by James Lay
Chapter 21
It was two days of rest and swimming before Carl and Pat were bothered by the Waterians again and that was only an invitation to be present when they raised six of their evacuation ships in preparation for the repairs and modifications.
Carl was very interested in the operation but Pat declined in preference to his last couple of days exploits, that of having Salma with him. Carl bid him good luck and left him to it. More trouble than it was worth as far as he was concerned.
The raising of the ships was to be carried out some eight thousand miles away, in the deepest part of the planet-encompassing ocean. Their transport was the good old faithful rock carrier. The trip itself took only thirty minutes and ended in a gentle deceleration and nose-dive straight into the ocean. It was necessary to be strapped in, according to the Waterians, because of the inertia moments from air to water. Carl didn't inform them that it wouldn't affect him, it would be all too time consuming. Their transition from air to water looked a little severe, Carl registered no change, but he couldn't understand why they didn't slow right down and enter the water very gently. Perhaps they enjoyed the enormous explosion of sound as they plunged in, Carl had to admit it was a very exhilarating experience.
The trip from surface to seabed took ten minutes and it was jet black when they arrived. Carl had been on both IR and UV vision for some time and could make out the immense graveyard of ships well before the rock carriers' actual arrival. There were no NDB signals, just pure dead reckoning using inertial navigation.
They boarded a small submarine-type vessel in the airlock and were soon out in the briny, approaching the first ship. It was certainly a forlorn looking shape, covered in muddy dust and laced with long-dead plant life that had sunk to the bottom over the years.
The receiving airlock functioned perfectly allowing the sea to flood the lock, the submersible powered in and settled to the 'airlock' floor. It was then only a matter of moments before the water was expelled and they were able to leave the submersible. There was that old musty smell of too-old air as the inner air lock was opened and they took their first breath. The air was obviously ok because the Waterians showed no signs of distress.
The corridors were clean and tidy, though Carl was half expecting them to be half full of water, but they were as dry as when they were sealed.
The priming and start-up of the generators went without a hitch and the instrument panel lit up with a screen full of green, amber and red lights. Slowly, as the minutes ticked by, the reds turned amber, the ambers to green and then it was fully powered up.
“This is an excellent start,” said Engineer Roly,” I was expecting some problem but if they all behave like this we will have the six up within the hour.”
One of the crew was positioned at standby by the panel whilst everyone left, to enter the submersible.
“I will travel by myself,” Carl informed Roly,” you carry on in the submersible, I'll follow.”
“How?” he asked.
“I am protected from the pressure,” he reassured him,” just carry on, I fancy a swim.”
“Are you sure?” He asked again.
“Quite, please carry on.”
“If you say so,” he seemed very concerned,” I will monitor your progress.” He insisted.
“Fine.”
The crew entered their submersible pausing, to give Carl a last worried look, but carried on when he 'shooed' them inside. The airlock inner door cycled closed and the airlock proceeded to flood. The sub was fully enveloped in ten seconds, with the outer lock door cycling open after fifteen.
Carl pushed the sub, which then leapt forward under its own power, with Carl surging along beside it. Carl could see every port occupied by amazed Waterians, they remained that way until, together, they entered the second ship.
The same procedures were carried out and repeated on all six ships, only the fifth ship had a red fault light, and that was only an air conditioner unit, no immediate problem.
Carl and the Waterians joined up again aboard the rock carrier and, as a fleet, gently rose to the surface. The trip to the surface was carried out with various 'cleaning' manoeuvres by the six awakened cocooned ships. The mud and muck streamed off of each of them until the hulls were gleaming metal again. They dried out immediately as their air speed rose to burning temperatures during the return to the platform.
They must have provided a spectacular scene to the crowds awaiting their return, but what would it look like with a thousand or more ships floating around the platform. That would be a sight worth seeing.
The organising committees were going to be busy over the next couple of days. People by the thousands swarming out of the lift shaft to make their tortuous way across to each of the six ships. Evidently the rock carrier was going to continue to raise ships until the entire fleet was moored off the platform, but that didn't stop the work beginning straight away. Carl and Pat stood on the platform and watched the rock carrier zip off again with at least two hundred pilots on board, the pace was going to be very hot from now on.
Carl mused that they would certainly have to return here to see the whole fleet of ships at anchor, over a thousand ships, all clustered around the platform. What a sight that would be.
The council had been burning the midnight oils and were nearly burnt out themselves. They decided to take a day off and prepare ideas independently for the next meeting. This was a totally different attitude than that of a few days ago, then they were a lost race, but now a race on the move.
On the evening of the next day saw the first of the captured Befax ships arrive. It had that flying saucer look to it, only it was a bit fat. Pat reckoned it looked like a cowpat and Carl had to admit it was of the correct scale.
They didn't visit the Befax ship, the previous visits were enough, but the crew had done excellent work. They had cleared out all the Befax corpses and the ship was ready for a final hose out.
During the intervening days, George had been busy with interfacing all the Befax data into the Water computers. It was a longer task than either Carl or Pat had anticipated. They had both been expecting it to take a couple of seconds. George informed them there was no compatibility between the Befax and the Water formats, it had been necessary to rewrite the book, let alone the programmes. Now though, all the information had been passed, including the modifications for the drive motors, power units, shields and all the other jargon of ships and guns. Thank God for computers.
Work could now start in earnest on everything involved in the move of the Water population to Befax, and the resulting attack. Numerically, the opposing sides were relatively equal. The Befax had more in number but the Waterians had more in the brain-box area. With the information gained from the Befax and the shortly planned mission to Befax itself, Water should have the upper hand.
The time to carry out the spy mission was drawing near. It also involved the boarding of the advancing and retreating Befax ships, with two apparent differences. It would not be possible to crew all the Befax ships, they were mostly too far away and it would take too long for them to travel to Water. However, those that were close, within one or two years, would be worthwhile considering for conversion. All the others would be put out of action and turned back towards Befax to arrive after the Water take-over. It was all a very complex plan, but fortunately the situation was bringing out the best in the Waterians. The Shadow crew were informed that the task force to capture the Befax ships, that held the kidnapped Waterians, was assembled and ready for the off. The spy force was also ready but in some doubt as to the effectiveness of their mission. Carl had to agree a little with this view. It did seem a bit risky. George, however, had the solution, to that a little later. Bloody George.
The ships, with the Waterian hostages, numbered over one hundred and twenty five. If they all held one hundred plus, that was over twelve thousand people. It would take forever! Well, it was the Earthlings suggestion, so they would have to live by it, it was just going to ta
ke an inordinate amount of time, something of which they felt they didn't have a lot to spare.
It was decided to place two crew aboard each of the kidnap ships, on the way to Befax and the 'spy' mission. That meant cramming over two hundred and fifty people into Shadow. Pat thought it was totally impossible but George pointed out that only one floor was being used whilst aboard. Of course! The Yil used the 'ceiling' as well. That eased Carl's mind, but two hundred and fifty was still a lot to carry.
“You're sure it will be no problem George?” Carl asked.
“You will notice no change in operations,” he insisted,” what's the difference in moving one person with no mass to moving two thousand people with no mass?”
He had a valid point, no difference at all.
Now to return to the Befax spy mission. It was too much of a risk to put the Waterians there, if they were caught then the whole game would be up.
George had the answer. Their personal shields would be programmed with Befax 4 animal outline co-ordinates and guess what? They would look just like eight-foot tall Hyenas, neither Carl nor Pat could believe it!
“It was your bloody idea you pillock,” Pat said,” we'll have to do it now, won't we?”
“There's no other way?” Carl hoped.
“Course there's no other soddin way,” he said,” we can't let the Waterians wander about a possible security area on Befax 4, can we. They'd stand out a bloody mile.”
Unfortunately he was absolutely correct. The only bonus was that George could 'hack' the Befex computers and they would be relatively safe in their shields, but it was still a nasty thought.
“We have our boarding troops ready, so we are as ready as we'll ever be.” Stated Rolf.
“Ok,” said Carl,” it's going to be a crush on Shadow and you must explain that the forces must walk on the ceiling as well as the floor.”
“They understand that Carl,” he replied,” it is such a novel idea that we are going to employ it on our ships as well.”
“Let's get everyone on board then,” Carl said,” and they know about the return procedures, the Shadow pull-up and loading-in-a-hurry system?”
“Yes,” he said,” they fully understand and will be as quick as is possible, they know the sacrifice you are making in lost time in searching for your home planet, it is greatly appreciated.”
“Ok then, let's move,” Pat said, patting Rolf on the arm,” we've got a very pleasant job ahead, returning your people to their friends and families, the sooner the better.”
With that everyone began the move to the lift. The platform was really crowded and the Shadow crew had to jostle their way through, eventually though a path was made for them.
“Ok you lot,” Pat shouted,” get aboard and we'll move out.”
The excited crews surged forward whilst Carl stood in the cockpit doorway and watched as they entered and split into two columns, one on the floor the other walking up the walls and onto the ceiling, a most unusual sight. The ones on the ceiling sat down, fearing the possibility of a cracking of heads, not much likelihood of that though.
It all went very smoothly, those nearest the doors were to be the first off and so on, all worked out in a very carefully co-ordinated game plan. All that needed to be done was to join up with the ships, check for any awake Befax by using two mice and then the two Waterian crew would board and Shadow could leave. It was still going to be a very long haul.
Carl was thinking of George, he was planting himself in each of the Befax ships and would stay there, it seemed as though he was losing a piece of himself each time. He couldn't understand that sentiment at all. He certainly led a stress-free life.
The journey began and the first ship popped into being, the airlock opened, the mice raced in, the airlock closed and George informed them that everyone was asleep, the airlock re-opened and the mice returned. The two boarding crew waved farewell and the airlock closed again, to immediately open again. This confused the crew but not the mice, it was just that Shadow had arrived at the next ship, it was a bit confusing for the Waterians, but Pat and Carl were used to this 'suddenness' by now.
They encountered no problems at all, every ship was asleep and the last one was still not even half way back to Befax. The next jump was to be their moment in Befax 4 fancy dress, one part of the whole deal that both Carl and Pat were in two minds about. Carl fancied the idea of the fancy dress but not the possibility of rubbing shoulders with the real-life Befax.
George was fully up to speed on the Befax 4 language, that was available in profusion in the captured computers, a result of the earlier Yil visits. He informed them that the language had undergone a substantial change though, since the Yil visits, but it would provide no hitch in the operation.
The plan was that Shadow would actually land on the surface of Befax 4, under the shroud of invisibility, late at night. First though, they were first going to carry out a few orbits.
“Put us there Pat,” Carl said,” the sooner we start the sooner we finish.”
There was the slightest of blips and then Shadow was stood off of the planet Befax 4. Immediately the forward Hud came up with space ship sites and vessel trajectories. Other areas of interest were beginning to be highlighted and during their first orbit George had detected many industrial areas, mainly grouped together on the largest landmass. The landscape was little different from the first Yil visits, so it was obviously a stable platform.
“The main area of interest is precisely where the Yil first landed,” George informed them,” it is that large area of industry.” highlighting their Huds with the position.
They also noticed that it was where all the space flights originated. This, then, would be their target area. They were now looking at very highly magnified pictures of the immediate area, and the one that interested them both was a vast complex of buildings where there were hundreds of Befax space ships in various stages of build.
“I am aware of particularly heavy radar interrogation probes,” George said,” there is a possibility some reflection of our screen is being detected, I am adjusting and should have it under control any minute now.”
They both held their breaths, should the Befax learn of their presence, it could jeopardise the whole Water operation.
“I have succeeded,” came a relieved voice,” there is no counter-measure activity, they will react to the reflection as if it was a momentary invalid signal, the record of similar malfunctions is well listed in their programmes.”
George sounded happy.
“We have a few hours until darkness Pat, fancy a game of darts?”
“I'll thrash you.” He replied, rising to his feet.
So they played off their slight worries by hammering each other at darts. Pat came out ahead but it was swings and slides on their master list of games, they were within five of each other, over a total of l85 games, fairly even.
They could see the evening shadow crawling across the surface of Befax as they sat in geo-stationary orbit. It was just about dusk where they planned to intrude.
“Pat,” Carl called, he was in his room having a quick kip,” it's party-time.”
There were various mutterings and a slightly dishevelled Pat pitched in, not fully awake yet, obviously.
“Two minutes and I'll be ready,” he said, and turned about-face and went back to his room,” got to have a quick freshen up.” He called.
He was certainly a bit more awake-looking when he re-appeared.
“Right, whenever you're ready.” He said.
“Take her down George, as near as you can get her without anyone noticing us suddenly appearing.” Carl told George. Because that was what would happen, they would suddenly pop into existence, out of nowhere. Invisibility, that was not entirely true, Shadow's shield would act like a massive T.V. screen, with greater or near perfect clarity. It would replay all light images touching one side with the identical pattern on the other, any direction. That meant that wherever you looked you would see the scene be
hind Shadow, from any angle, all at the same time, bloody magic. They would suddenly pop through that T.V. display and look like themselves, or at least, like the Befax.
They hadn't seen themselves yet and Carl nearly had a pink fit when standing there beside him was a nine foot tall Befax.
“Bloody hell, Pat, they're on board!” He shouted.
“It's me you bloody iriot.” Came Pats amused tone.
“Oh God, I thought it was one of them.”
“You don't look so pretty yourself.” He said, taking a good look
Carl looked at himself and saw a Befax rising above him, nearly to the ceiling. He himself was way down at his normal place.
“Shave off, this is a bit awkward,” he said,” that means our voices are coming from the top of its legs.”
“Not so Carl,” was George’s correction,” I can redirect the audio to be nearly at Befax mouth level, close enough to convince a fellow animal. You are also, both of you, about one foot taller than the average height, this should discourage any challenges on you.”
“Good idea.” Pat agreed.
Carl suddenly realised that they had arrived on the surface of Befax, it was now, not later, that they would have to do their bit. They could see straight through the display screen, it was rather unusual, there were scenes all around, all mixed-up in front of them, in mid-air.
“We'll try and get hooked on to a computer as soon as possible.” Carl informed George.
“Can't see anyone, can you George?” Pat asked.
They appeared to be on a piece of wasteland between a load of adobe huts. There were a few trees and bushes and lots of rubbish.
“I sense no life in your immediate area, some on I.R. about three hundred metres away and moving this way. You should move now.” Answered George.
As a single person, they jumped out of Shadow to the ground and felt a slight surge of air as George took Shadow up into waiting orbit again. They were alone.
“Ok Pat, we're big boys now, let's walk on and see what we can see.”
They had their power modules on, as usual, so could vacate the planet in a hurry if needs must, but they didn't want to use that facility, it would definitely arouse the security systems. They had now left the waste ground by passing between two huts, the smell was pretty bloody awful, obviously no sewerage underground. The locals that George had detected came round a bend of the rough track, ahead of them. They continued to proceed towards the two infiltrators and at about thirty metres stepped onto the track, off of the rough path Carl and Pat were on, giving them right of way. It appeared their size was the factor in their favour. They both raised their hands in a sort of salute and lowered their heads in a submissive way.
“Don't wave back.” Carl murmured.
“Ok.”
It was the right move. These were pure animals in their behaviour, 'biggest' means boss at the casual meeting, unless you wish to challenge and then it was face up or back off.
Carl had explained the Hyena system to Pat but said they would have to use a different tack when they met anyone in an official capacity. He hoped there would be some way to tell. Apart from the fur covering the Befax 4, they were naked. They knew the spacemen had gun belts but down here, on land, they carried nothing, lucky for Carl and Pat because they wore nothing either.
The whole area, slightly hilly, was a mess of dirty huts with an occasional tree, no flowers and not a single animal in sight. They saw ahead of them a more finished, surfaced, road along which could be seen many of the Befax, moving in the direction of the industrial plant area, a good mile distance, that was the direction they were heading.
Everyone was averting their eyes from contact, this prevented any confrontations, Carl supposed. Pat noticed it and suggested they look at no one either. With that they trudged off on their four-legged way, two of the legs were their own disguised, the other two followed on, a short distance behind them. They had to adjust their walking gait to an uncomfortable one-two pause one-two pause sequence, so that they walked like any other Befax.
The sky was now approaching the black of night and there were no streetlights, a point in their favour. Their I.R. and UV took over and it was just about as bright as day for them. They knew the Befax did not have this facility but that they had pretty good night sight anyway.
They were covering the distance to the plant at a fair pace and Carl noticed a sudden easing of effort from Pat who was powering up some of his weight using his Jump Module, Carl did the same, taking some weight off of his beginning-to-ache legs with the use of his module.
“Should have thought of that earlier.” Pat said, very quietly.
They could now see the masses of Befax space ships, picked out by powerful floodlights. The ships were totally enmeshed with a spider’s web of gantries, swarming with the Befax 4. They would have to see if George could find out their production rate. They looked as if they were working very hard at the construction.
There was a sudden roaring noise and fifty metres ahead they saw four Befax sprawled all over the road in an obvious fight. The other Befax moved away from the immediate area very quickly but stood, waiting.
Carl and Pat stopped but those behind them rushed forward until they were twenty or so metres from the savage fighting.
As suddenly as it had started, the brawl was over. It was no ordinary brawl though, it would appear that two of the Befax were dead. No sooner than the fighting was over, the crowd of onlookers pounced on the dead Befax and tore them apart on the spot. One of the fighters to survive was badly injured, he was brought down by the crowd also. They ate the unlucky three right there and then, other Befax joined in and a few secondary fights broke out. Carl and Pat made tracks past the carnage and sprinted towards the space centre.
They caught up with other Befax a few yards from a huge steel mesh gate, there were security guards but no checking of identities.
“Hey you.” Said a guard. This is it. Carl thought.” What's going on there.” Pointing to the scene of the fight, some two hundred metres back.
“Fight, three, four dead.” Carl said.
That was it. They walked in, as easy as that. The area inside the space centre was a similar rubbish tip to the area around the huts where they had landed. It was all a shambles.
“Bloody crappy place.” Said Pat.
They continued to follow a group of Befax who were aiming towards a vast hanger-type complex where a partially built ship could be seen as a series of girders and some outer skin areas.
“We'll stay with these Carl, they seem to be heading for the business end.”
The scene ahead now opened up and they could see many hundreds of Befax on various tasks, labouring, carrying, hammering, all pretty basic stuff.
“We want the more technical area.” Carl said.
“Over there,” said Pat, pointing towards a tunnel that led down to an office complex or something similar,” looks more promising.”
By careful meandering they were not too obvious about their intended target. Carl saw some unopened parcels and picked one up motioning to Pat to do the same. With the packages they casually wandered down the tunnel. This was more like it. Already they could see V.D screens - computer hardware was within reach.
“STOP!” Came a very loud voice.” WHERE ARE YOU GOING?”
They turned left and saw a huge Befax with a multicoloured armband.
“We were taking these packages.....” Carl began.
“I'm here you dolts. Did the dispatcher not tell you the destination?”
“Oh yes,” said Carl, lowering his head, noticing Pat doing the same,” we had lost our way.”
“Well in here, and now.” The Befax said, swishing a whip.
They passed the monster and entered a storage area. The place was fairly full with all kinds of component parts and there was packaging material all over the floor.
“Down there. Hurry.” Ordered the Befax.
“We'll clear this packaging for you.” Carl sai
d.
Now he knew what a surprised look is like on a Befax. It had obviously never heard a fellow Befax offering to clear away a mess before.
“Good, hurry.” It said.
“There's a terminal over there,” Carl said to Pat,” you carry on clearing here and I'll try to get the interface on.”
“Ok, but watch him.” Said Pat.
Carl walked boldly over to the console and started shuffling the waste packaging about. The Befax lost interest very quickly and soon began to add to the mess by unpacking the parcels they had brought in. Carl looked around the area of the console and could see a very bulky cable loom at the intersection of the floor and wall. He was quickly on his hands and knees and, using the motion of sweeping paper out, managed to jam the interface onto the cable.
“Perfect readout Carl,” came George's voice,” I need about one minute and you can remove it.”
Carl moved away and collected an armful of paper waste and carried it over to the entrance and dumped it outside. Pat did the same.
“Clear it all up. Hurry.” Came their Befax.
“Yes sir.” They said in unison.
They proceeded back to their mucking out task, ‘how long can we keep this charade up’, Carl wondered.
“Carl, I have all I need,” said George,” but I have found a control programme for the complexes' power unit. With the correct input you can place it into an unstable condition and I can then mask the instability.”
“Give me the details or HUD me the sequence, I'll get it done,” he said,” Pat, on my signal, knock over a shelving unit.”
“Ok.”
Carl's HUD came up with the keyboard, the first key was highlighted. He was as close to the alien keyboard as he was ever going to be. He looked round to see that Pat was at a shelving unit.
“Do it.” He blurted, and pressed the first key.
There was the beginning of an almighty crash and his second key instruction came up, followed by his third and fourth. He was into it now and could hear the 'white collar worker' doing his pieces.
“The bugger’s trying to beat me to death,” Pat laughed,” hurry up, I can't keep this up much longer.”
Carl was bashing away in the sequence George was giving him and could feel the sweat breaking out on his real brow. ‘Hurry up George’, he thought to himself, but it went on and on.
“Finished Carl, get out.” Came a not so calm George.
“Get out of here you imbeciles.” Shouted their Befax, as Carl collected the interface. They were then set upon by the whip-slashing animal.
“You are to leave the centre immediately, I have called the guards.”
Oh shit!
He was right, guards were streaming down the tunnel and into the storage area, power weapons in hand.
“Get these dolts out of the centre, look at the shelving.” The Befax pointed at a thirty-meter length of shelving that had gone over. Parts were all over the place.
They were hustled out and up the ramp. The guards were laughing!
“That's the best thing that's happened to that pig in years,” the senior guard said, he had a big arm-band,” but you still leave the centre.”
They were bundled onto a low loader truck and taken to the entry gate, where they were unceremoniously thrown bodily onto the track outside.
“Don't come back.” Said the commander.
“We won't.” They said and sprinted away.
“That was too bloody close,” said Pat,” what took you so long?”
“It was George,” explained Carl,” I must have punched a hundred keys on that ruddy computer, what was it for George?” He asked.
“It was sixty eight keys,” George announced,” and you have started a melt-down of their nuclear plant, at least I think it will be a melt-down. They will know nothing of the situation until it is well past recovery.”
“Magic,” Pat applauded,” when does it happen?”
“In about ten minutes. Perhaps you had better use a little more speed, I am waiting where you landed.”
“Holy shite,” said Carl,” let's run as fast as we can work the Befax legs, we daren't jump the distance, the modules will set off alarms.”
That was about fifty miles an hour, they must have been the fastest Befax ever seen. There were plenty of other Befax on the track on their way to the centre, they all stopped in amazement and watched as the two huge Befax thundered past,.
They were obviously the fastest things they had ever seen on four legs.
“Where the hell are you George, can't see you?” Pat shouted.
Their Huds came up with the outline of Shadow and the door’s opening. They both fell inside, there was no reference to the floor or anything else, perfect cover. They entered the cockpit to see the horizon of Befax dropping away in front of them.
“That was some visit,” Pat said,” no more like that.”
“I'll second that motion,” pointing at him,” your round.”
“Right.” He went back and got two beers.
“Watch the area circled.” Said George.
The screen HUD had a circle on a dark part of the continent. There was suddenly a brilliant flash, enough to dim the screen, and a massive fireball grew and grew. They could see huge aerial shock waves spreading out from the area.
“Bloody hell George,” Carl gasped,” that's not going to pollute the planet for the Waterians, is it?”
“I am reading that now and can report it is a clean blast, more neutron than particle, it will be clean within months.” Came George’s reply.
“That's put paid to their space programme for a bit I reckon.” Said Pat.
“It was the only space manufacturing plant on the planet, a good job carried out,” said George,” and I have much valuable data for the Waterians, it will help them in their quest for Befax. I am sure the Yil will be pleased to rid the system of those animals, and for the Befax to be replaced by the Waterians. I will pass on the information on my next visit to a Junction.”
“We've still got a lot of work to do,” said Carl,” what do you say if we break it up into shifts. I'll go out on the next three pickups and you do three and so on, no point in us both being here, is there?”
“Good idea - George, first pickup please.” They were getting lazy. They could easily have programmed the jump, but what the hell.
They were at the door when the airlock blipped into existence.
“They have all the Waterians, ready to board,” George informed them,” one moment, now the seal is in place.”
The airlock cycled open and the kidnapped Waterians streamed across the gap. They were an unfit looking lot, which was not too surprising considering they had been in deep-sleep for over five years.
“Welcome to Shadow, one and all.” Pat shouted.
“Thank you for the rescue,” said one woman, in a very croaky and sore sounding voice,” we will be in your debt for ever, we will never be able to repay you enough.”
“Yes you can, get back to your friends and family, that'll be payment enough.” Pat said.
The last of them came across, including the crew put aboard earlier.
“All ok?” Carl asked.
“Everyone alive and well, it's a pure miracle, we were expecting some deaths.” Said the Crewwoman.
“What about the Befax?” Pat asked.
“They no longer exist.” Was the hard reply.
“Carl, we can get another lot on, be a crush but who cares.”
“You're right,” he agreed,” next one George.”
The next airlock appeared and they were offered a repeat performance, all were well - thank heavens. It should turn out all right after all. There were plenty of confused faces but that was to be expected. Better a state of utter confusion than being turned into a breeding animal for the Befax. Carl imagined the Befax would have soon exterminated the whole of the Water population when they realised how long people of human-type stock take to grow to maturity. Certainly not in the league of ca
ttle and sheep, that was for sure.
With a full ship they came back to Water. The approach was from a distance, no telling what would be happening near the platform. What was happening was a complete surprise. They had bunting hung up - flashing signs and people waving - to welcome back their long lost loved ones and friends. This would be a period in the population's history, to match the evacuation of their original home world, and it had only just begun. There were thousands more to retrieve.
“Pat,” Carl said,” you hop off and take a break, round up the next mass crewing for the incoming Befax ships. I'll drop two off on each and pick them up on the way back, ok?”
“Right, I'll let 'em know,” he replied,” it's going to take some time, you really staying on board?”
“I think so,” he answered,” it's going to be chaos down there. Just try to hurry them up. You could say that we have a schedule to keep.”
“I'll be at 'em.” He waved and joined the last of the kidnapped Waterians as they left Shadow.
The wait was not too long. Olaf came aboard and told him that there were a hundred and fifty coming out with this trip. It was going to be one of those days. The idea now was to drop two crew onto each of the incoming kidnapping ships, to allow George to take over the computer systems and the Waterians to deal with the Befax crew, which was their business. Carl would then pick them up on the way back with the masses of rescued Waterians, one or two shiploads at a time, a long haul.
“The next crew are all aboard and the first two are ready at the door with two mice.” George informed him.
“Ok George,” he said, getting up from the seat,” I'll stand with them and give you the one-two, or at least the two-one.”
He made his way to the door and explained, in a very loud voice, what the procedure was. He wanted each two crew to be ready, as if in a parachuting line-up. He hoped to get them aboard a Befax ship every two minutes, which would take about four hours in itself. Then he had to pick up two or three lots of rescued Waterians on the way back, depending on numbers.
“Right George, on my count, two-one-zero.”
The airlock ahead of him slid open and the mice entered as usual, the crew were tensed, with their handguns at the ready.
“All clear Carl.” George informed him.
“Ok, the Neft are asleep, you have a clear run, you will be picked up within the next ten hours. Off you go.” He said to the two crewmembers and they pounced aboard as soon as there was room past the sliding airlock door. That speeded things up just that few seconds, and they were all going to count.
The moment the airlock had closed, the next began opening. This was going to turn into a clockwork operation.
“Neft awake Carl.” Said George.
“Blast!” Carl dived across the gap and had to wait a few seconds for the inner hatch to cycle. He was immediately hit with power beams and responded without mercy, his shield gleaming and his nervous system screaming in protest. Sighting was slightly hampered due to the dimming effect of the shield against the blaster beams, but the action was having good effect.
“Half the crew are awake, due to a malfunction of the deep-sleep system. Do you need any more mice?” George asked.
“Send some in George, there's a lot of Befax about.”
He swung his cutter over a dozen Befax and they fell apart. The corridor was clear for twenty metres before a Befax hand, with a gun in it, twisted out of a doorway. The owner lost that hand in an instant. Carl followed the cutter blast with a sweep over the Befax as he sped past the doorway. Their defences were all to pot. They had lost control of the ships functions and couldn't use any doorway or weapon portal. The functions were all operating in the wrong sense. Doors open, portals closed.
He surged into the control room and was hit by many power blasts as two Befax bounced off him as they leapt from the ceiling. They all perished within seconds.
“You have them all Carl,” George informed him,” the mice are returning to Shadow and the airlock is open for you.”
He turned tail and jetted down the corridor at maximum manoeuvring speed. Ever played any of those racing car games in the arcades? It was like that, the only difference being that Carl carried straight on when he hit a wall, straight through. The cars would have stopped!
He arrived at Shadow and told the crew to board. The Befax ship was theirs. They laughed and clapped him on the shoulder before waving and leaping aboard. The airlock closed and the next one opened. That was the order of the day, for the next four and a half hours. They met no other Befax ship with its crew awake, Carl was happy to relate, so the system became a very time and motion efficient procedure. There were more ships than anticipated and he was glad of the extra crew to cover them.
With the last ship boarded and no more coming out of Befax, and not likely to for quite some time, they turned tail and hitched onto the first of their return-run rescue missions. Once again they were delighted to welcome aboard the confused and very white Waterians. George managed to give them a little snack as they boarded, before they shot to the next ship. The same result there as well. Carl decided to take one more ship’s load, even if it meant a real crush, after all, it was only for a few minutes at the most.
He was never so glad to see the Water platform way ahead as they dived towards it. Pat could take the next few hours, he thought, it was now purely a case of picking up kidnapped Waterians and the deposited crew members.
Hopefully their tasks were completed, not the prettiest of jobs that's for sure. Carl didn't ask for any details but he had a pretty good idea what was happening.
“It's all yours Pat,” he said,” three hours, ok?”
“I'll take it for four,” he said,” you have a break.”
“Ok, can't say I'm going to argue about that. Good luck, see you before four hours if you get too knackered.”
“I'll be ok, bugger off.”
Carl did just that and took the lift down with the rescued population. To say there was a bit of happiness about was putting it very mildly, there were hysterical goings on when he got to level 1. Dancing and jumping about. The rescued people had certainly regained their energy, he had to give them that. He slunk into the council chamber and took an easy chair. Just to have a relax and maybe listen to some music.
Olaf woke him up to say that Pat was coming in on his last run after four and a half hours. Carl had missed his bloody rest. Slept through it. Sod.
He eased himself out of the seat, thanked Olaf and began his way back to the platform.