things, to plan things out. He wasn’t used to having to make life and death decisions instantly.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked him.
Elvin smiled. “Of course,” he said.
I looked at him. He looked at me looking at him.
“Really, Bax, I can do this,” he insisted.
“I know you can,” I said. Though I’m not sure my face matched my words.
Elvin shook his head. “I know that look. You think I’m a prime spaz. This isn’t like sports. I have good reactions.”
I just looked at him.
“Remember that time in that test flight when we had an engine burnout?” he asked. “We had five tics to get the engine up before tha
t piece of space debris collided with us. I rerouted the engine drivers in three tics. You don’t think that took quick hands and a quicker mind?”
He was right. I had totally underestimated him. I wasn’t the entire team here. We each had our strengths and weaknesses. That’s what made us a team.
I patted him on the shoulder. “Let’s blast these suckers!” I said.
“Besides,” Elvin added. “These weapon systems are so mega-high-tech, you just look at your target and push a button. Even Lobi can do that,” he said with a smile.
I hope so, I thought, because I knew if we were going to get out of this, we were all going to have to do our jobs. I took a deep breath.
“Boogies will be in firing range in thirty tics,” SC said. “Good luck.”
“SC, you’re a computer. I wouldn’t think you’d believe in luck,” I said.
“Baxter, don’t hassle the computer,” GiS scolded over the intercom.
“May the odds be with you then,” SC said. “Does that make you feel any better, Scout?”
Surprisingly, it kind of did. Only I didn’t have much time to think about why that was so; six alien craft were now in visual range. They were long black, flat rectangles. They reminded me of flying remote controls, like the ones you see in museums and in great-grandparent’s homes.
“These are robotic drones,” SC said.
“Good, this way I won’t feel guilty about blowing them up!” I said.
The remote drones opened fire. Their initial barrage of shots hit the midsection of the Searcher, but didn’t appear to do much harm at all.
“Damage report,” GiS called over the intercom.
“Damage minimal,” SC replied. “The ships don’t have a lot of fire power, but the damage will add up.”
One of the attacking remotes burst into flames.
“Yahoo!” Kymm screamed over the intercom. “First kill is mine, Baxter!”
I certainly wasn’t going to let Kymm have all the fun. I might not have had a bionic eye, but I had something chips can’t give you, at least not yet, great instincts. In fact, I think the electronics might even muck up our instincts. I swiveled my seat to the left. There were two flying remotes bearing down on us. I was determined to take them both out. I pulled the trigger. My first shots flew between the two attackers.
“Bloop!” I shouted.
Suddenly the trailing flying remote, burst into flames.
“Gotcha!” Elvin said, pumping his fist. “You’re trying to do too much, Bax. You’ve got to be organized, take one at a time.”
The lead ship was still bearing down on us. Only it wasn’t firing.
“They’ve figured out their energy weapons won’t hurt us enough so they are going to ram us!” K-999 shouted.
“They’re not ramming anybody,” I said. “I’m way too young to die!”
I concentrated. I locked my eyes on the encroaching enemy ship. I let him draw closer. I wanted to make sure I took him out. I squeezed the trigger. The attacking ship burst into flames.
“The remaining ships are going to try to ram the Searcher’s midsection,” SC said. “Apparently they want to disable the ship but keep you humans alive.”
“Probably to torture us,” Elvin said.
“Gee, Elvin, thanks. Just what I needed to hear.”
The bad news was that from our angle on top of the Searcher we had a hard time seeing and therefore aiming at the remaining attacking ships. The good news was our teammates didn’t. The flying remotes aimed at the heart of the Searcher in a wedge formation. It looked as if their plan was for the three of them to all crash into our sphere at about the same spot. Apparently their logic was that a big enough explosion at the heart of Searcher would cripple it. The logic was correct, but their execution was flawed. The three remotes were flying so close together they made easy targets.
GiS and K-999 hit the lead remote with a perfectly placed stream of shots. Their aim was so good that they split the front remote in half. The exploding debris from the first ship collided with each of the wing ships, causing them to careen away from the Searcher right before they too were destroyed in a fiery orange explosion.
“Wow,” I said as the explosions lit up space.
We held our collective breath waiting to see if there would be a second round of attacks. We scanned the seeing area with our eyes, spinning this way and that way, while SC scanned the outside area.
“I don’t see anything,” I said.
“Same here,” said Kymm. “And I’m looking over wide spectrum.”
“Ditto,” GiS said.
“Well, I see a lot of stars but no attacking ships,” Zenna said.
“My sensors show no activity within 300,000 kilometers,” SC said.
“It looks like we can stand down now,” K-999 said.
“That was easy!” Lobi said, excitedly.
“Apparently the TVTrons aren’t used to fighting people who can actual fire back,” I said as I got out of my seat.
“Either that, or they are setting us up for something bigger,” GiS said. “I want everybody on the bridge in thirty minutes.”
Chapter 13
When I arrived on the bridge, I wasn’t surprised to see that I was last one there. I checked my sleeve communicator; I still had almost a minute to spare so GiS couldn’t yell at me.
“As always, you’re the last one here,” GiS called over to me, from the scanning station where he and the others were gathered.
I decided not to point out that I was actually early. “Sorry,” I said as I walked over to join my comrades.
GiS pulled his ankle up to check out his watch. I have no idea why he actually kept a watch on his ankle. It had to be a chimp thing. A way of showing off how flexible he was. He squinted at the watch. “Well, I guess for you, this would be considered early.”
“Did I miss anything?”
Lobi rushed over to me. “Not much,” he said, far too excitedly for me to believe that I hadn’t missed anything. “Only that we discovered where the Explorer is!”
“You did?” I asked.
K-999 looked up from the scanner. “We might have found it. Maybe…”
“Well, that’s not quite as exciting,” I said. “I’m hoping we have something a bit more definitive.”
GiS looked up at the ceiling. “SC, show Baxter our latest info.”
“Of course,” SC said.
Holographic images of the solar system we were in filled the room again. “This is still our current position,” SC said.
A holographic image of Searcher appeared between the second and third planets.
“We have picked up the energy signature of what may be the Explorer here,” SC said. A red O started to flash between the forth and fifth planets. “If this really is the Explorer, then it is 500,000 kilometers away.”
“If?” I said.
“I can’t be certain it’s a true reading,” SC said. “It might be a sensor decoy. A trap. Especially since it just popped up on the sensors ten minutes ago.”
“Oh, that does seem a bit weird,” I said.
“We can’t rule out the possibility that TVTrons can manipulate our sensors,” Kymm said.
“Though I don’t think they can,” Elvin said.
“You base that on what?” Kymm.
“My scientific intuition,” Elvin said proudly.
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Kymm said.
“I agree with Elvin,” Lobi said.
“Still doesn’t make me feel better,” Kymm said.
“Me neither,” GiS said. “But we still need to check it out.”
“Shall we power up the shuttles?” I asked.
GiS and K999 both shook their heads. “Not until we get to visual range,” they both said in unison.
“Then what?” I asked.
“We’ll play it by ear,” GiS and K999 both said at once. It was kind of creeping me out.
“You guys should do parties,” I said.
They bo
th glared at me. I decided to back up. I’ve never been one to argue with the “play it by ear” technique of planning.
“SC, bring the Searcher within 10,000 kilometers of the Explorer,” GiS ordered.
“We can not be certain that that reading is the Explorer,” SC pointed out even though there was no need to.
“We know that, SC, but it’s still our best option.” GiS said with a small sigh, showing far more patience with SC than he did with me.
“Acknowledged,” SC said. “Moving toward destination at sub-light speed. We should be within visual range, if there is something to see, in about twenty minutes.”
I felt the Searcher start to move. Well, actually I didn’t feel the ship move, but the stars on the view screen were moving so I knew we were.
After about ten minutes of traveling (which seemed to take ten hours) SC announced, “If that really is Explorer out there, we will be within visual range in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, now…”
Sometimes I worried about SC.
We all looked at the view screen. Sure enough, off in the distance was another floating sphere that looked a lot like the one we were on. Only this one was dead in the water. From the distance we were at it looked like a small, dead moon.
“Yep, that’s the Explorer alright,” K-999 said.
“SC, do you pick up any signs of activity?” GiS prompted.
“Scanning now,” SC said.
From the looks of it, I would guess no. You didn’t need SC’s sensors to tell a dead ship when you saw one.
“Actually, yes,” SC said.
Okay, so I was wrong. I’m a kid. I’m going to be wrong from time to time.
“I detect that the Explorer is functioning at .01 percent of power.”
“That can barely be considered functioning,” Chriz said.
“True, but I also detect a faint life sign. From the schematics I would say the life sign is coming from the medical cryogenics lab.”
“You’re saying somebody is in stasis on the ship?” Elvin said.
“I’m not saying it’s true. I’m just saying it appears that way.”
“It’s a trap!” Kymm said.
GiS scratched his chin with his foot. “Perhaps,” he said slowly. “But we can’t take that chance. We have to check it out.”