Tara

by J G Possum

  The entrance to the palace was mostly gone. The Eron air force was disabled and extremely overmatched. Captain Eloy stated, “It would be suicide to chase after them.”

  General Rick was with Tron and the Council; they feared the worst. What kinds of weapons did these invaders have? General Rick said, “I don’t see how we can defend ourselves against their weapons--they are more powerful than I have ever seen and more than we could ever match. They will be back at daybreak to finish us off. We must leave the city at once.”

  Tron called Walter and told him about Zor and his wife being missing and feared killed. He described the damage to the palace.

  Lance joined the conversation and expressed his sorrow, he said. “I agree, they will be back in the morning.”

  Frank talked with General Rick. “I suggest you have all your people evacuate the city.”

  General Rick answered, “I agree.”

  Lance said, “I have the rest of the night to prepare for them; so far, they don’t know we are here on Earthland. The cloud cover shielded us, and we have a total blackout. We have a slight advantage.”

  Lance, Walter, Frank, and Andy sat in the conference room and reviewed what they knew about the invaders. They had no honor, because they attacked without warning. They were ruthless, because they killed indiscriminately. They had overwhelming weapons and they wanted this planet totally for themselves.

  Lance said, “Frank, the mega laser in the top turret, is it powerful enough to bring down their spaceship?”

  Frank replied, “It could damage it, but I don’t think it is powerful enough to destroy them. They would retaliate.”

  Andy said, “May I suggest we increase the power?”

  Walter remarked, “What if we could boost the power by running a parallel heavy cable from the hyper drive fuel cells into the laser’s power supply?”

  Frank said, “I think our mega laser can handle it.”

  Lance said, “I believe it can, because it only directs and focuses the power beam; it doesn’t contain it. The laser is a particle disrupter that overheats the molecular structure of any material.”

  Walter added, “We could put the entire bank of fuel cells in parallel. We can provide an enormous amount of power. I’m sure that would destroy almost anything they could possibly have.”

  Lance said, “It’s the only chance we have. The Aquarius is no longer a spaceship, and right now it’s a sitting duck; however, we have an enormous advantage--they don’t know we’re here. We must catch them by surprise and draw them in close enough for a direct hit from our mega laser. We’ll have one chance and only one.” Everyone nodded agreement; one chance was better than no chance.

  Walter, Andy, and Frank left the area for Deck One to find some heavy wire cable and go to work on rigging the fuel cells. They had to act quickly; there was no time to spare. Lance called Mike and had him gather a team to work on camouflage for the top of the Aquarius. He said, “No lights. You must work in total darkness, except for small flashlights. It’s imperative we are not discovered.”

  Lance needed to find a way to draw them close. He called Tron and said, “Tell me in detail how they attacked. I need all the information I can get.”

  Tron said, “Commander, they came at us fast and blasted our aircraft out of the sky without warning. They hovered over the city as if they were searching for the best target and fired several missiles at and around our palace, waited a while to evaluate the results, then flew off over the ocean.”

  Lance said, “Thank you, Tron. We are planning a surprise for them.”

  Before the sun came up, the mega laser was rewired and hopefully ready. Mike and his crew had camouflaged the top of the ship. It would be difficult to see from above. Lance called all the directors to the conference room and explained the plan. He said, “We have one chance to destroy the aliens. If it doesn’t work, they will destroy us—it’s our only hope. At some time this coming morning, they will return to Erona. We will transmit a garbled signal to distract them. We need to bring them in close so we can use our mega laser that has been modified with increased power. General Rick on Erona, using his radar, will track them and keep us informed. When we know they are over the ocean, we will begin transmitting a signal to distract them. We will send up flares and flash bursts. Hopefully they will investigate and fly close to us. When they get close, we will detonate an explosive at the rock quarry; hopefully they will investigate. We need them to slow them down enough for us to fire our mega laser.”

  Lance sent Frank and Mike with a crew to the rock quarry to prepare a large explosion. They used a fifty-foot tunnel that had been dug out of the outcropping when looking for minerals. They decided to place a large charge about twenty feet inside the tunnel and close off the entrance with the tailings from the dig. Frank wired the primer to a remote receiver and moved all equipment in the area back away from the tunnel. They worked through the night in darkness. The local creatures avoided them as if they sensed the urgency. The sun was starting to come up, so they returned to the ship as soon as they finished the work required.

  Back at the ship, they prepared for battle. Everyone was on high alert. Lance knew this day might be the beginning or the end of the human race. They didn’t ask for this ultimatum; it was thrust on them. Under the circumstances, they had no choice but to defend themselves the best way they could.

  Og and his crew of mercenaries dropped down out of the clouds in their arrow shaped spaceship and flew north over the ocean. Earthland was to the west and Erona was to the east.

  “What are your orders, great Og?” the pilot said, waiting for directions.

  Before Og could answer, the navigator announced, “I am receiving some signals from the western island.”

  Og replied in an angry voice, “I was told there was life only on the eastern island. What is this? Why was I misinformed? Someone must pay.” The navigator moved out of reach. Og screamed, “I WANT TO SEE WHAT IS THERE NOW.”

  The pilot answered, “Yes, Og.” The ship headed toward the western land mass. The forward weapons system activated as they closed the distance.

  Tron called Lance and said, “They are in our airspace as I speak.”

  Lance said to Andy, “Launch the sky bursts now.”

  On the alien spaceship, the navigator said, “There are small explosions in the sky near the shore of the western island.”

  Og said, “Prepare to attack at once.”

  The alien spaceship banked to the left and swung in over the jungle area. heading toward the Aquarius, searching the jungle surface for any signs of life.

  Andy said, “Commander, they are here.”

  Lance replied, “Trigger the explosive now.” At the stone quarry, the side of the mountain erupted with a massive blast that could be seen for miles.

  The alien spaceship quickly slowed and hovered for a second; that was all Frank needed. Up in the top turret, he was tracking the alien spaceship. In a split second, he aimed the cross hairs on the mega laser directly at the bottom center of the big triangular shape and pressed the fire button, holding it down. The laser flashed a bright red beam, hitting precisely where it was aimed.

  The center of the alien spaceship turned bright crimson red and kept expanding. The ship started to blow apart in a series of explosions. Suddenly the entire ship disintegrated into a thunderous burst as its own missiles ignited. The sky lit up with streaks of fire unfolding outward like a huge umbrella. It looked like a spectacular fireworks display. It was awesome.

  As they watched, a small piece of the spaceship dropped at a shallow angle, gliding downward over the jungle toward the coast and finally disappeared out of sight.

  Minuscule pieces of the ship fell scattered into the jungle, covering a huge area. Everyone who was involved let out a loud cheer--the plan had worked. The aliens had been destroyed; they were saved.

  Lance announced the good news to all the crew. “We did it.” Everyone on the Aquarius was exuberant with joy and relief. Lance c
alled Tron. “We destroyed their spaceship, and I believe our immediate threat is over. Only time will tell.”

  Tron was overjoyed with emotion. He told General Rick to broadcast the good news to all the people. Tron had a crew continue to remove the rubble at the palace as fast as they could. He didn’t want to give up on finding Zor and his wife Ora. Both Tron and General Rick searched through what was left of Zor’s apartment. They discovered a trapdoor in the palace floor.

  Tron exclaimed, “I remember Leader Zor telling me there was a special shelter beneath the palace floor. The shelter under the palace was constructed during the Great War--this could be it.”

  He had his work crew pry open the damaged trapdoor, which was jammed from the explosion. It disclosed a steep set of stairs that opened into a tunnel that was partially collapsed. They followed the tunnel down another set of stairs that brought them to a reinforced room that was fifty feet below the floor. Zor and Ora were standing against the far wall, waiting for them.

  Zor said, with relief, “We could hear you coming, and we’re happy to see you. At first, we thought you might be the aliens looking for us. Tell me what has happened so far. We entered the shelter when the aliens destroyed our aircraft.”

  Tron and General Rick were delighted to find them. Everyone wanted to talk at once. Zor couldn’t believe that the Earth people shot down the alien spaceship and saved both nations. It was almost too good to be true. Zor and Ora were brought to a new apartment. They were checked by their medical people and found to be in good condition but needed nourishment and rest. They had dried food in the shelter but were too nervous to eat.

  Zor immediately called Lance, who was so happy to hear his voice that he had to sit down. Lance immediately told Ashley, who notified all the directors. Everyone on Earthland was in a joyful mood. They had gone from sad to fearful to exuberant in the short period of one day.

  Zor asked Lance to bring anyone he wanted and come to Erona for a victory celebration. He said, “The party we had when I returned to Erona will not compare to the party we will have when you arrive.”

  Lance laughed and said, “We will be pleased to celebrate with you.”

  Two weeks went by and Lance, Ashley, Walter, Lois, Frank, Terry, Mike, Sue, and Andy went to Erona for the weekend. Hikaru and Takeo chose not to go because they had work that must be done, and Doctors Jonah and Mila felt the same but wished them well.

  On Erona, when the shuttle arrived, it looked like the total population had turned out to celebrate their victory over the aliens. It was a national holiday as declared by Zor. There was dancing in the streets, banners everywhere, music, singing, drinking, laughter, and eating all day long. There were signs praising the great Earth people who saved the planet.

  Tron, General Rick, Captain Eloy, Ross, the Council and even Rea, Wes, Lea and her relatives and friends were there waiting for them. They had a parade with musical instruments and beautiful clothes. Acrobats flipped through the air and some danced in spirals. The Earth people were seated on a stage near the palace.

  That evening, there was a special dinner at the round table inside the palace.

  Zor gave an emotional speech. “People of Erona, we are here to pay tribute to the brave people of Earth, who defeated the alien invaders and saved the human race and the Eron race. We will build a memorial in their honor and have it on display in our central park next to our victory statue.”

  He raised his right arm, and everyone cheered. The celebration lasted until late evening and throughout the night, and for some into the morning. Ashley looked at Lance and said, “For the first time, I feel we deserve to live on this planet. Tara is our home.”

  Lance said, “When you fight for your freedom with all you have, you appreciate it all the more. I agree with you totally, without regrets. Tara is our home.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Back on Earthland, Sue went to the rock quarry with Mike to see what damage might have resulted from the staged explosion. The tunnel had been blown apart and a large crater was evident. They searched around and Mike saw a glitter on the edge of the crater. Upon examination he realized there was what looked like a vein of gold running through the exposed rock.

  Mike said, “Sue, I think we struck gold--can you believe it?”

  Sue rushed over to take a look and exclaimed, “You’re right--we’re all rich.” They burst out laughing.

  Mike called Lance. Getting the message, Lance called Ashley, who called Lois, Lois replied, “We can set up a mining operation and use the gold to back up the national treasury. I’ll have a geologist check it out right away.”

  Mike said, “I know what gold looks like.”

  Ashley told Hikaru, Takeo, Jonah, and Mila all about the fantastic celebration that the Eron had honoring the Earth people and that they all felt like the two nations were united on this planet.

  Mike continued work on the river pier and the shopping center. Sue continued to manufacture building materials. She had the area where the gold was found fenced off and assigned a team to clean up the rubble. The geologist confirmed the gold strike, and Lois directed Andy to find a mining expert to set up and operate the government gold mine as necessary.

  Lance notified everyone about the gold find and that each person would receive a fair share for their savings account. This was a good sign, because it seemed a lot of people decided to get married. The small chapel they set up at the far end of the shopping center was kept busy several days each week.

  Walter contacted Tron and discussed how the Eron financial system worked. “It seems they also print money they call X, and gold does have a high value in Erona. The Eron also manufacture clothing, mechanical parts, building materials, land vehicles, plastic products, and almost everything you might need in a civilized world.”

  Walter called Director Hikaru and said, “I need you to establish trade relations with Erona. We can use some land vehicles and clothing for a start. We also need metal fixtures, hinges, locks, screws, nails, fasteners, and paint, etc. The government will pay for the land vehicles with gold when it is available. You can work it out. Some of our people may want to start an import-export business.”

  Hikaru agreed he would consult with Tron and come up with some Ideas. He said, “We will need all kinds of products and stores.”

  Frank was worried about what they would do if another alien spaceship showed up. He thought, We’ll keep the mega laser in good working order and blow them out of the sky, unless they’re friendly. He would talk with Lance about it; they needed a plan for future defense. He called Mike and suggested they improve the camouflage around the area.

  Lance held a meeting with all the directors and his mission support people. He said, “I need all your input. We may encounter another spaceship in the future that would want to destroy us and take over our planet. We must be prepared. We were lucky--the aliens could have hit us first and we wouldn’t be here now.”

  They discussed various ideas and decided they would maintain the mega laser in the top dome and make the increased power to it permanent. They would also keep the government center concealed from direct view by aircraft and build a tower next to the present warehouse at the shore that would have a heavy laser on the top. They needed some defense along the beach. It was also decided that Erona would need some anti-aircraft missiles as well as Earthland.

  Walter said he would assign an engineering project team to design the ground-to-air missiles they needed to protect the planet, and he would work with Tron to have them manufactured as soon as possible.

  He thought, It’s strange that you need to protect your freedom regardless of where you are in the universe. Freedom can never be realized without the constant effort to keep it.

  Lance sat back in his chair and relaxed, looking at Lois across the room. Six months passed. The date was now 04-10-503, and they had been on Tara over a year now. The community garden had already been planted. Lance, Ashley, Walter, Lois, Frank, Terry, Mike, and Sue sat on the wa
rm sand at the beach. The sun was starting to set, and the golden sky reflected off the domed dwellings directly behind them on the high ground, giving them a scarlet look. The men were making plans to explore the northern mountains. The girls were discussing new feelings realized from being pregnant. They had finely found the peace they all wanted.

  Andy drove across the beach in his personal ATV. “Commander, I have a message. Tron called. He’s coming for the weekend and he’s bringing his new wife.”

  About five miles out in the ocean, bubbles were coming to the surface.