“I’m sorry, Major. That wouldn’t be possible, but I can show you something even more beautiful.”
Randall turned and motioned to 107. After a few seconds Addison, Penelope and Sela slid down the ladder and stood shoulder to shoulder under the main hatch, then removed their helmets.
A light breeze caused the ladies’ long blond hair to flow behind them, and Major Vladimir’s expression gave away his thoughts as a smile slowly spread across his face.
“That… is your crew?”
“Yep. Beautiful, aren’t they?”
“They are, indeed!”
“And twice as deadly.”
“May I ask a favor of you, Ferryman?”
“And that is?”
“My men and I would like to defect. If we return home, we will all be executed within days. Perhaps my pilots and I could be of some use to your military.”
Randall grinned. “Major, this may be your lucky day. Everyone can’t say this, but I just happen to know some people who can help you. But make no mistake, they won’t put up with any funny business and I would hate to have to shoot Boris, should he try to escape.”
Randall’s statement caused Major Nosova to shake his head and laugh loudly. “Boris is a pain in the neck no matter where he is. If you would be so kind as to provide me with the means, I will shoot him for you. But I give you my solemn promise, we will fully cooperate, including Boris.”
“Sounds like we have a deal then, and you’re off to a great start. Handing over four MiG 29’s in mint condition will certainly help your case. Now, let’s get the ball rolling and then we’ll find your men something to eat.”
Chapter 4
Cape Canaveral, August 30, 1984…
“Discovery, coming up on T minus 7 minutes, 30 seconds. Standby for access arm retraction.”
“Roger, retraction.”
As the arm began to swing away from the shuttle, near panic erupted in Mission Control.
“Director! Colonel Phelps at NORAD has just informed us three ‘fast-walkers’ have taken up positions along Discovery’s planned flight path. A pair of F-15’s are moving to intercept them now.”
When Flight Director Simmons heard the announcement, he quickly went to his desk where he inserted his master key into the main switch panel. A quick turn to the right revealed a small black button with an embossed white skull; his direct emergency link to SF-1. Without hesitation Simmons pressed the button then turned to answer his assistant.
“Acknowledged, Mr. Simmons. Inform Discovery we’re holding at T minus 7 minutes, but don’t tell them why. Let Colonel Phelps know we have a tight launch window but we’re holding until we hear from him!”
“Yes, sir!”
Halfway across the country and deep within DSSF HQ, Captain Verna Starr was just about to begin the morning in her office at Alien Eradication, when CVERS suddenly activated the TV monitor on her desk.
“Captain Starr, there is an emergency situation at Cape Canaveral. Three unidentified alien aircraft have taken up positions along Discovery’s projected flight path. The launch is now on hold.”
“Thank you, CVERS. Please notify General Barrett, then get Ares Patrol on COM 2.”
“Acknowledged. General Barrett has been notified. Captain DeArman, commanding 101, is standing by.”
“Good morning, Emmett. I trust you’re aware of the situation at Pad 39.”
“Yes, ma’am. We’ve been monitoring, and I was just about to contact you. The ships we’re seeing on our screens are unlike anything I’ve seen before. It’s another one of those situations where they seem to have suddenly materialized out of nowhere. There was absolutely nothing on the scope. We blinked and they were just there, hovering. For now they appear to be waiting for the shuttle to launch as if they know the flight path.”
“They probably do. Describe the ships.”
“There are three identical black spacecraft, with what appear to be multicolored running lights. What makes them different from other alien ships we’ve seen is that they have an odd shape, like an icosahedron! It’s hard to know the dimensions without a gauge, but my best estimate is roughly 150 feet in diameter. At this distance it’s hard to say for sure. Do you have any idea who they are or where they’re from?”
Verna’s pulse quickened and her stomach began to churn as she heard the description. “If the ships have twenty sides like a board game die, they are from a small planet orbiting a star that for us is the eye of Draco, called Etamin. The inhabitants were called Emim in the Bible, the original offspring of fallen angels and human females. Except for their height the surface dwellers look very much like humans but are the size of Nephilim or larger, and infinitely more vicious.
“Their main distinguishing features are slightly webbed hands and feet, six fingers, six toes, and some have a pale blue tint to their skin. Both males and females are considered to be among the most beautiful humanoids in the galaxy.”
“How would you like us to proceed? Should we… remove them?”
Starr thought for a moment. “Negative Heavy D, at least not yet. For now, monitor only. Try not to engage unless they attack or come within 25 miles of the shuttle and make sure you have your Rigelian insignia illuminated. Now, how are we currently deployed?”
“Insignia is easily visible. Charlie and Jack have 102 and 103 in position to assist USAF fighters with the bogies if needed or to take the handoff at angels 60 should the shuttle launch proceed as planned. Henry and 104 are covering the Yard while Ono and 105 are on high alert at HQ. I have 101 standing by to assist wherever needed.”
“Excellent! Sounds like you have everything covered.”
“Captain, we just got word the fighters have forced the bogies out of the immediate area and the countdown has resumed.”
“That’s good news. For now, let’s proceed with the escort. We need the satellites Discovery will deploy up and running, ASAP. Starr, out.”
As Verna sat down at her desk she heard a soft knock on the door. CVERS answered, “Place hand on scanner. Scan complete. Prepare for retina scan. Scan complete.”
Over the intercom Verna could hear a familiar voice. “Really? Is all of this necessary?”
Without looking up from her papers, Verna smiled. “CVERS, identify.”
“Identification complete. Addison, lieutenant, pilot. Currently assigned to squadron SF-1, fighter 107. Security clearance, insufficient for this area.”
“Thank you, CVERS. It’s all right. Override security protocol this instance only. Code: Starr, 100-00-001.”
“Security code override accepted.”
Addison could hear the sound of gears turning and dead bolts releasing. After a few seconds she was stepping over the threshold of Starr’s office. As soon as she laid eyes on Verna, Addison stopped, gave a quick salute, and then took off.
“Permission to speak plainly, ma’am?”
“Gran…”
“Is all that really necessary? We are on the same team you know. It’s a pain! It’s like I’m trespassing in some super hero’s lair or something.”
With a slight shake of her head Verna looked sternly over the top of the report she had been reading. “Good morning, Lieutenant. I didn’t expect to see you today. If I had been given the opportunity to answer, I would have said, ‘permission granted,’ but please, don’t let me interrupt you.”
“My apologies, ma’am. I’m a little on edge. We’ve been on R and R for a week and I guess I have too much energy.”
“Is there anything important I can assist you with, or did you just stop by to complain about my security protocols?”
“Well… yes, ma’am. The girls and I, that is, Lieutenants Sela, Penelope, and I, we were hanging out by 107 monitoring DSSF channels on the launch and we heard about the bogies and thought we could help out… or something.”
Verna’s gaze returned to the report she had been processing. “What you mean is, you are all bored and hoping I might send you up today?”
“
Yes, ma’am, something like that. It’s been over two weeks since I’ve flown. I need to fly and I assume the shuttle is carrying more than simple communications satellites.”
Verna smiled. “That’s very astute, Lieutenant. You’ve come a long way since we first met and you assume correctly. Oh, they’re all communications satellites and they’ll be operated and paid for by the entities as listed. But in order to quickly replace some of the resources DSSF lost in our recent battles, we have piggybacked a few software packages of our own on each satellite. So, we need this mission to be flawless, but since most of the squadron is already providing cover and closely monitoring the situation, I suggest you all go enjoy your time off, have some fun and don’t be sad.”
Again, her very expressive face betrayed Addison. She might try to hide her feelings with her words, but that face would never let her get away with anything. “Ok, then. I guess I can wait until next week.”
Verna couldn’t help but smile a little as she watched the lieutenant’s shoulders slump and her sad little face fall. “I tell you what, why don’t you stay and watch the shuttle launch with me, but after that, I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on.”
Addison’s face instantly brightened as she stood straight up and moved closer to the TV. Her miraculous transformation confirmed what Starr had suspected all along.
“Did you just play me?”
“Play you? I don’t understand.”
“Don’t give me the innocent routine, Lieutenant. You know exactly what I mean. You’re… a daddy’s girl!”
Addison couldn’t help herself as she quietly giggled. “Yeah, maybe just a little. I could always get anything I wanted from my dad. All I had to do was look sad and make a pouty face and he’d cave.”
Verna grinned. “I understand you well. I was a daddy’s girl, too. I’m going to have to add sneaky to your dossier.”
Verna increased the volume just as the countdown clock hit zero and the news station anchor began his description of the liftoff.
“There it is! With a beautiful liftoff, Discovery is on its way! Having completed the now familiar roll, STS-41-D has finally launched at 8:41 am local time after a six-minute, fifty-second delay due to a private aircraft that flew into restricted airspace near the launch pad. This time around the shuttle is carrying three commercial satellites, including one for the Navy that was specially designed to be deployed from the shuttle.”
Fifteen minutes into the launch Verna was anxious to get back to work. “Ok, lieutenant, they’re up and I have a lot to do.”
“Yes, ma’am. Would you know where Commander Randall could be found?”
“He was still in bed when I left this morning, but that was a couple of hours ago. Since he is not scheduled to come in today he’s either sleeping in, or by now, looking for food. Go check the mess hall.”
“I will. Thank you, ma’am.”
Starr accompanied the lieutenant as far as DSSF Tactical where she found General Barrett. “Good morning, Captain. I’m glad you’re here. I was just about to get a sit-rep on the launch. Captain DeArman should be reporting in any moment.”
“Heavy D to Olympus.”
“Go ahead 101; Barrett here. What’s the latest on the launch?”
“The mission is proceeding on schedule, sir. It’s been a flawless flight to this point. No anomalies. The bogies quickly moved away as we approached them and remain out of visual range. With Discovery preparing to deploy her satellites, I thought it best 102 and 103 orbit alongside her until the mission is accomplished. I have complete confidence Charlie and Jack can handle any outside interference.”
Barrett glanced at Starr who nodded her approval. “Excellent! Can you provide us with any intel on those alien ships?”
“Affirmative, sir. I just transmitted a brief but clear video to Tactical. I’m sure it will be of use to Captain Starr, but communication protocols were useless. I think there must have been some kind of solar interference because we couldn’t tell if they were responding or not. All we heard in response was some super heterodyne and buzzing.”
“Stay with it, Captain. Obviously you have things well in hand. Notify HQ the moment the mission is complete. Barrett, out.”
As the com-light went dark, the general turned to face the screen and Verna, and what he saw caused him great concern. Her body language was as though she was bracing for a hard blow and her face had turned pale. Little drops of sweat began to form around the edge of her hairline as she held her breath while praying silently. Without a word she waited patiently for the image of the ship to appear on the screen, and then finally it was there. Her eyes widened and her fists grew tight when she easily identified the mystery spacecraft.
Verna stared at the screen for a few moments before she began whispering to herself. “No! God no! We’re not ready!”
Barrett could not understand what she was saying, but it quickly became obvious Verna was extremely upset. The sight of the Emim ship had triggered a strong reaction and she was now fighting hard to control her emotions.
At that moment, she was far away, deep within herself, as her mind suddenly filled with thousands of images of indescribable horror. She had kept all of the excruciating nightmares Kontana had shared with her buried in the deepest part of her mind until the image on the screen caused everything to suddenly come flooding back, and in their entirety.
Some images were so shocking and supernaturally grotesque they defied even her advanced vocabulary to describe, but Kontana had not shared everything with her, only what he knew she could handle. The worst atrocities the Emim had inflicted on their enemies were so vile just a passing glance could drive a normal person to insanity. It was as if she were gazing into the core of Hell itself, and if she could not return to full awareness soon the images in her mind would permanently overwhelm her ability to escape. The general watched Verna’s reaction to the image on the view screen for several more seconds before speaking.
“Captain, are you alright? You’re white as a sheet. Can you tell me anything about these icosahedron shaped ships?”
Barely able to hear him, Verna did not respond as she continued to stare blankly at the screen, but after a lengthy silence the general raised his voice and tried again.
”Captain? Captain!”
Seeing Starr in this catatonic state was more than the general could take. After a few more seconds he grabbed her shoulders and shook her as he literally shouted in her face, “CAPTAIN! SNAP OUT OF IT!”
This time the sound of Barrett’s voice penetrated the satanic turmoil in her mind. Verna flinched severely as tears began to stream down her face, but slowly she returned to the living. In an effort to get her eyes off the monitor, she turned toward the general, and after a few moments she composed herself well enough to respond to his question, as though nothing had happened.
“An icosahedron… is simply a polyhedron, it has 20 segments.”
Barrett didn’t have a clue why she was in such a state, but after a few seconds he quietly responded. “Yes, I have an understanding of basic geometry, Captain. I mean tell me about the race that uses them. I take it they are in the data base you uploaded to CVERS.”
“Yes, sir. During my time with Kontana, I studied them. I know the ship. Only one race uses that configuration. The Rigelians list them as one of the most intelligent, advanced and deadly in the galaxy. They are known as the Rephaim, the first born of fallen angels and the forefathers of the Nephilim, who pale by comparison. They were the largest, fiercest and most vicious of all the giants, demons who took wives of human females. Larger Rephaim easily stood fifteen feet in height with twenty-four fingers and toes. It is said that all who saw them were instantly filled with crippling terror. The Moabites named them, ‘Emim.’
“Think of them like their Nephilim children but in every conceivable way they are much more advanced and exponentially more evil. The Emim have fought with and nearly defeated the Rigelians several times. All other races give them plenty of room and of
fer little opposition. Their culture has two main goals: domination and colonization.
“Even the Gorgons are terrified of the Emim. Kontana warned me they would eventually come, but we had hoped it would not be so soon. By now word of our engagements with the Greys, Nephilim and Gorgons must have spread through most of the other nearby planetary systems, and they have probably come to examine things for themselves. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Anakim has asked for their help, and I pray that’s not the case. Even so, from what Kontana shared with me, doing so could blow up in Anakim’s face. The Emim are not known for working with anyone. They left this system long ago, even though they and the Nephilim are family, because they could not coexist. Since that time the Emim have become very powerful.
“Tactically, the Emim are among the elite of this galaxy, having learned the art of war after many centuries of fighting against every race they encountered. They are very patient and study their prey until they know every strength and weakness. If they are interested in us or anything our planet has to offer we’ll know soon enough. To them we are not a world of many nations. We are a world infested with multiple inferior life forms that are in their way. We’ll be left alone until they are ready to remove us, and by that I mean complete slavery or utter annihilation. And the worst thing about them is that on the rare occasion where they decide it’s not worth the effort to remove something in their way, they destroy everything. It’s the mentality of, ‘If we can’t have it, neither can you.’ Not even the Nephilim do that.
“During my time with Kontana in Monument Valley, he and his people shared many things with me, mostly by way of mental image. I don’t understand how they do it, but when our palms touched and I completely cleared my mind, I could see all the images in Kontana’s mind. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Kontana and his aides were able to impart vast amounts of knowledge to me in that way, almost their entire history on a day-by-day basis. Learning from them by this method is the most efficient way I have ever known. What would have taken me years just to skim over, I learned in macroscopic detail in mere minutes. It was like downloading the entire Library of Congress in less than a day, and with perfect clarity and comprehension. We did that for many days, after which we telepathically discussed the finer points of the most important issues we all face. Much of it was so peaceful and amazing, but there was also a tremendous amount concerning some races that are unimaginably frightening and the Emim were the worst by far.
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