by Wells, Jack
The doctor’s face was suddenly heavy with concern. He almost whispered, “We lost contact about an hour ago, shortly after they paused briefly beside one of the buildings in the alien camp. Everything on their channel suddenly went dark and all that we are receiving is static.”
****
Tyndall AFB, Florida:
Sunlight beat down warmly on the air base’s active tarmac and caused its hot asphalt surface to appear as wavy as water in places. Just a few meters away, tall palm trees waved in the breeze. Just beyond the palms, the Gulf of Mexico lapped at crystal white beach sand.
Sasha wore a general’s deep purple flight suit and stood tall at the top of the mobile stairs pushed against her sleek silver fighter. The stunning corvette class craft was the joint effort of the world’s leading spacecraft manufacturers. As she leaned against it, she felt its power and thought about some of the other craft that she had flown over the years. Those experiences had intensified her desire to fly faster, climb higher, and soar beyond what was known.
Rattling and banging down below reminded Sasha that the ground crew was hustling to fuel and complete the fighter’s final preparation. Will Earth’s most advanced manned weapon system be enough against creatures of an unknown origin? Will their alien technology stand up to tactical nuclear bombs dropped into the mouth of their approaching ray? Well, the guessing will be over soon enough.
“Ma’am?” The non-commissioned officer in charge of the ground crew pulled Sasha’s thoughts back to the flight line. “She’s ready to go,” he said, saluting sharply.
“Thank you, Sergeant.” She made sure that her salute was just as crisp.
Even though they said her vehicle was ready, Sasha always made sure with a complete visual inspection right before every take off. She completed her checklist in the cockpit and climbed back down the silver metal stairs to do her last-minute visual scrutiny. The fighter was in immaculate condition. It had been washed and buffed. Her last misunderstanding with a Korean fighter, before Korea joined the United Defense Corps, had been completely repaired. The tapered fuselage, sweeping wings, and triple tail assembly were all screwed down tight. Her ground crew had done a beautiful job and she hoped that she could return the fighter in just as good of shape.
Sasha looked over and saw her wing mate, Captain Amy Argnoe, doing a visual check of her fighter as well. Argnoe had short blond hair and an infectious personality. Sasha liked Amy’s competitive attitude, which had driven the young captain to the top of her class in flight school. The young pilot gazed back at Sasha and waved. Her wave turned into a fist and a thumb popped up to indicate that she was ready.
She used two different wing mates, depending on what talents the mission required. If it called for quick reflexes, she chose Amy; if it dictated aggression, she chose Major Joe Rowl. Both were amazing pilots, but today’s mission required that both emphasize reaction time.
A few minutes ago, Sasha briefed Amy that the op’s plan called for them to test the Moonbeam’s integrity, recon the alien’s lunar base, and rescue Forge and Stone. If additional support was needed, it would come from Major Rowl and the rest of the Wing, who would remain on standby. Forge’s rescue was an important part of Sasha’s plan and based on when contact was lost, he and Stone only had about thirty minutes of air left. She had never met them, but they were soldiers, and she wasn’t about to leave them behind.
****
Alien Base:
Dean sat with Beth in their holding cell and thought about their conversation with Wystl and Aydr’n. Maybe they were telling the truth. They probably wouldn’t discuss their plans in front of him, especially if they were really attacking the Earth.
“L.T., I believe it is a test, because they are giving up any chance for surprise by warning us about it. But we still need to make every effort to stop it. We don’t know how much damage that thing can inflict if they take it too far. Follow my lead.”
He began shouting for Wystl and Aydr’n to appear while using his helmet as a club to beat against the walls. Beth mimicked him and their two captors soon appeared high above them just as they had before. Aydr’n no longer looked like a middle-aged college professor. He was one third larger than Wystl and his big black eyes glared angrily at them.
Aydr’n made a welcoming gesture with all four black-furred arms and spoke condescendingly. “You don’t have to raise your voices – we’re right here.”
Dean was in no mood for his games and cut him off. “How much time do we have before your Ray hits our planet?”
Wystl answered Dean’s question. “Well, Colonel, time is only one aspect of our test. We are more interested in how long it takes for Earth to mount a unified response, but again, there will be other factors involved in our final decision.”
Dean was not getting the response he wanted and was losing control. He let his voice get louder and an octave higher than he would have liked. “I don’t care about that crap!” he yelled at both aliens. “Your damn Moonbeam is traveling toward Earth at a certain rate and will hit at a certain time. I want to know when!”
Aydr’n ignored Dean and let his contempt for Humans and the mission come to a head. He turned toward Wystl. “They are too argumentative and primitive. You will be sorry for wasting our resources on this stupid idea!”
Wystl seemed to puff up slightly in frustration with Aydr’n but responded evenly. “That’s right. It is my idea and my assignment. We will listen to what he has to say and then decide.”
Aydr’n’s black eyes burned a hole through Wystl, but he said nothing. He knew that coddling obviously inferior species was a sign of weakness. Long ago, the Consortium of Planets’ glory rested on imperialism and military conquest. If Aydr’n had commanded this mission, he would have finished it quickly without any drama. Over time, the Supreme Senate of the Consortium had been convinced by the University and their Searchers that it was better to test and absorb worthy species that could advance the Consortium way of life.
Now the military was relegated to providing support for the Searchers’ projects. Aydr’n looked at the dimensional shifter control panel in Wystl’s hand and knew there was nothing that he could do. But that could easily change. They were a long way from home and she had no supporters out here. He would wait, and when the time was right, she would have an accident.
Their argument confirmed Dean’s suspicion about the conflict between them. Now he knew that Wystl was in charge and Aydr’n didn’t like it. Dean hit on an idea and began to push his female captor to improve Earth’s situation.
“If this really is a test and not an attack, why not use your weapon on something other than Earth? If you don’t get it right, billions of people could get hurt or killed – or whatever your ray is supposed to do.” She didn’t respond but he had her attention. He keep his voice steady. “Wystl, wouldn’t it be just as good to shoot that thing at Mars or one of the large asteroids beyond Mars? You know from your research that people will try harder if they know what the consequences are for failure.” Dean finished with a challenge. “Right now, we don’t really know what your ‘pop gun’ will do. Maybe it’s all show and no go.”
Wystl didn’t answer right away and instead smiled at Beth. “Did you follow his lead?”
Beth understood that Wystl was referring to Dean’s actions earlier, when he wanted her to make noise to get the aliens to show themselves for this conversation. More disturbing, she realized that the alien had been waiting for Dean to pause so that it could throw a jab at her. She wondered why the alien was singling her out and opened her mouth to respond, but the colonel seemed to be on to something. She stopped herself and let Wystl switch her focus back to Dean.
“Colonel, you make a strong case for a demonstration.” Rhetorically, she asked, “Should we destroy something old or create something new?”
Dean could see Aydr’n begin to stiffen to what was happening, and he could feel Wystl’s indecision. Before Aydr’n could say anything, Dean quickly made a point for Wys
tl’s benefit. “It’s easy to destroy but more enlightening to make something new. It would show good faith.”
“Very well, you make a strong point.” Wystl smiled slowly and was already planning her course of action. “We will point our Dimensional Shifter at your solar system’s inner asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and make something new.”
Surprising even himself, Aydr’n grabbed Wystl by the shoulders. He waved his other two arms in anger and screamed at her, “You let these things talk you into changing our mission! You will be relieved of your command!”
She just looked at him coldly and laughed. “Who will relieve me, you?” Her tone turned to ice as she threatened him: “Take your hands off me or I will send them home without you.” The big alien stumbled back and looked in horror at his hands. She pushed past him. “Now get out of my way. I have work to do.” The air around Wystl turned dark and she was gone once again.
The way Wystl appeared and disappeared reminded Beth of the bad witch in the “Wizard of Oz.” It was obvious that Wystl was the boss, and it was disconcerting that she had been listening to their conversations. Most importantly, Dean had talked them into targeting asteroids instead of the Earth, and he had done it without a shot! That should be worth some extra credit on their lame test.
****
Tyndall AFB., Florida:
Sasha and Amy sat in their gleaming starfighters, Alpha One and Alpha Two. With their engines roaring and they waited for the control tower to release them.
“Alpha One, this is Ground Control. Target has changed to new coordinates. Sending data now, over.”
Sasha was shocked. “Control, this is Alpha One. What’s going on? These coordinates are away from Earth, over.”
“Alpha One, target is no longer at the original trajectory, over.”
“Control, Alpha One, copy, out.” Forge and Stone must be responsible, but why did they only change the target? If they were close enough to affect the Moonbeam, they should have destroyed it.
Sasha wanted to make sure Amy knew what was happening. “Alpha Two, this is Alpha One. Did you copy last transmission, over?”
“Alpha One, this is Alpha Two; loud and clear. New coordinates are received. I’m locked and loaded, over.”
“Alpha Two, I’ll see you at the end of the Rainbow, out.”
Chapter Five
Wystl held her control panel in one hand and gently shook Dean’s shoulder to wake him with another. Still groggy from sleep, he grabbed one of her free hands and rotated it violently. She spun around in front of him and he held her from behind. The arm that he controlled was wrapped tightly across her throat. She maintained control of the pad with a free arm and began pressing keys.
She spoke as calmly as possible. “Colonel, I didn’t mean to startle you. I want to invite you and your lieutenant to witness Earth’s response to our test.”
He relaxed his grip slightly. “You will allow us to watch?”
Wystl smiled warmly – she had learned that doing so helped to make this species be more accepting. “Of course you can watch. I am interested in monitoring how you and the rest of your species react. Wouldn’t you like to see what happens?”
Dean wasn’t sure what to do with Wystl now that he had control of her. At the moment, none of his options felt right. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Beth. She shrugged and nodded so he reluctantly released his hold on the fuzzy alien.
Wystl stepped away from him and turned around. “For the sake of security, I will place your arms in a parallel dimension so that you can’t use them. It’s our way of using handcuffs, except that there are no hands or arms. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt and there are no lasting effects. They will reappear once you are safely returned to your chamber.”
Beth spoke first. “You can’t be serious!”
Wystl stopped working on her pad and responded matter-of-factly, “It’s already done.”
Beth and Dean looked in amazement at their sides. From the shoulder down there was nothing. Only a slight tingling sensation reminded them of what they had lost. Beth screamed in surprise and looked as if she was about to fall apart. Dean needed to keep his lieutenant rational. He had never called her by her first name until now – he hoped it would get her attention.
“Beth, I need you to focus. This is what she threatened to do to her captain when she got angry with him.”
Beth blinked a few times and the fearful look on her face faded back to normal. She could see her colonel’s concerned look and tried to inject some humor to prove she was back. “I guess we’d better get our arms back before we do anything else to piss her off.” Then, just for Dean, she whispered more seriously. “Our plan needs to include getting that work pad that Wystl keeps waving around.
With a nod Dean agreed softly. “When we get our arms back.”
As they followed Wystl, Beth began to wiggle and wrinkle her nose. She was trying to relieve the itch that immediately began when her body realized that it no longer had a way to scratch. Dean gave her a questioning glance. She gave back a look of resignation. “I’ve got an itch.”
He shook his head and gave her that smile she loved. She gratefully accepted his shoulder and quickly rubbed the itch away.
They entered a round room jammed with technical equipment and five aliens sitting at their workstations. The room was about twelve meters across with four large screens showing various angles of the Moonbeam. Dean and Beth stood in the doorway and watched Wystl float up to a captain’s chair about a meter and a half above her crew and command them to test the equipment.
She sounded like a movie director as she rapidly ordered them to zoom in and out and change angles numerous times on all four screens. The crew remained mute and worked furiously to keep up with her. Finally satisfied, she ordered sound. Two Human pilots could be heard in the middle of a conversation.
Lead edge of the Moonbeam, high above the lunar surface:
“Well, Alpha Two, it’s about to get interesting so stay on your toes. There may be other beams or alien craft that we aren’t aware of. I’ll go in and you fly cover. Watch for any reaction from the target or response from their base.”
Amy double-clicked her com unit to indicate that she understood and began a lazy left turn. As she came around, she could see her commander barrel roll toward the colorful target.
Warning alarms rang loudly in Sasha’s ears. Her heart pounded in response to the incredible g- forces that smashed her body uncomfortably into the fighter’s cushioned seat. She had to push herself and her equipment to the limit and hope it would be enough against the aliens. Leveling off just in time, she immediately squeezed her joystick and lasers flared into the jaws of the beam. Half a kilometer out, the laser light began to stretch unexpectedly toward the beam’s mouth and the closest end went in first.
As Sasha started another pass, Amy called her. “Alpha One, your laser didn’t hit anything! It was sucked in before it reached the target, over.”
“Alpha Two, I’m going to try a couple of missiles on this pass. Keep your eyes open for any response, over.”
“Alpha One, Alpha Two, copy, out.”
Amy continued to maintain her distance and watch for any kind of response from the aliens.
This is too easy, Sasha thought to herself. They must have some kind of defense mechanism. Then a nervous thought occurred to her: maybe they were so confident in this weapon that they don’t think it needs any protection. So far, the energy from her lasers had no effect on the ray. Maybe they are right. No, there was much left to check. She shook the doubt from her mind. It was time to search for weaknesses on the side of the Beam where all the colors and lightning gyrated.
“Alpha Two, this is Alpha One, over.”
Bored with just watching, Amy hoped this call would get her into the action, so she responded quickly. “Alpha One, go ahead, over.”
Sasha decided to let Amy have some fun. “Maybe a frontal approach is all wrong. That thing just ate my laser fire. I want you
to go for the side and blow a hole in it. Make those pretty colors bleed red. I’ll finish up here with a couple of missiles and join you. I’m starting to get pissed off that they aren’t showing us some respect by defending themselves, over.”
“Alpha One, this is Alpha Two. That may not be such a bad thing because it gives us more time to focus on the Moonbeam.” Then, sounding like she was about to bite into a juicy steak, Amy sang, “It will be my pleasure to attack, out.”
Once again, Sasha accelerated toward the Beam’s mouth and released her lethal twins from a kilometer away. She pulled back hard on the stick and felt the agile craft begin to ascend the target. Suddenly, her momentum began to slow down and the starfighter fought to ascend past the dark opening. Then all movement stopped as equilibrium between the power of the fighter and the pull of the Beam was momentarily reached. Sasha knew in that instant that either she had gotten too close or the Beam’s pull had somehow increased. Before she finished that thought, the fighter started losing its battle to free itself. At first, it lost distance slowly, then faster. She didn’t even have time to call out. As she prepared to salute her victor in this fight, she saw the two missiles that she had fired moments before collide in a fireball as they reached the Beam’s mouth. The missiles’ explosion, less than a kilometer away, created a shock-wave that interrupted the Beam’s grip on her fighter just long enough for her to break away.
The trajectory of the breakaway brought Sasha along the Beam’s edge and dangerously close to its flashes of lightning. Without thinking, she pulled back hard and leaped away at ninety degrees. Unable to talk yet, she needed another moment to pull herself back together and make another run at the thing. As she came around, she found Amy pounding the Moon side of the target hard with lasers and plasma canon blasts. Sasha could see Amy methodically working her way up toward the opening that she had just escaped from only moments before.
