by S A Pavli
As the Lisa Jane started to break up, I took the opportunity to disguise the Epsilon by floating it away from the stricken ship like another piece of wreckage. If the Peacekeeper came to investigate it would not be fooled but on its long distance radar it would hopefully be fooled.
The ship was still on a vector to Earth so I did not need to apply any further acceleration or correction for now.
We left the ship on autopilot and I installed Alfred into his air conditioned compartment while Manera prepared some coffee. In the ships tiny galley/dining living area we nursed our coffees while waiting for Alfred reassuring presence.
“Like you said Captain, we have been in worse fixes,” said Manera with heavy irony. “Oh, wait a minute…!” she smacked her forehead in simulated surprise. “No we haven’t!” I couldn’t help laughing.
“Piece of cake,” I said breezily. “We’ll just cruise all the way to Earth and then find a nice desert island to land on.”
“There you go with desert islands again. I told you before, I’m no Mrs Crusoe.”
“Aw come on,” I wheedled, giving her an encouraging cuddle. “Think of it. The natural life, catching your own fish, trapping your own…er rabbits, growing your own …green stuff.” I waved my hands vaguely.
She laughed with exaggerated contempt.
“Grow your own green stuff.”
“Why are you growing green stuff?” Alfred’s melodious tones interrupted our cosy reverie.
“Ah Alfred. Welcome back buddy.”
“I’m very pleased you escaped.”
“So are we. Alfred can you scan the heavens and see where those Peacekeeper scum are.”
“They are approaching Earth orbit Paul. The Peacekeeper ships have split up and are approaching Earth from different directions. Earth defence forces are converging on the two Peacekeeper ships but have not engaged them yet.”
“Alright, that means we can get away from the remnants of the poor old Lisa Jane and correct our course. We have to achieve controlled re-entry. Take us in for a polar orbit.”
“Yes Paul. I will carry out the necessary course corrections immediately. And thank you for rescuing me.”
“Couldn’t leave you behind old chap. You are part of the team.” It should have been bizarre, a computer thanking me for rescuing it? But somehow it wasn’t, and I almost had a lump in my throat.
Chapter 37
We were just an hour out from Earth orbit when Alfred reported the first exchange of hostilities between the EDF and the Peacekeepers. But oddly , the Peacekeepers seemed to be keeping their distance from the Earth ships for the time being. I suspected that their store of weapons was low after the excesses of the Peacekeeper war.
Our position was critical because we had little fuel for manoeuvre. We had to decelerate heavily for orbital insertion and then choose our landing spot before attempting re-entry. Cape Canaveral was the logical choice but the Cape was a hive of military activity and they would not be too pleased to have to baby sit us all the way down.
I decided a polar approach would be less congested and would allow us a quiet approach to one of the northern city airports. say Anchorage in Alaska. Not quite a tropical island paradise but that will have to wait for another time. We came in over the north pole desperately hoping that we would not blunder into a military engagement. Just as we began to think we had got away with it, Alfred reported the sighting of two ships over the horizon. I waited for him to identify them, desperately hoping they were ours.
“They are Peacekeeper fighters,” he announced. I was convinced we were dead and I steered the Epsilon at maximum speed in the opposite direction without much hope that we could escape. But, incredibly, the fighters ignored us. It was Alfred who shed light on the ship’s behaviour.
“They are heading for land,” he said. They were not after us. They were coming in over the pole to avoid detection while the Peacekeeper mother ships were keeping our forces busy on the other side of the planet. My earlier suspicions about the reasons for the rogue Peacekeepers visit to Earth began to harden.
“Alfred, we have to follow those planes. We must track them and report to the military.”
“Paul, if they turn on us they can destroy us in seconds. It is an unacceptable risk.”
“Follow from a distance. Alfred, my suspicion is that they will land somewhere remote and kidnap people. That is the whole purpose of this exercise.”
“I hope that my long range detectors are superior to theirs,” said Alfred. The Epsilon banked onto its new course. I could see the tiny vague blips of the two planes on the 3D display. We were above and behind them and Alfred maintained us at the very edges of his detectors resolution, sometimes losing them altogether.
“Where are they heading for Alfred?” I asked.
“Northern Russia. Siberia.”
“Couldn’t get more remote than that,” I remarked. “Have you contacted the military?”
“I am getting no response. Perhaps they are busy,” said Alfred. I snorted my amusement.
“Keep trying.” We flew over an unending snowy wilderness with no sign of habitation.
“Where’s the nearest town Alfred?”
“We are flying over Krasnoyarsk Krai. The nearest settlement is a port called Dikson.”
“Dixon? Doesn’t sound very Russian.”
“With a “K.”
“Ah. That makes all the difference.”
“What is Russian?” asked Manera.
“As coming from Russia,” I replied. “Largest country in the world, geographically. Heroic population, very proud of their military and Space technology. Neither very much in evidence up here.”
“What a terrible place to live in. Why do people live here?” asked Manera.
“There are many riches here. Oil, minerals. Helleva place to live though,” I agreed. “They must be tough as old boots, and twice as hardy. Modern technology helps though.”
The weather started to clear and beneath us we saw the coastline.
“They are landing at Dikson,” said Alfred.
“Damn the bastards,” I cursed in frustration. “And where is the military. Alfred, you said it was obvious the Peacekeepers would come this way. Not, apparently, to the fucking military. What are we going to do? We can’t allow these monsters to kidnap people for their ghastly experiments.”
“We are not sure that is their purpose Paul,” said Alfred.
“Why else visit this God forsaken place?” It was a rhetorical question and Alfred did not answer. “Come down low and circle the town Alfred. Let’s see what’s going on.”
“We are taking a serious risk Paul. We are very short of fuel and will have to land here.” I paused to consider the situation. It came to me that I was being very cavalier with our lives. Fair enough to risk my own but not Manera’s. She had not complained and I turned to her.
“Sorry love. I’ve been very thoughtless and got us into a bad situation.”
“We have to do what we can if they are kidnapping people,” she said.
“Do you think we can disable these things while they are on the ground?” I asked Alfred. “With our surveyor missiles.” The ship was equipped with small missiles with programmable warheads. They were used to explode and analyse any real estate which may contain valuable minerals, mostly barren asteroids.
“While they are on the ground it’s possible,” said Alfred. “Their anti-missile systems are under wing and may not operate.”
“Let’s do it before they take off then.” Alfred banked the plane and started to descend rapidly. Through the cloud cover we saw beneath us the somewhat random shapes of streets and houses. It was a small town, barely a few hundred people. There were a number of small fishing boats moored to the two wooden jetties that made up the port, and one larger cargo ship, its black funnels and red superstructure clearly visible. The two Peacekeeper fighters had set down on a hill overlooking the town.
As we came lower we were horrified to see a number of th
e insect like soldier robots leading a group of humans towards the planes. They were in two groups, and one was already boarding.
“God, we are too late!” I exclaimed. Alfred banked the plane around for another pass. “Alfred, try to hit the tails of the planes with the surveyors. We must stop them taking off.”
“I have to come in very low,” said Alfred.
“Do it.” The plane plummeted then levelled off. I felt and heard the surveyors release and spotted the twin contrails. Before they could impact one of the Peacekeeper fighters rose like an elevator and hurtled into the blue sky. The surveyor missile exploded harmlessly on the ground.
The other was still grounded and the missile caught it in the tail section. We saw the flash and earth was thrown up and then we were passed it and Alfred was banking the shuttle again for another pass.
“Good work Alfred. Keep an eye out for the other fighter. If it turns back to attack us then take the ship down as low as possible and hug the ground for cover. It will confuse their radar.”
“Agreed.” the plane banked around and dropped lower. The grounded Peacekeeper fighter appeared in the distance but there was no sign of the other fighter.
“The other fighter is accelerating into orbit,” said Alfred.
“That’s good for us. Not so good for the poor people it has kidnapped,” I said.
“Paul, we must stop it,” said Manera.
“If our bloody military can answer the comm…” I left the sentence unfinished.
“Paul, we have to land. Our fuel is now critically low,” said Alfred.
“Okay Alfred, set it down next to the Peacekeeper. Let’s see if we can help these people at least.”
As we slowed and came in to land next to the downed Peacekeeper I could see a convoy of vehicles heading for the clearing where the fighter was.
“Looks like the locals are getting involved,” I remarked. “Do you speak Russian Alfred?”
“Of course Paul. I am conversant with all languages. Ancient and modern.”
I grinned at Manera and she giggled.
“And at least one alien language, don’t forget,” I said.
“Of course.”
“Right, I hope our Russian friends appreciate what we have done for them,” I said. The plane vibrated with the thunder of the vtol jets as Alfred set it down slowly, fifty feet from the downed Peacekeeper. I noticed the locals were keeping well back. There was a dozen or so vehicles, of which two were jeeps and two were police cars. The rest were civilian. Probably all the vehicles in the town I thought.
I had a good look at the damage to the Peacekeeper before we disembarked. Our missile had mangled most of the rear superstructure and it was clearly un-flyable. But the main cabin was untouched. There was nothing to stop the fearsome robot soldiers from exiting the ship and setting about us. I didn’t think that the locals would prevail against them, they seemed very lightly armed. For the time being it seemed a good idea to keep well away from the Peacekeeper until reinforcements arrived.
Manera and I headed for the air lock. I was wearing my SES uniform and I made sure I was wearing my SES cap and Manera also wore a one piece crew uniform. The Russians were known for their awkward independent nature. If the locals thought we were military they would hopefully treat us with a bit more respect.
“Alfred, we will take our weapons. Also please get Sundance to stay in the airlock and if there is any threat from the Peacekeeper soldiers let him out. He is better than nothing.”
The Epsilon’s airlock was facing away from the Peacekeeper and we exited and circled away from our shuttle and towards the locals. We both had our heavy rifles strapped across our backs in what I hoped would be a non-threatening fashion.
“Let us know if there is any movement from the Peacekeeper Alfred.”
“Of course,” he replied. I wasn’t sure what we would do if there was. Run away, or back to the shuttle? Whatever we did I was sure the soldier robots would make short work of us. I felt seriously exposed!
The locals were all hiding behind their vehicles and I spotted a number of weapons, some pointing at the Peacekeeper fighter and some, rather worryingly, pointing at us. I had a remote speaker clipped to my belt and I spoke to Alfred.
“Alfred, say hello to the locals. Tell them we are American military and we were chasing the Peacekeeper fighters.” My speaker blared into life. As we approached the nearest vehicle, which happened to be a police jeep, a couple of men stepped out. I was pleased to see their guns were now pointing to the ground. I held up my hand in a friendly greeting and they returned it.
“At least the locals are friendly,” I said to Manera.
“I hope so. We have enough trouble,” she said.
“Just smile beautifully,” I said. “And leave the talking to me.”
“Did you just arrive here from the past in a time machine?” she asked. Despite the dire danger we were in I had to struggle not to laugh.
As we came close, I could see that the two leaders were police. One of them spoke and I heard Alfred’s translation in my comm earpiece.
“Welcome friends. You are Americans? Where is our military?” I stepped towards the man and held out a hand. He shook it energetically.
“Inspector Boris Freniakov. This is my number two, Sergeant Natasha Sveterova.” I shook the Sergeant’s hand, whilst wondering how I could have mistaken her for a man. She was as tall as her superior, and short blonde hair tucked into her cap disguised her appearance, but she was not unattractive, if northern severe was your ‘thing’.
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, despite the circumstances. I am Captain John Constant and this is my co-pilot Lieutenant Maria Hatekan. We have been following these ships from orbit. Sorry we were unable to disable the other one.”
“What are these things Captain?” asked Sergeant Natasha. “I have never seen anything like them before.”
“Nobody on Earth has Sergeant. They are alien,” I said.
“But the aliens are supposed to be friendly. So we were told.” This was Boris, frowning fiercely.
“The aliens are friendly, but these machines are apparently out of their control.” Boris and Natasha shook their heads in puzzlement, and I did not blame them. Others had now come out from behind their cars and one woman shouted.
“My son is in that plane.” Another person shouted,
“My wife. They took my wife.” Other voices joined in shouting about the sons, husbands, wives and daughters. I held my hands up.
“This plane is going nowhere,” I said. “Let’s wait for reinforcements.”
“What about the others?” A woman stepped forward. She was distraught, holding her face and being comforted by a young man. “My husband was on the other plane.” Other voices also chimed in and it was obvious what they were saying. I nodded, trying to be reassuring.
“Our forces are attacking these ships and I hope they will be stopped. In the meantime we should be careful that the robot soldiers in the ship do not come out. Inspector, do we have any other military forces in the town?”
“No, just the police. Myself and the Sergeant and a couple of constables.” Boris pointed to the other police car where a couple of young men stood. “But we have called the emergency services and they will contact the military,” he continued. “I hope they will be here soon.”
“Good,” I said. “Our aircraft is low on fuel. Do you have a water tanker we could use to re-fuel?” There were puzzled looks from everyone and shaking of heads. Boris talked to someone behind him then turned back to me.
“Water for the town comes from a water tower which is fed from a frozen lake. Water is pumped from under the ice, and up to the tower. If you can fly your ship to the tower we can rig up a pump.”
“We have pipes and pumps in the ship,” I said. “Where is your water tower?”
“North of the town. Over there, you can just see it.” Boris pointed towards a small hill and I could just make out the tower on the top of the hill.
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br /> “Good, we have enough fuel to get there. Once we refuel we will take up a position on top of a nearby hill. If the robots come out we can use the ship’s missiles to defend the town until your military forces arrive. Then we will find a way to get the people out.”
“Thank you Captain. I will get some men over to the tower to help you,” said Boris. I thanked the Inspector and we made our way back to the shuttle.
The short ’hop’ to the hill where the water tower was situated took just a few seconds. We set down as close as possible to the tower and with some help from Sundance we unrolled our refuelling hose up to the water tower. There were some external attachments to the water supply. I examined them but there was no way we could connect our hose.
“How good are you at plumbing Sundance,” I asked, scowling at the huge water main. It was a rhetorical question, but Sundance did not have Alfred’s verbal skills and took it literally.
“It is not one of my skills or duties,” said Sundance in his metallic monotone.
“Let’s hope our Russian friends can do something. They look like a practical lot.”
It took the Russians a few minutes to make the same trip. Two station wagons and one of the police cars toiled up the hill and parked next to the shuttle. Natasha got out of the police car and four burly men leapt out of the station wagons.
“These gentlemen are the town’s water engineers,” she said.
“Please to meet you chaps.” I shook hands with the men and showed them the Epsilon’s plumbing arrangements, which were designed to pump water from a lake or river. They started talking amongst themselves and Alfred didn’t bother to translate. They started rummaging in the back of their station wagons and soon a number of tools and contraptions started to appear. They looked confident so I relaxed.
Natasha was talking to Manera but I decided not to listen in and instead went back into the cockpit.
“Alfred, what news on the Peacekeepers?”
“They appear to be taking their fighters back on board. The Earth forces are having some success in attacking them but I suspect because the Peacekeepers are very low on weapons and are avoiding any direct engagement.”
