by Jim Laughter
Without moving, she surveyed her surroundings. What she could see of the room and its utilitarian furnishings confirmed it was indeed a service facility. That meant she was in good hands. The service took care of its own. As much as it galled her, she resigned herself into their care.
While she lay there, she assessed her situation. She was captain of one of the advanced Fast Attack Recon (FAR) scout ships. She’d racked up some modest successes to her credit and the future looked bright. She had even met an eligible young man who returned her interest. Right now, Stan Shane was on yet another unusual mission on a closed planet. As far as Leatha was concerned, her life was under control.
But now this had happened. In a flash of light, her independence and her much-valued control were gone. Now she was in the hands of others. Others would tell her what to do. Others would help her through this challenge. Others would help her regain her life. It was both comforting and frightening to have even trusted people in charge of her life, right down to the simplest detail.
Moreover, it had already started. Someone had even removed her uniform and changed her into a standard hospital jumper. She was for the moment no longer Leatha, fearless captain of the Aurora. She was Leatha, the scared little girl trying hard not to hide under the covers of her hospital bed.
Leatha realized that in her musings she had forgotten about her sense that another person was there in the darkness with her. Feigning having just awoken, she rolled onto her side.
“I know you’ve been awake for a while, Leatha,” said a calm but strong feminine voice. “And you’re safe, which you’ve no doubt figured out. Just get your bearings and we’ll talk when you’re ready.”
Leatha rolled a bit more so she could see where the voice was coming from. In the dim light of the room, she could see the outline of someone sitting in the corner watching her.
There was no sense of malevolence or intimidation in that look. More of a sense of camaraderie that comes from shared experience. It occurred to Leatha that this woman, whoever she was, was most likely not only a medical professional but a Lady of the Fleet as well. It was the one family Leatha could identify with.
“Who are you?”
“I am Lieutenant Rose Sharon. I’m in charge of the night shift here in our wing. But you just call me Rose.”
“What am I doing here, Rose?” Leatha asked and then regretted asking such an obvious question.
“I think you may have already come to some conclusions about that on your own,” Rose said. “But to fill you in, I’ll answer your next question first. It is approaching 0200 hours and you have been here since they brought you from the main lounge yesterday afternoon.”
“So I blacked out?” Leatha asked.
“In a way,” Rose replied. “I think of it as more ‘blacking in’ if you please. You were someplace, that’s for sure. But it wasn’t here and now.”
“What happened?” Leatha questioned. “I mean in the lounge.”
Rose didn’t answer immediately as if pondering what and how much to tell.
“From what I’ve pieced together, you were sitting alone watching that new ship docking at the Gamma hub,” Rose said. “Then something happened that sent you into shock. A server noticed it first and called for emergency assistance.”
“I remember watching the fireworks display,” Leatha offered. “Then... then...” Leatha lapsed into silence as she felt the room become unsteady around her.
“Don’t push it right now, Leatha,” Rose said. “There will be time for that, but not now. You need to get your mental feet under you first.”
“But I was there again,” Leatha sobbed.
“No Leatha, the best part of you is here,” Rose said so Leatha could hold onto the here and now. “Only a small part of you is still there.”
“But it was so real!” Leatha exclaimed. “I could sense everything! The sights, the sounds... the smells...”
“And inside you it is still real.”
“What am I going to do?” Leatha asked, pleading for just a little understanding. “I can’t fly like this! It’s over! My life is over!”
“No!” Rose said firmly. “Your life is not over. That is the point.”
“But no one can trust a captain that blacks out.”
“You may be correct,” Rose agreed. “But we’re going to work on that, aren’t we?”
The room grew silent while Leatha contemplated the importance of those words. In one brief sentence, Leatha herself had outlined the challenge that rose up before her. A fierce desire in her to reclaim all that she had been rose up in answer.
“What do you mean my life is not over?” Leatha asked, breaking the silence.
“As I said, a part of your life is still stuck back there. And now in one of those mysterious ways the Unseen One made our minds work, your psyche has decided now is the time to deal with it.”
“I would call it bad timing.”
“Most do,” Rose replied with a chuckle. “But experience has taught us that it usually isn’t.”
“So my life is on hold while I deal with this?”
“Correct,” Rose said. “But don’t hold onto it or it will get in the way.”
“You mean I have to give up flying?” Leatha’s voice was filled with fear.
“This will be hard to hear, but it is the truth,” Rose said. “But yes. You have to give up not only flying for a while, but everything about your life has to be on the table right now or you will just end up running in circles and never escape.”
Leatha swallowed hard and thought even harder. Surely this person could not be asking her to give up everything she had attained; everything she lived for just because of a bad waking dream! I can handle it, she thought.
“No you can’t,” Rose said as if reading her mind. Leatha jumped.
“What are you saying?”
“That you must be willing to lay it all down,” Rose replied gently. “Together we can sort through whatever is in your past that has interrupted your life.”
“What did you mean about not holding onto my life?” Leatha asked. She chided herself for being so full of questions. But right now she needed answers.
“Leatha,” Rose began, “if you hold on to the current template of your life, you will not be able to receive what comes next.”
Leatha could see Rose hold up a hand in the darkness as she was about to speak.
“Hear me out, Leatha,” Rose went on. “I can’t promise you anything. But I suspect when we are finished, you will still wear a captain’s plate. Beyond that, I can only offer conjecture. We will see what your new life is as it unfolds.”
Mention of her captain’s plate brought Leatha’s thoughts to her ship, the Aurora.
“What about my ship?”
“The Aurora has been moved,” Rose said. “She is now safely in a refurbishing facility. Since they have the time, I understand they may do the annual inspection early and throw in a few upgrades to boot.”
“Now that’s an enticing thought.”
“I hope so,” Rose answered. “But keep it as a goal. A goal of having a new Leatha for a new Aurora.”
“And what about my personal effects?” Leatha asked. “I even have a few plants on board. They were a gift,” she added, thinking of a certain young man.
“Don’t worry about those. They’ll be waiting for you tomorrow in your new room.”
“Tomorrow?” Leatha asked. “You mean you’re moving me somewhere?”
“Yes, we are,” Rose replied as she got up out of her chair.
“But I thought I was getting get out of here in a few days.”
“Put that out of your mind,” Rose said, stepping closer. The room was still too dark for Leatha to make out her facial features. “You are being transferred to a planetside facility tomorrow. Prepare yourself. You will be there for the duration.”
“But...” Leatha started to say and then let it go with a sigh. “My life is over,” she finally said in a whisper.
&nbs
p; “Yes,” said Rose gently. “Your old life is over. But it was a life held together by sheer grit from what I can see. As much as you don’t like it, Leatha, it’s time for some mental housecleaning.”
“But I don’t want to do it!” Leatha exclaimed. “I want my life back!”
“Leatha,” Rose said, gentle but firm. “Listen to me. Tomorrow you begin a journey that will try your soul. You are going to go back and reclaim parts of your life that are on hold. Then and only then can you go forward again into a new life that will make the current one you mourn pale by comparison.”
“Will I see you again?”
“I’ll be here in the morning when it comes time for your transfer. Now you must rest.”
Rose left Leatha alone in her room with her thoughts. She contemplated her life and the sudden unexpected turn it had taken. A single tear coursed down her cheek.
Chapter Four
“Don’t be too long, Leatha!” her mother called as the small, spry child ran out the back screen door. “Lunch will be ready soon!”
“I won’t, Mother.” She ran across the back lawn toward the gap in the brush along the fence. Her father had tried in vain to train the shrubbery to close the gap, but the constant traffic of his youngest daughter prevented it.
In seconds, the seven year old was diving through the gap and rushing headlong down the trail into the woods. Although small by adult standards, the one acre of trees was an entire wonderland to little Leatha.
Following the winding trail, she wove from side to side, brushing the leaves with her fingers. Part way through, she happened upon a small cluster of butterflies and danced with them in a ray of sunlight. After only a few minutes, she heard her mother’s voice calling for her to come home.
Leatha’s mother stuck her head out the door to encourage her to hurry along. Suddenly, half a dozen parallel contrails streaked across the sky. The girl stopped and stared up as the sonic booms of whatever caused the contrails hit them. In seconds, the craft were out of sight over the far horizon. Leatha’s father stuck his head out of a window and stared up at the contrails.
“What are they, Daddy?” Leatha asked as she resumed her journey toward the back door.
“I don’t know, honey.” He looked over at the back door and met his wife’s eyes. Both shrugged and pulled their heads back into the house.
An hour later, Leatha’s parents turned on the news broadcast band. They were in mid-report about the strange ships that had entered their atmosphere and landed on a small, uninhabited island. After listening to a bevy of commentators talking about one possibility then another, the conclusion was simply that no one knew. When the coverage started repeating itself, they turned it off.
“What do you think?” May Mordon asked her husband. She knew he had jumped on the information net right after lunch.
“Just lots of speculation,” Neal said. “Some think it’s the Galactic Axia ships returning.”
“That old legend?” she asked. “That’s just a bunch of old stories.”
“No it’s not,” Neal answered. “The remains of the old fields prove it. Whether these are the same is hard to say. If they were, why didn’t they land at the last of the old landing fields? It still has enough clear space, even though most of the buildings are gone.”
“You’re right,” May agreed after a moment. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Well, whoever they are, we’ll know soon enough,” Neal said as he turned to go back to the computer in his home office. “The authorities are already getting a delegation on its way to the island. We’ll have an answer sometime tomorrow.”
∞∞∞
“First element has landed unopposed,” the speaker squawked over the Cluster Commander’s intercom.
“What is the report from the overview flight?” the commander growled into a speaker tube.
“No evidence of indigent star travel,” came back the reply.
“What of those bases we spotted on long-range view?” the Cluster Commander demanded.
“All are abandoned.”
“Communications,” growled the commander again into the tube. “Analysis of their communications capability.”
“All communication is local on planet and not capable of star range,” returned the answer from another part of the red ship. “Native language matches an archaic form of the Human Mass dating back many spawnings.”
“Any Human Mass ships?” the cluster commander demanded as his claw tightened on the speaker tube.
“None detected on long-range or on any known or anticipated tangents,” was the reply over the speaker.
“Any detection equipment?”
“None beyond local atmospheric capability,” someone answered over the speaker.
The Cluster Commander liked that. It meant their large fleet of raiders and transports were safe from detection, allowing the attack a better chance of achieving surprise.
“What about planetary weaponry?” the commander asked as almost an afterthought. He found himself thinking about the Hive Representative seated behind him. He feared this individual more than he feared the humans on the planet they were orbiting.
“None of any range or cosmic significance.”
The commander turned and faced the Hive Representative. “It would seem that things are proceeding according to plan,” he said to his superior.
“That would appear to be the case,” was the Hive Rep’s harsh reply. “You may proceed.” The commander returned to his speaking tube.
“Initiate landing as planned,” he ordered. “Picket ships maintain perimeter sensor grid and only use tight beam signals.”
He watched his detection screen and saw ships move into position to obey his daring plan. Out through the viewports of his ship he saw they were now heading down toward the preselected, uninhabited island.
For a planetary attack, his plan was unique. On previous raiding missions, he noted there were many planets in this galaxy that were well populated but lacked basic defenses. Although the hated Human Mass was around, they were strangely unaware of these regions, so the raiders ran into few patrols to fight. This made for good hunting. It always seemed such a waste of energy and material to send whole battle fleets through the transit tubes to fight nothing. His proposal had been to take a planet by stealth with a minimum number of warships and transports.
It had taken a long time for his proposal to wind its way through Cluster Command, but eventually he had been called upon to explain it in detail to members of the Main Hive. He’d heard the Main Hive tended to eat the foolish alive at these hearings, sometimes literally, so it was something he feared. But it was also a chance to prove his point. And if it worked, he would gain promotion to a more secure level within the Main Hive structure. The power and position this would give him would be worth the risk.
So with a mixture of trepidation and pride, he presented his daring plan. It was unlike the usual crush and grab approach the Hive used against defended planets in the galaxy containing the Human Mass. It took advantage of the fact that the Human Mass organization and its ships were not everywhere at once nor evenly spread. Finding a region that had both high populations of edible humans and low expectations of running into Human Mass ships was a windfall to be taken advantage of.
After initial long-range scans of the chosen planet determined that it was truly isolated with few or no defenses, a small scouting band of ships would be sent in for an orbital survey. Numbering perhaps five or six, these ships would skim the upper atmosphere and gather hard information on defenses, communications, and space-going capabilities of the planet. Also gleaned would be anything in general about the inhabitants and its major population centers. All of this was just a small variant of the usual approach taken to any targeted planet of humans.
The stealth part came in this next phase, he pointed out to the Hive delegation. Choosing, if possible, an uninhabited location, a very few ships would land and remain sealed. That is, all except one. Out of that o
ne would appear a bogus representative group to parlay with the local inhabitants. If the Hive species was recognized, the plan would revert to the usual smash and grab approach. If not, negotiations for visits to other population centers would be arranged for the other ships that had landed. Lulled by the few number of ships, it was hoped that the native humans would agree.
Assuming the humans agreed, the other ships would be dispatched to visit major population centers. Each would arrive at a coordinated time and then perform a double sweep over their assigned area. This was to detect any communications or defense capability that might have been previously overlooked. If it proved clear, each ship would take up station over their assigned center. Then using an electro-magnetic pulse, disable all electrical and radiation technology within blast range. That accomplished, the harvesting ships and transports would be called in to do their grisly work.
The commander waited while the Hive delegation considered his proposal. Its beauty was speed and economy. It would allow more planets to be taken in half the time of the usual method. Considering the demand for human meat, and the high cost of transporting entire battle fleets, the commander hoped the delegation would decide to see the advantages of his proposed method.
And decide they did. The delegation agreed to an experiment of the new method, and that the commander would lead it under the watchful eye of a Hive Representative. The commander bowed his thanks as orders were given to facilitate the formation of his new experimental attack group. The power of the Delegation was such that although many thought the plan foolish, none dared slack in trying to assure its success. It only took a few time cycle turns for ships and materiel to be assembled.
Then came the trip alone. The commander and his ship were sent ahead in what he thought of as a squirt tube to the sector he had chosen. Never had he felt so alone. Even when he’d first visited this galaxy as a young scout, he’d always known others of the Hive were out there as well.
But this was different. This trip was done in total secrecy. That way if he failed, none of the Delegation would bear any blame. There could be no call for help. He either lived and succeeded or died alone in shame on this mission.
