by Bob Mauldin
She walked back to the center station and studied the control board. A muddy brown button sat apart from the others on that panel and was duplicated nowhere else in the room. She tentatively reached out and touched it. Akin more to the touch-sensitive screens on some computers, it neither moved nor clicked, but the entire panel lit up. Looking right and left, she saw that the other three stations were live as well. The odd depressions still sat dark and useless.
Now the various buttons were indeed back-lit and she could make out what had to be lettering on each one accompanied by a pictogram. Kitty realized that she was copying Simon’s tic: looking at her watch. Thirty minutes passed. All she had managed to do was get power to the control boards. At this rate, they would be old and grey before anything significant was accomplished. She jumped up and slammed herself into the pilot’s chair, folding her legs under her. “Damn! Where’s a Rosetta stone when you need one? How am I supposed to figure out an alien language in the next ten minutes?”
“Is this a request for information?” a voice reminiscent of the alien translator inquired.
Kitty nearly jumped out of her skin. “Who wants to know?” Her heart pounded in her chest at the unexpected surprise.
“I am the control center for the Shiravan colony ship Dalgor Kreth. Do you require assistance?”
“Hell, yes! How do I fly this contraption? And how do you speak English?”
“The main control board is laid out to represent the ship itself. Now that the board is activated, all you have to do is touch the symbols for the engines and then the launch indicator. The vessel will go into pre-launch condition, all automated systems will be under control of the shuttle’s on-board computer. The controls on the arms of the master seat regulate the acceleration and attitude of the shuttle.” As Kitty watched, first two symbols, supposedly the engines, then one, probably the launch indicator symbol flashed on the board as the voice spoke. “The left control handle regulates the power applied to the engines, the right control determines the attitude of the vessel. All languages were recorded and decoded when I moved into orbit. Once your speech was identified as English, mid-west, I was able to translate for Captain kep Kuria and now am able to speak with you.”
“Wonderful,” Kitty muttered. Aloud she said, “The left is the gas pedal and the right is the steering wheel.” A motion outside the cockpit window caught her attention. Two sets of headlights bounced and swerved across the end of the little valley, seemingly disconnected from anything earthly in the now nearly moonless depression that was the small valley they were in. “That would be Simon and Gayle,” she said out loud. “They’re not going to be able to get the trucks up the ramp. Can I move the ship so that it faces the other way?”
“That can be done. Another option is to open the ramp on the other side of the ship.” Kitty looked closely at the new light that had begun flashing and finally noticed the outline of the ship inscribed in the surface of the control panel. She thought to test the system and instead of pressing the blinking light, she pressed the light that would correspond to the open door, opposite the new flashing button. Hearing a noise coming from the center section of the ship, she slid out of the chair and hurried to the control room door in time to see the ramp closing off the view of the hillside she had scrambled down less than just a half-hour before. She returned to the control panel and pressed the other ramp button and was rewarded with the sounds of it opening.
“Can’t you operate these controls without my assistance?” Kitty asked.
“No. No voluntary controls can be accessed by the control center. All functions must be input by a ... human being.” Kitty was certain she heard a slight hesitation in the computer’s atonal voice.
“You seem to be speaking better than you did when we first arrived,” Kitty noted aloud. She continued to study the control panel in front of her and monitor the progress of the two approaching vehicles.
“I have been accessing several hundred English language audio and video transmissions. I have been able to identify and store more than four hundred and fifty thousand words in a variety of languages up to this moment.”
Kitty stopped in her tracks as a thought struck her. “Hold it. You said something about automated systems being under the control of the shuttle’s onboard computer.”
“That is correct.”
Kitty’s heart began to pound. “Am I in the shuttle you were speaking of?”
“That is correct.”
“If I’m on the shuttle, just where are you?”
“I am aboard the Shiravan colony ship Dalgor Kreth, in orbit around your planet.”
Kitty climbed back into the pilot’s chair to chew on this new bit of data. She saw the two sets of headlights rounding the far end of the little lake. Soon they would be on the old Forest Service road leading to the meadow the ship sat in, then it would only be a matter of minutes before the threesome was reunited. “Is there room aboard this Dalgor Kreth for this shuttle?”
“The Dalgor Kreth is thirty-eight hundred of your feet long. The landing bay is capable of holding three shuttles and one fuel scoop.”
“Oh, God. Simon is gonna shit.” Kitty was already making plans of her own. And there was no need to bother Simon just now. She stared down at the wristband she had chosen to wear, one of the few major uni-lateral decisions she had made in their marriage. For a moment, possible futures laid themselves out before her; too much information too fast, but she did know that she was keeping this ship.
Kitty stumbled slightly as she stepped over the threshold of the ship onto the ramp. The change in gravity was unexpected. Her muscles had acclimated a bit even in the short time she had been aboard. She walked to the bottom of the ramp and watched Simon stop their S-10 pickup at the end. Gayle’s Jeep stopped behind it. The two drivers got out and met Kitty at the ramp. “Well, Miss Systems Analyst, it looks like you’re getting a handle on things. It was the other side that was open before, right?” Gayle looked down the side of the ship in the headlights of the two vehicles. “That’s too stubby to be a wing, isn’t it?” she asked, peering toward the stern of the ship.
“I think you’re right.” Kitty looked that way, too. “Probably just housing for the landing gear. There’s another one up there.” She motioned toward the nose of the craft.
Simon waved his hand to get attention. “Sorry to interrupt the discussion on alien spacecraft design, but the clock’s ticking, ladies. We need to figure out where we’re going to stash this thing. I’ve got the topos on the front seat.”
Kitty waved back. “We’ve got to get those two vehicles aboard first. If we back ‘em up to the rear wall, they should be okay if I don’t have to do any fancy flying.”
Simon looked intently at his wife, raised one eyebrow slightly and nodded. He looked at the ramp, easily capable of taking both vehicles at the same time, and walked back to the truck. Gayle followed and asked Simon quietly, “Is this a good idea?”
Simon nodded, smiling. “Oh, yeah. We leave no tracks out, off-load the rigs somewhere else and then I’ll drop this thing in some hollow somewhere and hike out. Take some pictures first, of course, so we can prove it when we go public.” He sat down, turned the key and drove the little pickup into the cavernous interior of the ship. Nearly fifty feet wide, he turned left, turned the headlights off, and drove to the end of the bay near the door to the engine room, jockeyed the truck around and backed it up until it nudged the rear wall. He set the parking brake, turned off the engine and grabbed the maps.
Gayle followed more cautiously and Simon waved her into position. “Kill it and set the brake!” he yelled from the far side of the Jeep. Gayle joined him and they turned toward the front of the bay. Dimly lit with reddish illumination that seemed to come from the ceiling panels themselves, the room was huge. Simon had rarely seen larger rooms in most buildings. Except, of course, for public places: opera houses, sports arenas, and the like.
Thirty feet to the ceiling, Simon j
udged. By nearly fifty wide and almost a hundred long. “This thing hauls some serious cargo.” He noticed the scuff marks in the deck plates as they walked toward the cockpit.
Gayle’s voice, usually carefree, betrayed her concern. “Where’s Kitty?”
“I hope she’s in the cockpit, Simon answered. “Damn, but it’s strange to be saying something like that.”
“Why?” Gayle kept pace with Simon with difficulty. Only five-four, her legs needed to take more steps than his did. She recognized the unconscious worry on his face and didn’t say anything about slowing down. “Kitty said you knew all about this stuff.”
“Not about this.” Simon waved his hand vaguely. “About the teams deployed to intercept this. That would be the ALERT teams I told you about. This is as new to me as it is to you.” They strode about ten feet up the steps leading to the cockpit door. “Kitty! Where are you?”
“In here! And you’d better hurry, we’ve got company!”
Kitty was bent over one of the panels when Simon and Gayle entered the control room of the ship. The first thing they noticed was that all the panels were lit. They walked over to see what she was looking at so intently. Between the bowl-like depressions of the mysterious panel was a cylindrical column of light. It took Simon a few seconds to recognize the little valley they were in, then the surrounding foothills. Then two moving green dots caught his eye. “What are those?” he asked pointing.
“That’s company. Computer. How far away? And how soon until they arrive?”
“Accessing measurement translation program. Sixty miles. The craft seem to be suffering from the mountain winds. Estimated time of arrival is four minutes, twenty-eight seconds.”
Simon jumped perceptibly when the computer spoke. Kitty noticed and looked into his eyes for a few seconds before turning back to the controls.
Gayle interrupted. “I see five more dots headed this way. It looks like slower and lower, but definitely headed right for us.”
Simon was silent for all of three seconds as his mind translated the distance into time. “If the first two are F-15s they shouldn’t be traveling over Mach one in these foothills; updrafts play hell with fast planes at low levels, then we’ve got about four minutes left like the computer says. They can’t really get this far into the mountains. It’ll be a high fly-over with some pretty sophisticated cameras and smart bombs. The other five are probably Blackhawks with enough combat-ready troops to secure the area. Screwed, blued, and tattooed.” He shook his head. “If we get the vehicles out of the ship, we might be able to keep from going to jail for trying to steal this thing. If it was just me that’s one thing. But I can’t let you two take any of the heat on this. Federal time isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, trust me.”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” Kitty said. She climbed into the pilot’s seat and asked, “Computer, how long for the engines to rev up or whatever they do?”
“Full engine power is available as soon as the engines are activated. Cargo has been detected in the bay. Stasis field should be activated before take-off.”
Simon stared at his wife in astonishment. He opened his mouth to speak, but she reached out and touched a flashing light on the panel in front of her and the emotionless voice responded. “Stasis field activated.” She pressed another button, this one not flashing, and sounds came from the cargo bay. Simon stuck his head out the door to see the ramp swing into place and seal itself.
“Wait!” Simon yelled. “Lower the door. I’ve got to get the telescope from the top of the hill!”
Kitty watched the green dots closing on their location, two much faster than the others. She ignored Simon, touched two buttons in succession, and the ship seemed to come to life. A vibration that had not been there a moment before ran through her body. An outline of the shuttle appeared on the forward glass, a form of head’s up display. Kitty touched another button and felt her stomach lurch. A hum came out of the air for several seconds, along with a stronger vibration felt in her butt, finally ending when the computer said, “Pre-flight operations complete. Anti-gravity field at seventy percent, landing gear retracted. Shuttle is ready for departure. Pilot has control.”
Simon stormed into the cabin. “I wanted that telescope,” he said fuming.
Kitty said, “Look at the radar. I’ll get you another one, later. Right now, though, if you will excuse me, I think you need to sit down.” Kitty gripped the two control arms and said softly, “Left is gas, right is steering wheel.” Louder she said, “You grab a chair too, Gayle. The ride could get a bit bumpy.”
Simon stared in awe as his wife began to actually operate the alien ship. She spun it a full 360 degrees looking for her adversaries: dozens of men in combat Kevlar with their weapons trained on the shuttle’s front screens and half a dozen Blackhawks trying to keep her boxed in.
“Outer doors sealed. Vessel ready for flight.” Simon started to speak, then changed his mind as Kitty clenched her fists twice and reached out and gripped the joysticks. She pulled back on the left stick and Simon noted a difference in the vibration coming into the soles of his feet.
He glanced at the device he could only think of as a form or radar, and blanched. “Kitty, this thing says that those jets should be back in about a minute. It also says that we are about, at a guess, oh, six hundred feet higher than we were a few seconds ago. What did you do?”
“Simon, another way to say systems analyst is to say efficiency engineer. All I’ve done so far is to guess at what would work best for a tall, two-armed person. Plus get a lot of help from the computer. As for what I’ve done specifically, I’ve pulled back on the left-hand control arm seeing what happens when I send power to the engines while not giving a specific command to the attitude control. Apparently, it rises up in one place if the directional controls are in neutral.”
“There goes one of the jets,” Gayle commented. “I just saw his exhaust and the radar thingee shows both of them past us and turning for another pass.”
“Kitty, if you’ve got any ideas, now’s the time to pull them out of your hat.” Simon glanced at the radar and back out the window. “I don’t know whether they are ordered to shoot first or order us down and try to take us intact.”
“Give me a few seconds here, Dear. The way you talk about my driving, you should quiet down. Now I get to drive in three dimensions.” Kitty centered the left hand control and said, “Let me know if our altitude starts to drop. I either have to apply constant power to stay at one height or the ship will do it automatically when I center the control. It will give me a few seconds to try this…” She slowly rotated the right-hand joystick, and Simon watched the outline on the front screen slowly rotate at the same speed.
“Any change in altitude?”
“None that I can see,” Simon answered. “We seem to be holding at a constant height according to this, although we have moved several miles away from the mountains.”
“Okay,” Kitty said. “I think I’ve got this. Tell me about those planes.”
“F-15s, most likely,” Simon said. “Capable of Mach two-plus. The plus is classified. Usually carry two or four air-to-air missiles ...”
“No,” Kitty interrupted. “I mean where are they?”
“North and east of us, turning for another pass,” Simon replied. “This is where I would order them to fire if I was calling the shots and so inclined.”
“Dual radar lock-ons,” said the computer. “Engage covert systems.”
Kitty glanced at her panel. “You guys look for a flashing light and push it quick.”
Gayle almost yelled. “I’ve got it! Pushed it. Now it’s on steady.” After a short pause, she asked. “What did I just do?”
“You probably activated some kind of stealth or jamming system,” Kitty answered.
Simon commented dryly, “If they can see us they can still shoot at us. They just fall back on seat-of-the-pants flying and good old-fashioned experience and luck to hit their targets.”
“Then we’ll just have to be gone when they get here.” Kitty held the angle of the ship in the forward screen steady at about forty-five degrees from level and pulled back on the power control.
Simon expected a heavy SOB to sit on his chest when Kitty fed power to the engines, so he was off-balance when nothing happened. Off-balance was apparently the catch-word of the day. He had felt off-balance ever since the ship flew overhead. Like something out of one of the original Star Trek shows, only without the bad acting. He said, “I don’t think we ...” His voice trailed off.
“Simon, what?” Kitty’s voice carried more than just concern in it. A tinge of hysteria added its own modifications to her voice.
“Uh, situation stable at present. No sign of the jets. It appears that we are about two hundred fifty miles up and climbing and I don’t feel a thing. Do you have a destination in mind?”
“Well, yes,” Kitty said a bit diffidently. Simon knew Kitty. The nonchalant attitude was just a pose. He could tell how scared she was by the way she hunched her shoulders. “I just needed to be somewhere safe for a few seconds so that I could take the time to ask a question. Computer, how do I find the main ship?”
“Astrogational data is available through the left-hand station.”
Kitty looked over her shoulder. Gayle was closest. “Gayle, be a friend and press the button that should be flashing on your control panel, okay?” Kitty asked sweetly. “You’ve just been promoted to astrogation data specialist.”
Gayle looked at Simon who just shook his head and shrugged. Gayle shrugged back and pressed the button indicated. “Accessing orbital data. Increase distance from the planetary surface to twelve thousand miles. Dalgor Kreth will appear as a medium-sized green dot on the forward view screen as soon as it clears the edge of the planet. Use the right-hand control arm to orient on the dot and apply power slowly with the left to pull up from behind. When you reach the proper distance, the automated landing sequence can take over if you put the ship on remote-pilot. A light began flashing centered on the main control panel.