Escape to Earth-Living Legends

by Saxon Andrew

  “I wish you hadn’t said it like that?”

  “Why?”

  “That’s what you said just before we attacked those six Legend Battleships in the last battle. We were hit at least fifty times.”

  Jan sighed, “Oh Langley, if we’re hit half that number this time we won’t know it.”

  “Because we’ll be a vapor cloud.”

  “But a very pretty cloud.”

  “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

  “I still think we can outrun it in the void.”

  “I’m not completely certain about that, Jan.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t think it has gone to full speed once.”

  “Well, I believe it will be making the last leg at full speed. We’ll know about its capabilities when we find it.”

  “If we find it.”

  “Ok, if we find it.”

  “I really wish Jay and Josey were here.”

  “I suspect they are. You know our messenger told them where we were headed. I suspect they’re quite close.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “The Commander wouldn’t leave us out here without doing something to help us.”

  “You like him, don’t you?”

  “He’s really remarkable, Langley. However, if he’s interested in anyone, it would be Josey.”

  “Why?”

  “For obvious reasons. She kissed him.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short, Jan. He didn’t kiss her.”

  Jan’s head did a bob and she smiled, “No, I guess he didn’t.”

  • • •

  “Jan, I think we missed it.”

  “Why?”

  “We’ve been here ten days and nothing. Let’s assume that ship is faster than we thought. We could have skipped past it coming here. It may have been closer than six weeks out.”

  Jan blew out a breath and shook her head, “Langley, go to full speed in the barrier and weave back and forth as you’re moving forward. You’re probably right and once that thing gets inside two weeks, we can’t chase it any further.” Jan felt the ship accelerate and she buckled in. God she had made a mistake. She should have said four weeks. And if that ship had already passed them, it was faster than either of them thought. Where was it?”

  A week passed and Jan knew they had failed. She shook her head and leaned back in her chair and saw the console shaking. She jammed her faceplate on the console and head, “WHOA!”

  “WHAT’S GOING ON?”

  “I ALMOST RAN OVER IT!”

  “Back off.”

  “Too late. I’m stopping and letting it come to me. Set the controls to R-U-N!”

  Jan laughed and set the force field system to standby, moved the reactor control to override and set the level to a hundred percent, and enabled the disruptor enable control. She manually filled the thrusters with fuel and set the igniters to activate with the reactor. “Done!”

  “Now leave me alone and keep your glove on the panel. I’m going to start listening for the navigator.”

  Jan put her right glove on the panel on top of the reactor’s control and the other glove on the force field and disruptors switches. She moved the thrusters’ throttle fully forward and listened for Langley. Her heart was racing and she was taking long slow breaths to slow it. This Monster Battleship was operational, unlike the one they destroyed. Jan didn’t want to think it but couldn’t keep the thought out of her mind that it was faster than she imagined. She was trembling and fought to slow her heart. It was a losing fight because she heard through her glove, “RUN!!” Jan hit every control simultaneously and the ship came alive in an instant, but not before she felt the Battle Pod jerk violently and get thrown out of the barrier. It accelerated away from the giant Black Warship as it turned to give chase. The ship jerked hard left as two huge disruptor beams hit it on the starboard side. She jerked the steering wheel back to the right as four giant disruptor beams flashed through the space they had just occupied. The pod opened some space between it and the Monster as it completed its turn.

  She checked the force field dial and saw it was building back to seventy percent as the ship was rocked again by another huge disruptor beam. It immediately dropped to thirty percent. She weaved the ship and went to full speed but the Black Warship was not falling behind. She could vaguely hear Langley broadcasting his thoughts but couldn’t take the moment to listen. Giant disruptor beams blew past her on all sides and the force field was only able to stay at twenty five percent. Two simultaneous hits would blow it away. She was wrong, another direct hit by a massive disruptor beam blew the force field away. Jan closed her eyes as she whipped the steering wheel side-to-side. “JAN!” She opened her eyes and looked at her display. The disruptor beams flashing around the ship had stopped and the giant Black Ship was surrounded by thousands of battle pods. Michael had arrived with Fifth Fleet.

  “Langley?”

  “I’ve got it.”

  “Did you…”

  “I got that, too. Let’s get out of here and discuss it later.”

  “The ship is yours.” Jan fell back in her chair and knew the war had taken on a new turn with this new Legend Monster Ship.

  • • •

  The giant black colored warship stopped its pursuit of the single small ship and opened fire on the thousands of small warships rushing in on it. It exploded another device into the void and thousands more of the enemy ships suddenly appeared around it. It stopped to stay inside the zone of disruption in the barrier to prevent the ships attacking from moving into the barrier. Then the thousands of disruptors on its hull began illuminating and firing massive barrages at the Battle Pods moving in on it. Pods were exploding on all sides of the Monster Ship and still the massive disruptor’s beams filled space around the ship in a deadly crossfire.

  • • •

  “Granny, show me an image of that ship firing its disruptors.” Omny looked at the image and saw Battle Pods exploding around the Monster. “Slow it down to one hundredth speed.” Omny watched the recording from twenty thousand miles out and shook his head. “Speed it up slightly.” There! “Granny, I see a pattern in the lines of disruptors. It looks like they are arranged in groups of twenty.”

  “I see what you’re saying. The first one follows and then the next one and so on down the line of all twenty. They then start over at the first disruptor.”

  “Quickly look and see if there is any instance where a disruptor behind the sequence fires.”

  “I don’t see it happening on this side of the ship. The lines go one through twenty and then recycle.”

  “How long between each cycle?”

  “About two seconds.”

  “Would I be right in saying that each disruptor in the line have a target already locked in before it fires?”

  “It does look that way. What are you thinking, Omny?”

  “Well, I think a ship that is not already targeted by a line may be able to fly in without being hit.”

  “But there are hundreds of lines all firing at different times. They overlap.”

  “It’s time we earned our keep, Granny. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’ve designated two lines of disruptors on that ship’s hull. We’re going to fly in at an angle to them such that we keep a horizon beyond our line of approach. We’re going in at full speed just as the first line fires the tenth disruptor. We’ll arrive at the second line as the fifth disruptor is firing.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Granny, we’re going to fly with all our disruptors firing ahead of us. We may be hit by a beam, possibly two, but we’ll be moving so fast that’s about all that can hit us. I intend to use the DE Beams to punch through that ship’s force field and move in about twenty feet above the ship’s hull. We will pour on the brakes and I’ll fly along that ship’s hull until we slow down enough.”

  “Are you out of your mind? You can’t fly between those; your reactions aren’t good enough.”

 
; “The lines are not placed in staggered positions. There is a clear path between them. If you can get us slowed fast enough, I will have time to dodge the next row at the end of the line.”

  “Omny, that will be the end of the line. This is impossible.”

  “That’s a word that I am not familiar with. Would you rather fly around that thing and get blown into a cloud of vapor or do something that might make a difference?” Omny waited and said, “Granny?”

  “I’m looking at the path you want to take. At least that ship has stopped so I don’t have to do it on the fly.”

  “Granny, I didn’t think computers felt fear.”

  “I don’t; I’m programmed to stop you from making outrageous choices.”

  “And you don’t think this is outrageous?”

  “It’s better than going in and flying around that beast. Are you ready?”

  “Get the timing right on the disruptors.”

  “This is like an impossible game of Red Rover. Once I hit the thrusters, you have the steering.”

  “Let’s do it!”

  The Battle Pod hit full thrusters and it covered the distance between it and the giant black warship in less than two seconds. As it rushed up on the giant ship, more than a hundred disruptor beams reached out toward it but missed behind it. Even computer-guided weapons had reaction times and the disruptors they controlled could only move so fast. One beam managed to graze the top of the Pod as it flew in at incredible speed and Omny didn’t have time to curse as he whipped the steering wheel left at the Pod blew through the force field and shot down at the ship’s hull. Omney heard the massive gravity compensator whining so loud he thought it was going to explode as Granny poured on the power to the front thrusters. Omny held the ship between two lines of disruptor towers and saw the one directly ahead of him moving at incredible speed toward the bow. The ship continued to slow and all he had time to do was turn the wheel slightly right and then straighten it up. The pod’s outer wind tip slightly grazed the tower but the silver coating held up and he was able to keep the ship between the next lines of disruptors.

  The Battle Pod came to a stop six feet above the giant ship’s hull and Omny looked out of the front viewport at the disruptor towers all around him firing blasts overhead. He waited for one of the disruptors to turn and direct its barrel toward him as Granny said, “There are safety constraints that prevent them from being able to fire at the hull. It appears they can’t reach us here.”

  “Well, we paid admission to get here. We might as well visit the park.”

  “How do you want to do this?”

  “We don’t need a force field if they can’t hit us and we certainly don’t need to fly very fast. I’m directing ninety eight percent of our reactor into the disruptors. Angle the bottom-rear disruptor to about thirty degrees behind the stern so it can cut through the hull as we move over the surface. Have the side and top disruptors fire constantly to each side. I’m flying just fast enough to cut through the bases of the disruptor towers as we pass.”

  “Are we going all the way around the ship?”

  “No, I intend to cut a swath and then turn and cut another one next to the first. I’m hoping I can remove enough of them in one area of the ship to provide an opening for Fleet.”

  • • •

  “COMMANDER!”

  “What, Josey?”

  “A large section of disruptors on that ship’s hull are going up like a giant string of firecrackers.”

  “Angelo, show me what’s happening.”

  Michael looked at the image of the Monster as it suddenly grew and then moved in impossibly fast. It stopped at the leading edge of the disruptor towers that were exploding and he saw a Battle Pod flying along the giant’s hull cutting down the disruptor towers as it passed.

  “Katy, do you have a Heavy!?”

  “I do.”

  “Call off your fleet and have the heavy ready to go in toward the section of that ship’s hull that is being destroyed by one of your ships!” Michael looked at the small ship and knew it was going to die if it stayed next to the hull when the heavy fired its massive round. The destruction on the giant warship’s hull was growing by the second. That Monster was going to flee quickly if the heavy didn’t get in fast. “Attention, whoever is on that ship’s hull, we are bringing in a heavy. You must get out of there.”

  • • •

  “Omny, did you hear that?”

  “I did, Granny; but it would be suicide to try and move away this close to the towers around us. We have to wait until it fires, Granny. Continue knocking them out.” Omny continued to fly among the tower’s cutting them down.

  • • •

  The Monster’s commander was beyond rage, “I DON’T CARE WHAT IT TAKES, FIRE ON THAT SHIP NOW!!!”

  “Excellency, we can’t override the safety protocols. A disruptor fired from that close to the hull will penetrate the entire ship.”

  “Then fire one that can hit it at an angle to the hull!”

  “I’ve sent a crew to manually take control of a disruptor. They’ll be there in a moment.”

  • • •

  The thing about a moment in space battles is that it can pass incredibly fast or seem to last forever. The latter appears to be what happened in this case. The Heavy flashed in and fired its devastating heavy Dark Matter explosive round, Omny blasted off the ship’s hull just as the entire section he had cut down exploded under him, and the manual disruptor blew up with the crew attempting to aim at the small ship next to the hull. The Heavy’s round then hit and blew into the center of the moon-sized ship and exploded taking all the reactors with it.

  The blast from the hull under Omny blew away Omny’s force field and scorched the silver coating on his pod, but the ship survived. He flew the pod out just ahead of the blast and then moved back into formation from the rear with the rest of Fifth Fleet as they watched the Monster go up in a massive explosion; no one noticed his return into ranks. “Are you all right, Granny?”

  “I need my coating replaced but all systems are operational.”

  “Good. It appears no one noticed what we did.”

  “I’m not receiving any messages telling us what heroes we are or that you’re a leader of warriors and conqueror of big, bad warships.”

  “Let’s leave it that way.”

  “Why? You deserve to be honored for what you did.”

  “It would ruin my reputation. Let’s just keep it between the two of us.”

  “Omny, you don’t deserve the ridicule you endure.”

  “If I didn’t get it, I’d not feel at home. Just let it go, ok?”

  “You’re the boss.”

  “Send our flight recorder’s data without your signature frequency on it.”

  Granny sighed, “Done.”

  • • •

  “Hey, you don’t like working with us anymore?”

  “Oh, Jay, it’s so good to hear your voice.”

  “That was close pumpkin.”

  “Too close!”

  “Let’s get back and we’ll talk about what’s going on. I’m so glad you’re ok.” Jan’s display went dark and she closed her eyes and fell immediately asleep. Langley told Michael she hadn’t slept much in twenty days and he allowed her to remain asleep uninterrupted until Langley arrived at Earth.

  • • •

  Omny heard the pilots in his wing celebrating the Monster’s destruction. They were also somber about those that were lost in the battle. Close friends would not be with them and some were already missing their brothers and sisters-in-arms. He heard the order to skip out to Eden and he leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes and remembered Emily’s smile. His favorite memory was of her holding two-year-old Cherish in her arms while five year old Sanders held on to her leg. Why did he ever name his son Sanders; even if it was Emily’s maiden name. No little boy should have to endure that outrage.

  He left them standing outside his front door to go to Eden to work on a problem
they were having with the construction converters. He promised to come right back and take them with him. He was so stupid. He should have sent them on a colony ship at the first moment but he was working on the food converters in the Sudan and they didn’t want to go without him. His stay at Eden was extended and then he heard the order that all Colony Ships were ordered away from Earth to insure it was hidden.

  He was out in the field with the converters when he heard that Earth had been found and all human life was exterminated. He spent a year in a facility for the mentally insane and he really didn’t remember a minute of it. All he could see was Emily’s smile and his children waving goodbye. He was twenty-five at the time of their deaths and he went back to work on building the cities on Eden. He worked for nineteen years and helped build the planet into something really special. On the twentieth anniversary of their deaths, he joined the navy. He was almost laughed out of the recruiter’s office but they relented and allowed him to take the aptitude tests. Their laughter quickly ended and he was put on a simulator immediately. He was sworn in the next day.

  He remembered after graduation his ship’s computer asking him what name he was going to use to address it and he said, “Granny.”

  “My name is supposed to have a special significance to you.”

  Omny sighed, “My first day at the academy one of the new recruits looked at me and said, ‘Hey, Old Man’. I replied with, “It’s a new year.” He laughed and said, ‘Old Man, New Year’. He looked around and said, ‘His name is Omny!’ Everyone in the barracks laughed and that’s what I’ve been called since. I no longer have a family. I expect you will be the only one that doesn’t make fun of my age.”

  “Granny it is, Omny. Like the t-shirt says, I’ve never seen an old fool.”

  Omny decided early on to just maintain a low profile. He did his job and hoped he could make his life count for something before he joined Emily and his children. He decided that today was a start on that wish. They arrived on Eden and Omny contacted the Service Engineers to come and take his Pod for repair. An engineer arrived and whistled, “Boy! You really got close to the fire!”

  “I think a lot of us did, Captain. Please take good care of her.”

  “I’m probably going to have to transfer your computer into a new ship. There’s pieces of shrapnel that penetrated the rear of your pod.”