The Peacekeepers. Books 1 - 3.

by Ricky Sides

  As battles go, it was short lived. The ship killed all but one of the men attacking within three minutes. It had been an amazing battle to observe because the people witnessing the fight had never seen the ship in battle at night. It was an incredible lightshow, and the fighting prowess of the ship and crew duly impressed them.

  Ground forces captured the lone raider survivor. Pete, Jim, and Tim interviewed him. He confessed that his group had heard about the ship and decided to take it for their use. “With that ship we could take and rule any city,” he explained.

  The three men stepped away from the prisoner and discussed the matter and then Pete returned to stand behind the man and unceremoniously shot him in the back of the head.

  Turning to face the newly formed peacekeepers, Pete reminded them that there were no prisons and there was no official law in the area anymore. He explained that letting such a man go was not possible because he would just join another group and continue to practice the lifestyle of a Marauder. He ordered a detachment to gather the bodies and bury them the next morning. The ship had to leave for a mission in the morning and the crew needed to try to get some sleep.

  Chapter 2

  Patricia’s ability to mimic the officer, who’d been in charge of the protocols for the ship, had been pressed into service to brief the new crew as to the things that they should and should not do onboard. All of the former military men of the crew thought it was hilarious to hear her mimic the officer, and several of them told her that she sounded like a female version of their old drill instructors. They completed the briefing shortly after sunrise and then the peacekeepers left on their first official mission since the establishment of their organization.

  The flight to Arley was a pleasant experience for the new Peacekeeper crew. Evan observed a portion of the flight from a chair in the control room where he watched their forward progress through the windshield. He marveled at the experience and stared in fascination as the ship approached abandoned automobiles on the highway and just flew right over them. Once they flew over a pair of teenage boys riding horses. Evan laughed as one of the boys pointed at the approaching ship in disbelief. Tim had slowed the speed of the Peacekeeper as it approached, hoping to keep from spooking the horses. Soon they left the boys and their mounts far behind as they proceeded on their course to the little hamlet of Arley, located in northwestern Tennessee.

  They had to make one detour when they found that one of the numerous bridges they needed to cross had been destroyed, but they didn’t lose much time. Jim asked if the ship could cross the river if they took the access road to the boat ramp and crossed the river to the open field on the other side. Tim looked the situation over and said he thought they could make it, but warned that they would expend a lot of power doing so.

  Jim pondered the matter carefully and then said, “If you are certain it’s safe, let’s cross here. Detouring could cost us several hours, and we have no way of knowing if other bridges we’d need to cross during the detour would be there.”

  “In theory, it’s just a matter of having a bank low enough to clear once we get to the other side,” Tim explained, “And, of course, having a nice smooth and level spot to begin the crossing. You see, we’ll need to go to full altitude to begin the crossing and then ease out over the water, because the ship will probably drop several feet the moment the electromagnetic field of the ship leaves solid ground and contacts the water. Patricia wrote an algorithm for the computer to handle the navigation, but we’ve never tested that program.”

  “From what I’ve seen so far, if she wrote it, then I trust the program,” Jim said, and meant every word. He’d seen some pretty amazing things that she’d done, as a matter of necessity, and he was quite impressed.

  Nodding his agreement, Tim said, “If it can be done with computer programs, I’d bet my life on her. In fact I already have.” He took the ship carefully down to the edge of the water. Turning to the crew he said, “Everyone strap in. This could get bumpy. Patricia, you’d better use the intercom to alert the others in the rear.”

  Patricia keyed the correct switch, and then she said, “All hands, brace for a rough ride for the next few minutes. We’re about to cross a river and this could get bumpy. We cross in five minutes.”

  Tim nodded his appreciation and activated the proper computer program. “This is so easy, I love the interface,” he said and pointed at the tactical screen, which now had a video stream overlay of the river and opposite bank. Touching the spot on the opposite bank where he wanted the ship to emerge from the river caused a green spot to appear on that position. A pop up screen asked if this was the course, the navigator wished to utilize and he touched the yes option button. A five-minute countdown began immediately. “That’s a safety feature to give us time to buckle in for what could be a rough ride. It can be disabled in an emergency by pressing the red override button on the top right corner,” he explained.

  “Patricia, please give a one minute warning over the intercom,” Jim requested as a precaution.

  “Yes, Captain,” she said.

  Jim frowned at the use of the rank but said nothing. He’d have to get used to that at some point, and the crew felt that when they were on a mission, the formality was better for discipline onboard the ship. Patricia timed the announcement so that the crew had a full one minute from the time she closed the mike connection until the ship initiated the maneuver.

  The program directed the ship to utilize the most energy efficient course. They rose to maximum altitude smoothly. The only real movement he felt was when they stopped at thirty feet and that movement reminded Jim of an elevator as the car stops and seems to bob up and down slightly for a moment. Jim admired the view out the front window. It was the equivalent of standing atop a three story building and looking out across a river. The ship smoothly edged out over the river. The sensation of being in an elevator returned as the ship immediately lost about half its altitude. Tim cursed and shouted, “The power consumption is worse than I thought. The ship is trying to compensate for the lost altitude and power reserves are dropping rapidly.”

  The ship then sped across the river on a direct course for the desired point coming ashore, as it had been programmed to do. As the Peacekeeper reached land, she shot upward about a foot and stopped rising. The ship having completed its programmed maneuver stopped and settled to a hover at the standard ten feet.

  “That went well, but I need to tweak the program,” Patricia said, and then she explained, “There’s no reason for the ship to constantly apply extra thrust with the electromagnetic coil to try to compensate for the altitude loss. It can’t reach thirty feet over water, and that was just a useless drain of power.”

  “But it worked,” Tim said with a grin.

  “Congratulations on a job well done. You two have managed to accomplish some amazing things with this ship,” Jim said in earnest and then he added, “Just knowing that we can cross rivers in this manner gives us a lot more options when we encounter obstacles.”

  “That was fun!” Evan added with a beaming smile. “I can’t wait till we cross another river!” he added.

  “Take us back to the road if you please, and resume course for Arley,” Jim said as he smiled at Evan’s enthusiasm. Turning to Patricia he said, “Please inform the crew that we have crossed the river and they can resume normal precautionary measures.”

  “Which means, walk about during flight at your own risk,” Tim observed with a chuckle. He’d advised all hands that although he was technically the pilot of the ship, he did not make all course and altitude adjustments. The computer made several adjustments on a routine basis. As a safety precaution, it caused the ship to gain altitude or detour around obstacles that the human pilot might be a bit slow to recognize as potential hazards. Therefore, walking around when the ship was in flight could lead to injuries, so the crew was encouraged to limit such activities as much as possible while they were in transit.

  An hour later, they stopped on the outsk
irts of Arley, Tennessee. They stopped along side a large building where several men had gathered and were in the process of storing meat. Naturally, their appearance startled the men, who from their outward appearances were farmers. Patricia opened up a channel for Jim to use the external public address system, and he quickly reassured the men that they were here to assist them. He further explained that in a moment, he would leave the ship to speak to them face to face and then he signaled for Patricia to kill the system. “I’ll go outside to speak with them. Under no circumstances is everyone to leave the ship.”

  “You won’t be going alone,” Pete stated in a no nonsense manner.

  “No, I’m taking Bill with me,” Jim stated and then he pointed out, “Tim is the only crewman with navigation training and you will be needed at the weapons station if something goes wrong.”

  “I agree with that assessment, for now, but you should also take Sergeant Wilcox,” Pete stated and then he added, “You never know what might happen, and we know next to nothing about what has happened here, beyond the radio broadcast that we intercepted.”

  Soon the door opened and the three men exited. Sergeant Wilcox followed close on Jim’s heels and the moment that he was outside the ship, he stepped to Jim’s left. Bill Young did likewise, stepping to the right. Both stayed a pace behind Jim, and their eyes ranged over the assembled men and boys gathered beside the smokehouse. Stopping a few feet from the men, Jim asked, “Who is in charge here?”

  “Our leader, John, isn’t here. He was shot by some raiders yesterday,” one man answered, sounding angry at the memory that his revelation had brought to the surface.

  “Does he need medical assistance?” Jim asked. “We have a doctor with us,” he added.

  “Mister, we would welcome that. We’re afraid he’ll die. We have little medical training for severe wounds,” the same man answered.

  “Where is he?” Jim asked immediately.

  “We were afraid to try to move him very far. We set up a small tent beside the smokehouse,” the man answered.

  Turning to Sergeant Wilcox, Jim said, “Sergeant, please get a couple of men and return with Maggie. We’ll let her look at the man first. If she thinks it’s safe to move him, then we’ll take him onboard the ship where she can more readily treat him.”

  The sergeant saluted and spun on his heel running back inside the ship. The crew must have anticipated his orders for moments after the sergeant had entered the vessel, he returned, followed by Maggie who was carrying her medical bag. Two of Sergeant Wilcox’s men accompanied them.

  Maggie stopped beside Jim and asked the farmers, “Where’s the wounded man? I understand that he was wounded yesterday?”

  “Yes, Ma’am, he was shot in the leg late yesterday afternoon, toward dark,” replied the man who had so far spoken as a representative of the farmers gathered there. “He’s in the small tent,” the man added and turned on his heels to lead her to the tent.

  Maggie followed in the man’s wake with the two men who had arrived with her a step behind. They were carrying a military style collapsible stretcher.

  Jim turned his attention to the rest of the assembled farm men and boys. He then told the men that they had intercepted a message about the town of Arley, and that he was here because of that message. Turning to Bill, he signaled the man to play the message for the farmers. Activating the tape that Patricia had made, he played the entire message. Murmurs of anger erupted from the assembled farmers when they’d heard the message.

  Maggie returned at that point with the wounded older man being carried on the stretcher. “His wounded leg had been cleaned and dressed but there are signs of an infection setting in. I need to sew up the wound and treat it with topical antiseptics. I’ll also need to give him a couple of shots of antibiotics and an IV to battle the dehydration that is setting in.” Turning to the farmers present she said, “You men saved his life, but leave the rest to me.” Without another word, she rushed into the ship to begin her work.

  “We have nothing worth trading you folks for what you’re doing,” the spokesman said sadly.

  Jim said, “Actually you do. You have a commodity that is in rare supply these days and we’ll take that for our assistance.”

  “What is it that you’re talking about, mister?” asked the spokesman.

  “Your friendship. All we ask in return is to be your friends,” he said sincerely.

  ***

  That night, Jim, Pete, Tim, Bill, and Sergeant Wilcox, met with the men of the community to discuss their situation. They were barely subsisting on the provisions they had at hand and had been counting on the meat that they’d stored to see them through the coming winter, but their primary concern at the moment was of course the missing young ladies. Jim reassured them that the young women would be treated well, until the Marauders returned, at which time they would spring a surprise attack on the community while they were negotiating the release of the girls. “The leader knows that if the girls are abused it could ruin his plans and he is counting on your being assured that he has kept good faith with you. This would cause you to relax your guard. He can’t know how many weapons you have here, and no Marauder likes to take unnecessary risks.”

  “But when we get the girls back they will attack anyway. Isn’t that what his message meant?” asked one of the men.

  “Yes, that’s exactly what he meant,” Jim admitted.

  “Then why didn’t he just attack us yesterday? I don’t understand,” admitted the man.

  “They didn’t attack then because he wasn’t prepared for an all out fight yesterday. He is probably accustomed to attacking only with overwhelming force. From what you folks have told me you actually had them outnumbered yesterday,” Jim said in conclusion.

  “Yeah maybe so, but they had all the guns,” one of the farmers said.

  “You folks don’t have any weapons?” Jim asked straight out.

  “We’ve got a few, but don’t normally carry them everywhere we go,” the farmer replied.

  “Well that needs to change. In these days of lawlessness, we have to be prepared at all times to defend ourselves, because we are pretty much on our own now. There aren’t many sheriffs left in the lawman business,” Jim said seriously.

  The men nodded soberly at this observation. Jim knew that recent events had done much to convince these men that if they wanted to survive, they’d need to change the way they’d been living.

  “What are we going to do about this?” asked a man who had been silent through the meeting until that point.

  With a cold smile, Jim said, “We’re going to put the Marauders down when they return your daughters, and then we are going to take on the rest of their gang. We’ll decide exactly how we are going to achieve this goal tomorrow, after we survey the surrounding area.”

  “We can’t risk our women and children,” one farmer pointed out.

  “Some of our children are already at risk!” another farmer exclaimed angrily. He was the father of two of the girls who’d been taken.

  “I meant we can’t risk the others, John. I know we need to get your kin back, and we will. We just don’t need to risk the rest,” replied the other farmer.

  “The women and children will be moved to a safe place prior to the fight,” Jim explained. “Have them ready to leave by 4:00 P.M. tomorrow afternoon.” Then he asked, “How many of you know how to use a handgun well?”

  Two men raised their hands. “You two willing to fight the Marauders?” he asked.

  “I am,” said one of the men quietly.

  “I’m willing enough; the problem is I don’t have a handgun now. Haven’t owned one in a few years, and to be honest, I’m probably rusty.”

  “I think I have a better idea,” Sergeant Wilcox said, and then he explained his plan. As Jim listened to the explanation, he thought that the plan had a lot of merit. However, for the plan to succeed, they needed to know every man who’d had close contact with the Marauders on their previous visit. Those men wou
ld need to be present when the Marauders returned.

  For another hour, the assembled men discussed plans, and then the peacekeepers returned to their ship, promising to return the next day after they’d done a thorough reconnaissance of the surrounding area. The wounded man would accompany them, but, with luck, he would be well enough to return to the community the next afternoon.

  Chapter 3

  That night the peacekeepers moved their ship a few miles from the small community to a secluded spot well off the road. Sergeant Wilcox arranged for a night watch and then joined the rest of the crew in the mess hall of the ship where they were to have a meeting.

  The mess hall was crowded, but not overly so as the sergeant settled into a seat at one of the two tables. Jim nodded to the sergeant and called the meeting to order. “What have we learned today?” he asked the crew at large.

  “Captain, if I may?” Sergeant Wilcox spoke up.

  “By all means, please speak your mind,” Jim replied.

  “Security for the ship is my responsibility and to that end I’d like to institute a couple of protocols that I think are needed,” the sergeant said with a sober expression on his face.

  “They are?” Jim asked.

  “One, we add a medic to our first contact team. The medic can determine if Maggie’s presence is required,” he said in conclusion.

  Maggie frowned at the suggestion and said, “The patient was in real need of medical treatment.”

  “This time yes, but our medics are trained fighters, Maggie. You, on the other hand, are not,” the sergeant concluded.

  “You fear the possibility that someone may take Maggie hostage?” Jim asked.