She ran straight towards the Crillon shouting a battle cry and firing back.
His mouth dropped open as this screaming demon hurtled past.
He couldn't move; he looked slowly down and saw a large hole where his stomach had been, coughed, and fell forward.
With her weapons thundering in the close quarter fight, Susanna, still shouting her ancient battle cry propelled herself into the remaining three startled-looking Crillons. In the end, all eight Crillons were dead.
As the Marines headed for the building housing the warp crystal growing machines, Susanna knelt and cried for a bit until Pavonisien hands lifted her gently up.
Susanna stood there shaking uncontrollably. Then calmed, as Frank's voice came over their link.
'Brilliant darling. Now rest, please. Our baby probably doesn’t know which way is safe anymore.’
She chuckled with relief. 'I haven't had so much fun. No, I mean helped so much, for a long time.'
'I know what you mean. It feels good.’
‘Can I interrupt you two?’ Andromeda said. ‘Commander Tripicac has seen drone 23's recording. He understands what you had to do. But, he's a little worried that we may have more frightening women like you, Susanna.’
Susanna laughed but was interrupted, as another force-craft landed. Michael and five more Marines leapt from the craft, weapons at the ready.
“Wow! That was scary,” exclaimed Brendereen. As he and Acarea came running to meet Susanna.
“You need to rest Susanna,” pointed out Acarea. “Or you'll lose the baby.”
“I understand. But we had to win, whatever the cost.”
“And there are no Pavonisien casualties,” Michael said as he approached with the Marines.
“Where’s Mark?”
“We'll take them all to him,” one of the Pavonisiens offered.
“Great,” Michael acknowledged as he went off with the group to the crystal growing plant.
After recovering, the marine captain came across to them. “You wouldn’t like to join my team, would you Susanna?” He jokingly asked.
“Afraid not Captain. You have very experienced men.”
“We'll, most of them. I know you couldn't see their faces behind the armour, but two are female,” he said, with pride.
“I didn't know there were any other female crew members. Just Alice and myself. They're not in the log?”
“That's not strictly true. A marine’s gender is not registered as females are not allowed special treatment.”
“Then, I'm definitely not joining your band of soldiers.” Susanna ended, with a smile.
“What do we do with the dead Crillons, do you want them returned to one of their ships?”
“I'll ask.”
Susanna paused a moment then thought 'Andromeda.'
'Yes, Susanna.'
'The marine captain would like to know what you want to do with the dead Crillons.'
'I heard him ask. Frank's talking to the Crillon commanders now, one moment.' Thirty seconds later, 'Bury them there, as a reminder of what not to do.’
“OK,” said the marine captain, as he walked away to his men.
'Another thing Andromeda. Can I bring Brendereen and Acarea to see the ship?
I want to show them, how much both us, and our technology have advanced since their ship left Earth?'
'I can't see why not. I'll check with Frank, to see if there's some reason I'm unaware off.’
'Thanks. However, there’s one thing that’s bothering me about them, Andromeda.’
'What is it?’
'Is it possible that Brendereen and Acarea may have, not telepathy, but a heightened sense of awareness?’
'What do you mean? I'm not sure where this is going.’
'It's just something about them. They said they had mentally felt a batch of settlers, coming from their fifth city Hero, which was destroyed by a volcano a long time ago. They also said that they sensed us when we first entered this system.’
'I see, and you think they may have abilities that we don't?’
'Well, when we used Drone 23 to go to their home. Acarea, in particular, sensed it’s coming, and Bren had to calm her.’
'I agree; there seem to be some interesting anomalies. So, if they have to come onboard, I will do a thorough scan.’
'OK, but try not to let them know you're doing it. I wouldn’t want them to think we don't trust them.’
'But, if you’re not open about things with them, then you don’t.’
'I do trust them. It’s something else.’
'Then, I will be extra careful Susanna. Ah, it’s Frank.’
'Hello, Sues. I agree with Andromeda. Yes, bring them up on the next force-craft.
But they can only stay for two hours. We still have a lot to do. They can spend more time with us when the Crillons are gone There’ll be a lot to sort out to help them.’
'Excellent,' she replied. Noticing that Bren and Acarea were looking a bit left out.
“How would you two like a visit to my ship?”
“We'd love it,” Acarea said excitedly.
“By that force-craft thing, I suppose you mean,” Bren muttered.
“Afraid so. Not scared of heights, are you?”
“No, it just seems strange, no solid walls.”
“You'll be okay Bren. Have you finished talking to your people about what’s happened, and to let them know that we'll be coming back here when we've got rid of the Crillons?”
“Yes. But they are waiting for some guidance for the future.”
“Aren’t we all,” Susanna chuckled. “Oh, by the way. The captain, Frank that is, said he can only give you two hours on board this time.”
“Frank. He’s the father of your child!” Acarea interrupted.
“Yes, we're getting married when we get back to Earth.”
“Congratulations,” Bren said. “But, I'd hate to be in his shoes if you ever have an argument. Uh, that is, seeing your ability today.”
“Don't listen to him, he's always putting his foot in it, so the saying goes.”
Susanna couldn't help smiling at Bren and Acarea. They were so open and natural.
'Andromeda. Is force-craft number 5, free?’ She asked.
'You may use it. Oh, one moment, Susanna. Yes, it's free, but Ned and a marine want to come back up.'
'That's fine,’ she replied.
Then turning to face Bren and Acarea, said, “We have a couple of passengers. A few minutes and we'll be on our way.
I'll try not to use the implant, unless I have to. I know that it seems rude.”
Ned and the marine walked up to them. “All aboard,” Ned said, with a smile. As the force crafts field collapsed.
Susanna noticed that the marine’s face was obscured behind his body armour's helmet. The gold crest insignia on his shoulder was also different from the ones she had seen before.
“Are you flying it, Ned?” asked Bren.
Ned looked at him. “No, the marine is. You only have to sit back and enjoy the ride.”
“I don't know about enjoying the ride, but it’ll be interesting.”
“He's just a worry gut,” Acarea said, smiling at Ned.
They all mounted the force crafts platform and sat down.
The Marine placed his heavy assault rifle in a retaining clip, then stood in front of what was obviously a special seat. Unlocked the helmet’s seal, and let it pivot backwards. It seemed to shrink, then disappeared into a raised compartment across the width of his shoulders.
Both Bren and Acarea were surprised as the marine stretched upwards as much as the suit would allow. Then pulled long blond hair out from the neck ring, shaking her head to loosen her hair.
“That feels better,” she said. Then, noticing their surprise, said, “Ah, you didn't know my gender. Well, the crest should tell you I’m female.
I'm Jenny. Some people call me Jen, but I prefer Jenny.”
“Glad to meet you,” said Acarea, a little shocked.
Jenny smiled at her. “Can't let these boys have it all their own way now, can we?”
“We certainly can't.”
Susanna, still smiling after hearing the exchange. Picked out two pairs of standard magnetic shoes from the craft's locker, and handed them to Brendereen and Acarea.
“Put these on, or you might start floating around.”
“Shall we get going? Some of us have work to do,” Ned remarked irritably.
Jenny looked at Ned. Parted her full lips in a kiss and blew it at him. His face reddened as she somehow twitched her nose while steadily locking her blue-grey eyes on him.
Then, as she turned away, her face went blank with concentration.
The craft's force-field came on, causing everyone's hair to stand up for a moment. Their seat’s hand-grips extended. Then the force-craft shot up into the air and accelerated rapidly. The force pushing everyone back in their seats, and making Ned curse.
Bren and Acarea looked out through the misty force-field and saw the industrial park already far below. Bren felt a bit sick and kept very still. Frightened to move.
City Vicrea came slowly into view as the horizon started to curve. Then, they could see city Velcray and its industrial park.
Bren thought the cities seemed larger than they really were. He began to relax and started to enjoy the trip.
Next came city Marca, then the large crater that was once City Atreen. All of them together, under a cloudless sky.
Now the planet showed globe. Unlike Earth, only a quarter of its surface held water.
Bren and Acarea turned their attention spaceward, looking for their destination ship, the Andromeda.
Ten minutes passed. Then, Acarea pointed to a group of tiny golden specks of light shining out of the blackness of space.
“That must be them.”
“Yes. Soon you'll be able to distinguish the two Crillon ships from ours,” Susanna said.
Minute by minute, the specks were separating into two distinct colours. Gradually changing to show the four, golden-coloured, sleek and tapered StarShips. Plus, two copper coloured Crillon battlecruisers.
“They look very close together,” Susanna remarked. “But, they're each about four kilometres apart. They also seem a little denser in colour than they actually are, but that's due to Pavonis’s tone.”
Their star, Delta Pavonis, was yellowish orange in colour. Giving the planet a look, similar to Mars, but with splashes of green, these being interspersed with the bluish-orange streaked colour of the water.
“Which is your ship?” Bren asked.
“That one,” said Susanna, pointing. Then, as if by magic, a light shone out half-way along one of the golden looking ships. The holding bay door had opened.
Andromeda grew so quickly; they almost missed seeing the vastness of the ship, and its seamless skin which seemed to shimmer, even though, the vessel wasn’t in stealth mode.
To Bren, it looked like the force-craft was going to hit the Andromeda, but it swerved at the last moment and shot through the open holding-bay door. Then rotated 180 degrees, and belly-flopped onto the floor, shocking them all momentarily. Then the holding bay door slammed shut, leaving them all in a whirl.
Ned swore again. “Damn amateurs!”
The marine pilot’s face became alive again, “Gosh! I always enjoy docking; it gets my adrenaline going.”
Looking around at their faces, she said. “Oh, sorry. Scared you a bit. It's a habit with me.”
They all staggered to their feet; white-faced.
“Are you going to take us back, Jenny?” Acarea asked, still shaking.”
“No.”
“Thank goodness,” Bren exclaimed.
“You'll be all right,” Jenny said, shaking her head again. “T-Rex will be your taxi driver. He's madder than me.”
Bren and Acarea looked at Susanna in dismay.
“No good looking at me. I didn't choose the pilots.”
They gingerly stepped off the platform.
“Just try to walk in a normal way,” Ned encouraged. “The computer will sense how you walk and adjust the magnetic mosaics in your shoes to suit. You'll soon pick it up,” he finished. Then hurried off to his lab.
“Bye, see you around,” Jenny said. And off she went, almost at a trot.
“Well, that just leaves us,” Susanna said. Then, asked. “Andromeda, where's Frank?”
“In the control room, you should go to him next.”
“Will do. Come, on you two, follow me.”
Chapter 27
Something else to think about.
All three headed down the corridor towards the control room. With Bren and Acarea gradually finding it better not to fight the magnetic shoes, but just try to walk normally.
Two small service drones came hurrying through the corridor, moving over to let them pass.
“What do those little fellows do?” Bren asked as the droids hurried off.
“They carry out most of the ship’s servicing, but, of course, we have engineers as well.”
“What about the computers?” Acarea asked.
“All self-repair. They adapt to anything new, so never need replacing.”
“And, the central computer, err Andromeda?” Acarea asked.
Susanna started to answer, but Andromeda interrupted, and answered Acarea’s question directly.
'I am Andromeda. Captain Richardson and I run the whole show.'
'You’re Cocky, aren’t you?' Susanna said, her ‘thought level’ reduced enough not to be detected by Bren and Acarea.
'I heard that,’ Andromeda replied, sending her reply just to Susanna.
Andromeda then continued informing the others.
'I have backup memory banks and systems.
In fact, on one of our encounters with the Crillons I even had to repair myself.'
'And, you’ve never been quite the same since,' Susanna replied, unable to stop herself again.
'I'm better than when I was ‘born’ in Mars orbit,’ Andromeda shot back at Susanna, determined to have the last word.
‘I will allow you both to see me when you have finished your meeting with the captain.' Andromeda concluded speaking directly to the two Pavonisiens.
“Wow! That’s something very few people have ever been allowed to do,” Susanna said to them, after making sure she had heard right.
They reached the control room and with a quick thought-jab, the door slid open.
“Come in,” said a tall, well-built man, with darkish hair and piercing blue eyes.
“Welcome, I’m Captain Frank Richardson. Call me Frank.”
“So, you are Susanna's husband to be,” Acarea said. Extending her hand in greeting as they stepped into the room.
Bren, looking around asked, “Where are your banks of instruments? We've seen more than this in the cavern.”
“I’m not surprised,” Frank replied.
“I don't need them. Just my own large main screen. The tactical pad, which everyone has. The communication’s system and a simple control desk.”
“That's all a captain ever needs on my ship,” Andromeda remarked, “I am the captain's control panel, from which he can control and see anything he wishes. We are never separated.”
Frank felt Andromeda’s jab, in his implant. ‘Apart from the time when our link was deliberately cut!’
'I had no choice,' he thought back, to Andromeda. Then said out loud.
“I'm afraid we haven’t much time for this visit. When the Crillons are gone, we’ll have more time for you.
Then we can work with your cities on deciding what is practicable for all of us to be able to do.”
“How long do you think that will be, Frank?” Bren asked.
“About two weeks, on present estimates.
Hopefully, the Crillons will be gone from here in eight days. Plus, another four days or so before they jump from Zeta Reticuli. So yes, in a couple of weeks.”
Frank stopped talking, looking as if
he was listening to something, then said.
“That was the Crillon, Commander Tripicac. He sends his apologies for what has happened here.
We're all pretty sure that he's changed his view on their species aim to destroy everything.
Instead, he now says that he wants them to work with you. We believe he’s sincere.”
“It's the same reaction we had from the Crillons, Arans and Tarcan. They’re the captains of the Crillon ships we helped send back to Crilla their home planet,” Susanna explained.
“Well, I'm sorry to appear to be pushing you on,” Frank said.
“But, we’re pretty busy. We’re working with the Crillons, in trying to find a way to replace their warp crystals quickly each time they drop into Normal-space on their way back to their home planet. It’s a lot of work, and time is short.”
“We understand Frank. Oh, and thanks for your time,” Bren said.
Acarea smiled, adding. “It's been a pleasure meeting you. Oh, and do you want to know the baby's gender?”
“No!” Frank and Susanna replied as one.
Brendereen and Acarea then left with Susanna. The control room door closing behind them.
'Right, no public transmissions, Andromeda,’ Frank ordered.
‘Done, you can speak privately now Frank.’
'The full scans on Bren and Acarea. I'm sure you've already done them, so what have you found?’
'Well, on the surface, all is as it should be.’
'But, what?’
'There is no problem with them. They are, what they seem to be.’
'But?’
'It's their transceiver implants.’
'Can you get to the point?’
'They’re as you would expect them to be, from that time. But since Susanna tweaked them to increase their efficiency so they could work with ours.
Well, now they’re giving off a sophisticated pulse,’ she stopped a moment.
The Definitive SpaceFed Trilogy (SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy).: A thrilling, action-packed Sci-fi space adventure. (SpaceFed StarShips Series Book 8) Page 35
