Aggressor Earth

by Benetti, A.

  "Steve," Aaron said back "you know I can't be killed that easy."

  "Who is your friend?" The gruff man said eyeing Molly up and down. "Leave it to you to find a pretty women on a planet in the middle of nowhere."

  "She is a scientist from a research station which should be close by here."

  "There is a facility a few kilometers from here but we have strict orders not to approach it. You have no idea the red tape we had to go to just to come this far looking for you."

  "I thank you for that but we need to drop her off at her facility."

  "I don't know, we have very strict orders not to have any contact with that facility. I'm going to call this in or better yet we will just take her with us and let command figure it out."

  "You can drop me here Molly chimed in, really it will be fine."

  "No offensive Miss but where I come from we don't leave woman in the middle of a jungle."

  "Steve she will be alright apparently this is what she does."

  "Can't do it you know the rules. We are going back to command and let the chair pushers decide what to do. Take us home," he yelled toward the front of the ship. Looking back at Aaron he said with a grin "I thought you would be happier to see me."

  The ship raised into the clouds and then into space. Aaron sat down on one of the benches lining the back of the ship. Molly sat next to him.

  "What next?" she asked.

  "That's up to command." He leaned into her and whispered "we can't let them know what happened down there. Not yet until I can figure out what to do next."

  "I have a feeling they already know," she replied back.

  Steve came to the back and sat down across from them.

  Aaron looked at him. "What happened to Jesse?"

  "He didn't make it. Whatever is left of him is floating in pieces with his ship. He went down fighting." Aaron stared at the floor and let out a long breath.

  The ship headed for a small moon that circled the planet then toward a large building located on it. Large bay doors opened and they set down inside. The doors to the ship opened and they exited the ship. At the bottom of the ramp a doctor and two MPs stood waiting. Aaron and Molly walked down the ramp. He could feel her pressing up against him. He could tell she was afraid.

  "Hello Lieutenant the doctor said If you wouldn't mind holding out your hand."

  "I feel good doc I don't need a exam."

  "New regulations Lieutenant, please your hand." Aaron looked at the two MPs and held out his hand. This was not standard procedure.

  Steve walked by him, "giving you a warm reception are they?" He grinned shrugged his head and walked away.

  The doctor held a device to his arm an took a sample smiled and walked away. One of the two MPs stood forward and said "Sir if you would follow me." Aaron shook his head and began to follow them, Molly walked next to Aaron. He could tell she was the one out of her environment now.

  They followed some stair cases up and then down a long corridor at the end they entered a room. Aaron recognized the Colonel right away, there was two other men he had never seen before. They wore suits and did not look military.

  "Sir, Aaron said to the Colonel.'"

  "Captain," the man replied "I'm glad to see you back. I have to admit I was expecting the worst."

  "I'm glad to be back sir" Aaron eyed the two other men in the room.

  "These two men," the Colonel motion toward them, "are with military intelligence and have some questions for you. Questions which I guess even I don't have the clearance for. And I have to tell you he said giving the two men a dirty look I have to follow orders but I don't have to like it."

  Looking at Aaron he smiled gave him a pat on the shoulder and walked out of the room leaving Aaron and Molly with the two men.

  "Captain, one of the men said have a seat. You to Doctor nodding toward Molly."

  "You have a long and admiral record. I see you were in the battle of Roan."

  Aaron nodded, "Yes sir."

  "My brother was there to name was Ryan. Maybe you knew him?"

  "Sorry sir, I didn't know any Ryan."

  "It doesn't matter any way the man continued he didn't make it out. Not like you. You seem to have a gift. You have walked away from several major battles and barley have a scratch."

  "I have been lucky Sir."

  "Lucky the man said or were you hiding somewhere, while men like my brother died only to come out when the battle was done. Who was left to say if you were a hero or a coward."

  "What is this about?" Aaron said looking at the man? "Am I in trouble because I didn't die?"

  "Maybe," the man said sarcastically, "we will know soon enough."

  Molly spoke up in a shaky voice "why are you talking to him like this he is a hero."

  "Don't worry sugar," the man smiled at her, "you'll get your turn."

  Molly looked at Aaron a mouthed the word silently, "sugar?"

  Aaron smiled at her she didn't know that most the movies the they had passed around or traded were old movies from a different time. Getting the newest movies wasn't a priority for the military.

  A knock came at the door and another man with a suit looked in and nodded to the other men. They then stood up and looked at Molly. "Doctor O'Conner can you please go with our friend?" The other man came in and stood behind Molly.

  Aaron looked at them, "what is this all about where are you taking her?"

  "She will be fine Captain she's too valuable to lose."

  "It will be alright," Molly said looking at Aaron. Then her and the man walked out shutting the door.

  Aaron looked back at the two men. The other man who had been silent till then spoke up "just a few more minutes we are waiting on the doctor." He had barley finished the sentence when the doctor who had tested him walked in the room.

  "There is no doubt, he has the enzyme." The men looked at Aaron who sat frozen.

  "You have received a very special gift" the man in charge said. "You have no idea what many people would do to have that gift. Now, I know you have fought many battles and you think that you deserve it somehow. But you would be wrong Captain. You haven't earned anything."

  Aaron looked dismayed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "Please," the man said sarcastically. "Look at your flight suit it is obvious you were in a bad state at some point recently and look at you. Your record has you listed as being 42 and you don't look a day over 30. Now tell me Lieutenant, his voice raising do I look stupid? Do we look stupid to you?"

  Aaron began to get mad, first because the guy was yelling at him, and second because he was using terminology that was better fit in a old movie. This guy didn't know what he was doing and was trying to manage the situation the best he could with no experience.

  "What do you want from me?"

  "There is a way you can earn this gift that has been handed to you the man said calming down."

  "How?" Aaron looked at him suspiciously.

  "I'm going to tell you something that no one else except the men and woman with the highest clearance have. Which is very few. We are losing this war. Maybe not tomorrow or next week but eventually we are going to lose. Right now we are simply holding, slowing a tide that is moving ever closer to Earth."

  "The enemy has made a leap in technology somehow that we cannot keep up with. They have new ships as small as fighters that can hyper drive into space. We don't have the technology to fight this. The technology we have to make a hyper drive jump, can only fit inside of a full on battle cruiser. It is not only that but their weapons have become more advanced. You know what I'm talking about some of these ships shot you and your wing man down."

  Aaron thought back to the strange ships that had shot him and Jesse down.

  "We don't know why they came here in so few numbers and not even attack the main command in this sector. All we know is they came shot you and your buddy to hell then disappeared. They may even still be on the planet we have ships scanning for them right now."

/>   "So what does this have to do with me" Aaron said?

  "Everything, and maybe nothing that is up to you. The Balyn have become too far advanced for us to win this war. The only way we can keep total defeat away is to take out the ability of the Balyn to make hyper jumps. As with any hyper drive technology it works by making a stable worm hole that stays open long enough to make it were a ship needs to go. As you know this requires massive power. The only thing with the power to do this is manipulation of the particle Leviton."

  "Our scientist although they have failed to keep us up in the arms race with the Balyn have created us a weapon that we can finally use to stop the Balyn. This weapon when set off pushes Levitons out of entire solar systems and keeps pushing them farther and farther away from the detonation zone. This would effectively shut down any hyper drive technology no matter how advanced, or any ship that uses Levitons as its primary power would shut down. Which is any ship made in the last hundred years. It would send the Balyn back to a space stone age. They would only be able to move at sub light speed. The war would be effectively over. The problem is for it to be effective we need to set this device off close to the Balyn home world." Looking at Aaron he continued, "we need someone to deliver this device."

  Aaron looked at the man. "You want me to deliver this bomb to the Balyn home world? That is impossible."

  "For the average man it would be impossible, but you are no longer a normal man are you? As a fighter pilot you know there are radiation zones that no living thing can fly through. Black spots in space that we nor the Balyn can fly through and live. At least till now he said looking at Aaron. We were in the process of training candidates for this mission when you came along. So let me ask you again do you want to earn the gift that has been given to you."

  "And what happens if I say no?"

  "We still don't know how the enzyme works. We have many doctors and scientist that would love to examine you. Besides Captain you have had such a stellar career and have proven you can carry out a mission and live. Why would you want to stop now?"

  The men were looking at him with intense eyes. "Take him to a secluded room. Don't let him have contact with the other crew members. Let him get cleaned up." Looking at Aaron the man said, "you have twelve hours."

  Aaron got up as the men led him out of the room. Walking along a corridor he said without looking at the them, "I want to talk to Molly before I go."

  The men looked at each other, "Doctor O'Conner? We can arrange that."

  Stopping at a door Aaron walked into the room. The men let him enter alone but he knew they would be outside the door.

  The room was sparse, basic living quarters for officers. It was nice to be in familiar place. Stripping off his clothes he entered the shower letting the hot water runoff his skin. The feeling was amazing and refreshing. Coming out still drying his hair with only a towel on he heard a knock at the door.

  "Come in he yelled."

  Molly entered the room. "Molly," he said smiling, "did they hurt you."

  "No but they could take some lessons on civility from the Viride." He laughed it was good to see she was ok.

  "Well you clean up nicely," she said jokingly since he was still only wearing a towel.

  "I feel ten years younger," he said looking in a mirror as he dried his hair. Stopping for a minute he looked closer. "The gray from my hair is gone. I was just getting used to it thought it made me look distinguished."

  "Distinguished," she laughed "That is a word you may never hear again."

  Turning around he looked at her. Reaching over he pulled her near him and kissed her, she put her arms around him and kissed him back. Leaning his head against hers he said "I wish we could have meet under normal circumstances."

  "In this day and age," she said leaning her head against his shoulder "what normal circumstances would that be."

  "They have given me an opportunity to end this war."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "This all has to end somehow and I don't want to leave the outcome in their hands."

  "You will do what's right," she replied back "I am so tired."

  "Me too" Aaron said "me too." Laying down on the bed they both laid arm in arm and fell asleep.

  Aaron woke up to a loud bang. They were knocking on the door, Molly was still sleeping. He got up letting her lay and began to put on a flight suit from the closet. The door opened and he said quietly "two minutes" and the door shut. Finishing with his flight suit he looked down at the still sleeping Molly. Leaning over he kissed her cheek turned and quietly left the room.

  The men in suits were standing outside the door waiting. "Follow me" the man said and started walking down the corridors. They reached the flight deck which was unnaturally quiet. They have cleared everyone from the flight deck he thought. What difference would that make at this point?

  "We have a surprise for you."

  Aaron looked up to see a sleek ship.

  "This is the Mark 21 the first of its kind. It has five quantum computers. Three times the power of any ship of its size before it. And it can cloak and evade any but the latest ships the Balyn have. We have evidence that their new ships are not in full scale production. They only have a few so they will most likely be mostly irrelevant at this point."

  Aaron looked at the ship and said "it is a beauty but I am taken a Mark 10" nodding across the flight deck toward an old ship in the corner.

  "No, the man shook his head that thing is a relic. You would never last in a fight and the thing might just break down."

  "I'm not asking, if you want me to go I'm taken the Mark 10. Have your men give it a basic diagnostic."

  The man stared at Aaron and rubbed his hand on his head "fine." He turned and yelled at the technicians running around the new ship. 'Take the weapons and put them in the Mark 10. And make sure it works. I hope you know what you're doing," he said looking at Aaron. "Come with me."

  In a corner of the flight deck they had setup a makeshift flight plan briefing area. Pulling up a hologram the man motion to it. "Here is the flight path you will be taking. Each of these spots are lethal to a normal beings including the Balyn. There is two spots that you will not have this cover. When you reach these areas you will have to evade the Balyn ships as best you can. Don't stop and fight, if they detect you run. Your mission is not to fight the Balyn ships but to deliver the weapon on target here." He pointed out a spot.

  "This is at the edge of the Balyn solar system. This will be the most dangerous part of the mission. You will lose cover from the last of the dark spots and be in the open for ten minutes. Outside the command center is a hyper drive assist vehicle specially designed to fit around a small ship. It is smaller than a cruiser but still large enough that it will be difficult to hide."

  "You will have to stop and let the power recharge ten times to make it to the drop zone. This should not be a problem as long as you stay in the dark zones. During the last run you will need to leave the hyper drive assist vehicle. The weapons are set with a ten minute time delay to give you a chance to make it back to the hyper drive ship and jump out before the weapons explode. The coordinates of the path you will be taking will be preset for you."

  "You will be armed with two of the Leviton devices. If for any reason you cannot reach your drop point you are to drop them were you are. Any questions?'"

  "'No," Aaron said looking at the map.

  A flight crew member came over "ready to go."

  The man looked at Aaron and for the first time he had a look of humanity in his eyes. "Good luck Captain."

  Aaron nodded and walked over to the Mark 10. Climbing in, the hatch shut as he tied his helmet on. "System check" he said to the computer.

  "Systems check," the computer replied, "all systems are a go." Handling the stick he raised the ship up spinning around he looked at the men standing on a platform. The head man looked at him and did a salute. Brevity to the end Aaron thought, what was the use of stance and pomp now.

  Spi
nning the ship around he waited for the bay doors to open then flew outside. The hyper drive assist ship was parked on the lunar surface. He moved the ship over to it.

  "Mark 10 prepare docking." The Mark 10 moved into position then entered the hyper drive assist vehicle.

  "Docking complete."

  "Lock in coordinates.'"

  "Coordinates locked."

  "Then let's do this thing."

  Reaching to the panel he touched a screen and the ship lifted. A worm hole began to form in front of him and he watched as the stars became streaks.

  "Warning the radiation levels rising." The computer said several minutes later as they entered the first of the dark spots.

  "Shut off all radiation warnings."

  "Radiation warnings off."

  "Computer do a diagnostics on the primary weapons."

  'Weapons are unknown diagnostics cannot be run. Power levels decreasing coming out of hyper space." Aaron watched as the stars became small dots again.

  "Power recharging ten minutes."

  Aaron sat quietly looking at the stars. His stomach felt upset like he had eaten some bad food.

  Leaning forward he thought what the man had said about the timer. He knew this might be a lie. Would they jeopardize a mission of this magnitude by letting their precious devices float in space for ten minutes so a single man could make it out?

  At least he thought this is a more humane way of doing things. But once these devices were dropped, space would never be the same again. Especially for the Balyn. Travel between the stars would stop. What once with a hyper drive took only minutes would soon take hundreds of years to cross. Whole families would be cut off from each other and any ship that wasn't in a museum would never fly again. Everything would change. The Balyn may not deserve this but peace had to happen.

  "System charged."

  Aaron touched the screen and went back into hyper space. As the hyper jumps came and went he began to feel cramps in his legs and felt like throwing up. Maybe the Viride enzyme was not strong enough he thought.