After explaining what had happened he just said, “Follow me,” which we did. We made our way back to the frigates only this time the soldiers stood to attention, he then ordered them to let me pass.
The sergeant in charge said, “Sorry sir but no one can pass I have a direct order from the base commander. By his command, only he can recede this order.’’
So now we had to return to the building which housed the base commander’s office, only this time we were granted access, which was due to the major who had accompanied us by ordering the guards to let us pass. Finally gaining access to the commander’s office, the commander sincerely apologised to the fact that he should have made it clear to the soldiers guarding the frigates that I was to be an exception and be granted access. At last we were now able to enter the frigates, hovering the first one over to where our cargo ship was positioned and sitting it down next to it. I was now running late, I tried to connect the nozzle but it would not fit,
“Oh no!!!’’ I cried. I had not given it a second thought that it might not fit. I looked at the end of the nozzle very closely. It looked exactly right. I now looked closely at the fuelling connector on the frigate.
“Guess what,’’ I said to Perri and Pooky.
“Don’t tell me it’s a different type of nozzle,’’ replied Pooky.
“No it’s the same type of fuelling nozzle,’’ I said, “but its connection is upside down on the frigate. The alignment pin is on the wrong side to what we are used to.’’ I turned the nozzle round one hundred and eighty degrees and it slotted in and locked with ease. These nozzles have three connections, although there was still a lot of of oxygen and helium on board this is also topped up automatically at the same time the hydrogen tank is refuelled. My three eldest daughters had pestered me all the previous evening to be able to take the controls of a frigate. After fuelling the second frigate I cast lots as to which one would be allowed to hover the frigate back to where it had previously been. I knew they were all a little jealous of Pooky getting all the attention, but there was no way that they could train the pilots as they are subject to Alkarren protocol and would not be left alone with any human male. Also they have not yet obtained their pilot’s certificate. On this occasion Jessica had the privilege, but as she had never had the honour of taking the controls of a frigate before and also that now this particular frigate belonged to the US, I had to be cautious. The frigates don’t have duel controls, but what they do have is a remote control which can be used in any seat, so it was easy for me to take command if it looked like she was in difficulty. Though I did not have to, (like a duck taking to water) she had no problems at all and quickly adapted to the slightly different layout of the controls.
The pilots now started to arrive for their day’s training. Mine were soon all present. Pooky was waiting for… yes you can guess Vicky Vomit, as Pooky now referred to him as. The others and especially Lucy loved his nickname. I could now enter my ship with my trainees and had one of them seated in the pilot’s seat. We waited now for Vicky vomit to arrive. We would both be leaving for orbit together when that time came. Pooky was getting impatient and pronounced, “If he does not arrive soon we will leave without him.” Just then one of the other trainees pointed towards the building where the pilots had been billeted, we could see this figure casually strolling towards us as though he had all the time in the world.
Pooky shouted towards him, “Hurry up Vicky Vomit we haven’t got all day.’’
He arrived and proclaimed, “Who is this Vicky Vomit?’’ in his Russian accent.
“Why it is you of course, who else would it be?” replied Pooky in her very commanding yet slightly rattled voice.
He then said, “You are very rude,’’ to Pooky.
Pooky sneered at him and in a raised even more rattled voice stated, “Rude!! You started it by insulting both Lucy and me yesterday, you are lucky that we did not leave without you. Now go inside and take a seat. But not the pilots or captains seat!’’
A bit shocked by her commanding stance he entered the frigate and sat in the same seat as the day before. Pooky was going to make him wait until last for a chance to pilot the frigate, much to his displeasure. I know Pooky will not take any nonsense from him in the slightest. I had instructed one of my trainee pilots to sit in the pilot’s seat, while I sat in the seat nearest to him. My first lesson was how to hover the ship. Pooky was doing the same but with Lucy in the pilot’s seat. I had my hands firmly gripped on the remote control, ready at a moment’s notice to take control from him. Surprisingly he was very good and in a very short time he felt at ease hovering and then landing again. It was time for the next pilot to have a go. He turned out to be just as good. In fact by the time I had finished with the last trainee I only had to wrestle control twice .This was because I felt a little worried that the two pilots concerned were trying to land too fast. As soon as this first lesson had finished it was time for the second lesson. This next lesson was to go into orbit and then perform a re-entry manoeuvre before returning to the military base and finally landing. We spent the rest of the day just going back and forth from Earth to orbit and orbit to Earth. By the end of the day I was exhausted it’s surprising how intensive it is training these four pilots; you have to watch their every move. Two more days have passed and I was now confident that they could be left to fly the frigates alone. I declared that they would all only require one more day training. After this day I would be no longer getting involved with any future training. This last day was to be where I would demonstrate the weapons. Pooky reported to me that she was no longer receiving any aggro from Vicky Vomit and also that he was no longer complaining about his nickname, which now seemed to have stuck with him. The last day had begun without any problems and I intended that it should continue that way.
After making orbit I announced, “Are you all ready to go to the moon?’’
This was greeted with surprise by all the pilots, one saying, “I did not expect us to go to the moon. Err yes I suppose I am ready, but what are we going there for?’’
I replied, “Target practice! We are going to blast the moon and create some new craters on the surface. We will be doing this on the far side of the moon for a very good reason. I don’t want any complaints from any environmentalists. You know how they would find some reason or other to complain about it, even though it would not be affecting anything on Earth.’’
We accelerated hard as we needed to get up speed to travel the distance of just under quarter of a million miles. Unlike our shuttle these frigates have the ability though their negation dampeners to cancel ninety present of the g force, not quite as good as our cargo ship but better than our shuttle. It took us just one and a half hours to get there.
We headed down towards the moon, “Are we going to land on the moon?’’ asked one of the pilots.’’
“No!! Most definitely not,’’ I replied, “The moon is a very inhospitable environment for any space ship. The dust is so dry and abrasive and should it get into the bearings of any antigravity pods we would be doomed.’’
“Where are we going then?’’ he asked further.
I continued with, “We will be hovering about six hundred feet above the surface where we will target some large boulder or other with our main weapon.’’
I let one of the trainees sit in the pilot’s seat instructing him to stay in position and not drift. I sat in the captain’s seat and armed the weapon, I had not fired a weapon at anything this close before and I was not certain what would happen. First I made sure I could grab the remote control for the ship if needed. Then I targeted a large boulder around a mile away. I fired and the beam weapon struck this boulder and obliterated it.
The frigate was first pushed out of position by the force of the beam firing, “Steady our position pilot,” I orde
red.
But there was another problem in that the force of the explosion had sent up a large amount of debris and a huge dust cloud was heading our way at quite some speed. I grabbed the remote control and backed us off, at the same time giving Pooky a warning. She had been observing from a distance a little further away. We both now gained a little altitude to escape the dust cloud. As the dust and debris started to fall back to the surface we could see through the fine dust mist created by the blast that there was now a new crater on the moon. It was now time for Pooky to demonstrate to her trainees the main beam weapon, only this time we were triple the distance from the object. This had very little effect on the created explosion. But at least we did not have to worry about the dust cloud that had been created from it. There were hundreds of boulders around the same size in the field of view. This field of boulders stretched as far as the eye could see. The trainees had a great time blasting them with the main beam and also the smaller beam weapons. By the time we had finished we had created an area that must have resembled something like the Somme during the First World War. But the fun had to end and finally we had to return to Earth, where it was now time to say our goodbyes to everyone before leaving for Alkarr. Firing at rocks is one thing, firing at the enemy would be a far different story, as they would fire back. But then firing at the enemy would be down to the pilots that we had just trained, who in turn would no doubt be training others.
Chapter 5
Pirates Strike Again
On our arrival at Alkarr it was like a vanishing act. Rachael disappeared as soon as she had left the ship. Then all the wives one by one seemed to vanish almost as fast, along with nearly all the children. Rachael I knew had been missing her friend and the wives their mothers. It again just left Perri and my two daughters by her, Yarkeli and her daughter Pooky and of course myself. As always I would be taking Perri to the moon, which she was so eager to leave for right away. But first I wished to be left alone in the man cave at our residence. First thing was go onto the information grid, first point of call, the man only forum and leave a message that I was interested in the purchasing of ground based plasma cannon. So it did not look like I was about to start a revolution or something I stated the reason. Now this would not be the normal thing to do as others may wish to get involved in acquiring plasma cannon and selling these direct to Earth, though on this occasion I was counting on the reluctance of any other Alkarrens who run a cargo business of ever considering getting involved due to the destination being Earth. In time I guessed this reluctance might evaporate but for now I had the upper hand in doing all the trade with Earth. I would check back when we were next on Alkarr to see if I had any replies at all. Lara had been living in our residence but was not around when we arrived as she commuted to her place of work each day, we would see her later. We left Yarkli and Pooky at the residence. They planned to sit out in the garden and enjoy the pleasant weather. I wished that I could have also, but I would have to take Perri, Isabell and Honey to the moon. I was interested in what the authorities on the moon had concluded regarding that Plenngy growing there and perhaps I would soon find out.
On arrival we were met by Perri’s mother, she then said to me, “When you have a moment Lidier would like a word with you.’’
“Oh! Err right, what’s it about?’’ I asked.
“Don’t look worried its only business, she replied.’’
It was the way she said that Lidier wanted to speak to me that gave me the wrong impression. Her voice was a bit harsh and demanding. Anyway it only turned out to be about those public transport vehicles. I was able to inform her about the good news and that was we could have sold them many times over, though she would have had to wait a few months before I could start transporting them to Earth.
That sorted, I politely asked about the Plenngy, “What was the outcome about that Plenngy growing on the moon and did the authorities say anything about it?’’ I asked in sort of excited way.
Lidier then said, “They came and took a picture of it though they did not seem very concerned about it growing there. The next time that I hear anything about it, was on the news. The headline being, plant life has taken hold on the moon, along with the picture that they had taken at the time. After that nothing further has been heard about it.’’
“Well if you don’t hear anything more from the authorities about it, perhaps I can get you some Plenngy seeds and you can have a garden of them? I said with a smile.’’
Lidier smiled back saying, “I will take you up on that.’’
I could foresee Lidier having a garden of these red and yellow Plenngy. They would of course need to be given some water to survive. I pictured Lidier sitting in a deckchair in an environmental suit surrounded by Plenngy. What a strange vision! When we returned to our residence on Alkarr we found Lara at home. She had missed all of us and especially me by the way she gave me a long kiss and a big hug. We all spent the next day enjoying being back on Alkarr and relaxing. Some of us went for a walk in the park and a meal at the local café and as we ate our meal we were entertained by some very fine musicians. So soon was it time for us to leave again to go to Lusiana to transport our next frigate to Earth. It was routine that after each two deliveries we spent a couple of days back on Alkarr. The time was fast approaching for Pooky to depart from us and start her training at the planetary defence academy. As we went to collect our seventh frigate that time had arrived. I had never seen so many crying at the same time, every wife and every daughter and of course especially her mother Yarkeli who was going to miss her terribly.
I tried to comfort them by saying, “Come on you lot, it not like she had died or something, you will be able to see her each time we come to Lusiana. The academy does have regular times for visiting you know.’’
“I am still going to miss my Little Pooky,’’ replied Yarkeli with her eyes streaming with tears.
I said, “Of course you will, as all of us will also, but your Pooky is now not so little and like you when the time comes I will have to let my daughters go their chosen way as well.’’ I said this in a very reluctant sort of way.
With all the experience Pooky has had with piloting our cargo ship, shuttle and especially now that she has also piloted and fired weapons on a frigate, I was sure she would be a big hit with her superiors.
After our delivery of the eighth frigate we returned as usal to Alkarr for a couple of days rest. All the wives were as always contacting their mothers on coming out of star drive and almost at once Lumi burst into tears.
“What’s wrong Lumi,’’ I cried.
She managed to inform us through her tears, saying, “My mother’s ship has been hijacked by pirates.’’
I was concerned that Lumi was getting too upset. She was now fairly heavily pregnant so I said, “You must calm down Lumi we can help sort things out. Is your family all ok?’
“Yes,’’ she replied, “but their ship is stranded at the planet Kelder. My mother and all the family are very distressed, their ship is their only income.”
Alenna had now taken command of the situation and was comforting Lumi. She then said to her, “We will go and see the Hera the prime of your mother’s house and see if we can help in any way.’’
Kelder is a frontier world rich in minerals but little if anything grows there. The planet is cold as it skims the outer edge of the habitable zone of it star. The temperature barely rises more than ten degrees above zero even at the equator during the day. There are a few volcanos and hot springs which can raise the temperature a little more but this is very much localised. All food and goods have to be transported there for the miners and their families. I had wondered what had happened to the pirates after they left Molk. They tend to go where the colonised planet or moons are less protected. These pirates are Zill. Their home planet is Zelleo
n; this world and its inhabitants are probational members of the Alliance. Describing the Zill is like mixing lots of different characteristics of mammals, birds and reptiles. They may look strange to humans then so do the Dregg, Relnorians, and all the other races of the Alliance, with the exception of the Alkarrens of course. They stand upright about six feet tall, have arms and legs, but their feet are similar to a ducks. Hands have six fingers but the outer two act like thumbs. Their colour is mainly a yellow but like a chameleon can change. This change is not to blend in with a background but is down to the mood that they may be in at the time and can be anywhere between yellow through red to black. Their heads are a little scary. Think of a snake but with very large ears and mouth that is round, though they do not have fangs. Their teeth if you can call them teeth are much like an octopus. They don’t seem to have any gaps between them. I think their eyes are the scariest thing about them, like a cat’s eye in sunlight but with this piercing yellow colour. The government of Zelleon do what they can to help make their world a peace loving planet and they do have good reputation for being hospitable to other races, but they have their problems like Earth. There are some who think they can take what they like and have little respect for any authority.
After landing on Alkarr, Lumi along with Alenna, Jenna and myself made our way to the residence of the House of Tinter to see Hera. We were made very welcome on our arrival, Hera had known that I had in the past repaired four cargo ships that the pirates had disabled. She had hoped that I may be able to help repair her ship. She then explained what had happened, which was not dissimilar to what happened to us all those years ago when the ship we were on was hijacked. It also turned out that it was not just the house of Tinter’s cargo ship that had been hijacked but three others as well, all in the matter of a few weeks.
Chronicles of Jake 2: The Invasion Begins Page 7
