by John Bluck
"There's Lena," said Jake. Through his service window, he watched as she approached.
"Hi, Jake," said Lena. "Will you let me in, too?"
"Sure." He opened the door, and Lena came in.
"So, you don't like the new, shiny vest either, do you, Bill?" Lena asked. Wilson frowned as he glanced at the vest in the cardboard box.
"He took my hint, and left it behind," said Jake, who laughed. "You can get a new rifle and pistol, too, Lena."
"Thanks, Jake," she said. Wilson chose a new ray pistol while Lena picked her weapons. Jake put the arms they had selected on hooks he had labeled with their names.
When Wilson and Lena were done, they thanked Jake, walked to the dayroom, and sat on a couch near the pool table. The ship had taken off, and now it soared above First City.
"It won't be long now. We'll be out there in the battlefield maybe firing our weapons," said Lena.
"Yeah," Wilson said. "We might as well try to relax and play a few games." Soldiers were playing billiards, cards, and darts to pass the time.
Lena put her head against Wilson's shoulder. "We're only a few minutes from the Parliament Building," she said.
He gave her a small but firm hug. She closed her eyes and dozed even though billiard balls crashed against one another just a few feet away. His eyelids were heavy, and he slipped into sleep.
Three loud bells rang. Lena and Wilson awoke, startled.
"We must go to battle stations," she said. "I'll show you where we are to report. Stay with me. We're a team. Raven gave me an order to that effect. You're too new to jump right in." Her eyes flickered, and her cheeks flushed.
"Okay," Wilson said.
After they returned to the armory to get their new weapons, Wilson and Lena walked to a staging area. Platoons were in line, ready to get off the ship and fight.
Raven stood, and everyone looked at him. "We will soon be engaged in a battle near the Parliament Building," he said. He paused. "Intelligence reports that the enemy has retreated three kilometers, but still be on the alert when we disembark."
He likes battle, Wilson guessed.
Raven scanned the fighters around him and spoke again. "Our enemies are elements of the Triodian Cyborg First Army and Sunevian Clone Brigade."
"Let's get out there, pursue, attack, and defeat them," Raven said. He waved his troops towards the door that led outside.
Wilson walked with Lena, and then they jogged through the portal onto the sidewalk near the Parliament Building.
"Take cover!" Raven yelled, who caught the glint of steel reflecting from behind a large piece of concrete rubble.
As Wilson and Lena scrambled to hide behind a small mound, sunlight blinded him. When his eyes adjusted to the glare, he saw ray shots fly at him and linger in the air like blue fireworks. The enemy's surprise attack devastated Raven's troops.
Triodian soldiers and their clone allies had concealed themselves behind park benches, rocks, building corners, and in ditches. Several of Raven's men fell lifeless after being hit by exploding bullets. Those projectiles blew up when they hit people, reducing their bodies to bits of flesh, bone, and blood.
The nearest victim to Wilson was a private who was still alive after two ray shots had struck him. One had nicked his left shoulder, and the other ray had gone through his stomach.
Wilson dove to the ground and rolled toward the wounded private. After unscrewing the cap of one of the two dozen bottles of nano medicine that he carried in his fanny pack, Wilson poured medication in each of the private's wounds. The injured man opened his eyes to form slits. He was flat on his back, and Wilson propped the young man's head up so he could sip inky, black nano medicine.
Two soldiers put the wounded man on a stretcher and carried him to the ship.
Lena squatted next to Wilson and fired several shots at enemy soldiers. "I'll cover you while you tend the wounded."
"Thanks," Wilson said. "Let's go to that sergeant collapsed by the big tree." A ray shot had cut through his brain. Wilson supposed the man was either dead or almost dead. His memories are gone, even if his body can be fixed, Wilson thought.
He and Lena ran ten yards and took cover behind a large mound near the tree where the sergeant with the head wound had collapsed. As Lena laid down rapid fire, Wilson crawled to the unconscious sergeant and pulled him behind the safety of the small hill.
Lena didn't hit anyone, but the enemy moved back, and their firing slowed. Only a few ray shots hit nearby, so Wilson figured the rebels were on the retreat. He began to help the sergeant.
"Is this all for nothing?" Wilson asked himself out loud.
"Even if he's technically dead now, he'll survive," Lena replied. "A lot of his brain is gone, and many of his memories are lost, but his gray matter will quickly regrow."
"So, if he survives, won’t he lose many of his abilities?" Wilson asked.
"He'll need to re-learn, just as a stroke victim needs to reestablish his skills," Lena answered.
"But this man has one more advantage. All of the soldiers on our ship have recorded their memories on computer cubes as part of an experiment. So, doctors just might be able to restore his memory."
"Then nano medicine won't be wasted on him," Wilson said. He poured more into the entry wound on the sergeant's forehead. Wilson wrapped a bandage over the hole in the man's skull, and Lena signaled the stretcher bearers to come.
As two soldiers put the sergeant onto the stretcher, Wilson realized that enemy fire had almost stopped. Sunevian soldiers had moved up between the Parliament Building on the right and a large apartment complex on the left.
"Let's go back to the ship," Lena hurriedly said. "I don't see any more wounded. We should check on patients in the emergency ward."
"All right," Wilson said. He wondered, why not stay outside in case more soldiers are wounded? But I did promise Lena to stick with her. "I don't understand why the rebels pulled back," he said. "It seemed like they were in a good spot to hit us again."
Wilson and Lena were soon inside the emergency ward. After he had helped a few of the wounded, he stepped out of the ward into the dayroom and glanced at the big screen TV that showed the battle outside the ship.
Abruptly, there was an orange-blue flash on the screen, and the ship shook. The TV picture showed smoke blow away from where the explosion had occurred. A scene of total destruction revealed itself.
One wall of the Parliament Building had fallen towards the apartment complex on the left, and the ruins spewed smoke. Wilson did not see many Sunevian soldiers. Most of them were either buried under rubble or blown to bits.
"Get over here now, Lena!" Wilson yelled. She came out of the emergency ward and looked up at the picture of obliteration on the screen.
"We need to go out there," she said. She grabbed a bag of medical supplies and tossed another to Wilson.
"The cyborgs retreated, drew our soldiers into a trap, and set off the blast," Wilson said, as he ran through the ship's doorway with Lena. "They had to have planned this long ago in order to plant such a huge bomb."
"They must have jumped from a cloaked Triodian ship to the exact coordinates of hiding spots here on Sunev," Lena said. "And now they've probably fallen back to their ship and fled. I bet they used small fusion bombs. I didn't think that they had them yet."
A lot of dust was still in the air, and black smoke streamed up from the apartment building ruins. The dark fumes smelled like a garbage fire.
Big, orange flames sprouted from the debris and licked the sky. They were sharp like big dragon's teeth. Dark, thick smoke belched from what looked like a giant monster. Wilson felt heat from the fire as he and Lena moved forward, scrambling over bricks and wreckage as they went to where the soldiers had been.
Cutting edge medicine could not save most of the Sunevian troops because they had been blown to bits. The enemy knew that if fighters were wounded by ray fire, they would recover after nano medicine treatment. The sure way to kill soldiers was to blow them into
fragments, and even if the dead troops were cloned, the reincarnated warriors would take years to mature.
Wilson saw a few unwounded soldiers and Raven behind a sound wall. As Wilson and Lena stumbled across the rubble, he wondered what type of small fusion explosive would cause such immense damage.
"Raven, you okay?" Wilson yelled.
"What's left of us –– we're fine, just dirty from dust and smoke," Raven said.
"It's lucky that Lena and I went back into the ship," Wilson muttered.
"It was a small fusion bomb," said Raven. "I didn't know they had them. The rebels must have stolen them from us because Intelligence thought that the enemy didn't know how to make them."
"We need to dig to look for survivors," Lena said.
Raven requested rescue teams and dogs trained to find the wounded and dead. Searchers combed through the wreckage for hours, but they found no one alive. More than 350 soldiers died in the explosion and building collapse. Nothing remained of them except globs of bloody mush. Of the soldiers who had stayed outside the ship, just Raven and the three men with him still lived.
"I've been told the few of us who are left have already been assigned to a new warship, The Ghost Liner," said Raven. "I've been put in command of that ship, and my orders are to train a new crew. From now on we'll conduct our business in the military manner."
"They chose you because they need someone with experience to help make the fleet battle ready," said Lena.
"We'll fly back to the hangar, and inspect The Ghost Liner," said Raven. "She's already parked there. I'm thinking that I'm going to take the ship to the vicinity of Earth and away from the war so as to train the crew in a safe region. At the same time, we could look for some materials we'll need in the war effort."
"Raw materials?" asked Wilson.
"A few of us may prospect for gold, which we need to make micro circuits for our ships and other machines," Raven replied.
As Wilson, Raven, and Lena conversed, news crews were already broadcasting live from the battle site. According to those TV reports, parliament guards on the far side of the building did not get hurt. The apartment complex manager guessed that about nine people had been in their apartments when the building fell, and they probably died. The rest of the residents were at work, on vacation, or shopping.
Television cameras captured images of Raven, a few soldiers, Wilson, and Lena plodding dejectedly back to their old ship. They left for the hangar at once.
Chapter 15 – All About Lena, Number 214723
It was the evening of April 30. After the defeat at the Parliament Building, Wilson and Lena sat on the couch in his cabin in a ship new to them, The Ghost Liner. It had twice as many ray cannons as the old ship, and it could jump dimensions faster. It smelled like a new car.
Planet TV News was on because Wilson was trying to pick up more of the Sunevian tongue. He had attempted to learn to speak Sunevian with Lena, but it was hard for him because he couldn't concentrate. He constantly thought about the mini-fusion bomb explosions at the Parliament Building that had ended the lives of more than 350 soldiers who had thought they would never die.
"We were lucky to be inside when the blasts went off," Wilson said. "I'm glad you said we needed to treat the wounded in the ship."
"I had a hunch," she said. "If I listen to my Inner One, it works to my advantage."
"That's for sure."
She leaned against him, and he felt his heart begin to beat faster. His throat constricted as he put his arms around her shoulders. She turned to him and smiled.
The battle had made them realize that they had to enjoy life as much as they could before they might die. Death could hit them from out of nowhere. This was something they both knew so well that they didn't need to say it.
"You're good to be with," she said.
He kissed behind her ear. Hidden under her hair, he saw tattooed Sunevian digits, 214723. He had recently learned the aliens' ten numerals along with some of their words. "What are these numbers?"
"I have to confess something," she said. "I'm a clone."
"So, you didn't have parents?"
"No, I didn't. From birth until we graduate from high school, we clones live together in hostels. When I was younger, just like the rest of the child clones, I wore a small placard with my number on it. It hung on a lanyard from my neck. That way the Head Mother could tell us apart."
"There are more women who look like you?"
"Many. I'm one of the ideal companion models. Scientists designed us to be desirable," she said. "I wondered how I would tell you. Now I don't have to think about it."
Wilson felt sorry for her. She had to admit an awkward fact at a time she did not choose. That she was a clone did not change his feelings for her, but he wondered, Did the aliens provide her for me just because she was conveniently nearby? "Even if you're a clone, you're somebody," Wilson said. "Every person learns different things and has unique experiences. You are your own person."
"I'm glad you understand," Lena said. "It's true that you may meet other women who are carbon copies of me. But each of us is one of a kind because our minds are dissimilar."
"Could someone in charge force you to be with a certain man?"
"Yes, but it did not happen to me because I became a scientist. The clone managers let me decide for myself. I have yet to decide which man will be my companion. In our society, matters of love can be complex as must also be the case in your culture," she said, and she touched his left shoulder with her fingertips. "The leaders didn't send me here to seduce you."
She read my mind, Wilson thought. "Just because you're a clone doesn't change our friendship," he said. He hugged her. As he felt her softness next to him, his mind wandered. What other kinds of clones are there on Sunev? Do they get nano drugs to extend their lives? Are they a lower caste? Are they expendable?
Wilson and Lena clung to each other and napped in the cool cabin. After an hour on the couch, he woke, and she stirred.
"I want to sleep here all night," she said.
"Okay," he said. "I'll sleep on the couch. You can have the bedroom. We'll both be relaxed when we leave for Earth tomorrow." Questions popped up in his mind. While the rest of the crew trains, where is Raven going to find gold on Earth?
After she closed the bedroom door, he lay down and thought of the good Earth that he would return to in the morning.
Maybe I'll stay on Earth, and keep her with me to live in peace.
Chapter 16 – Gold Hunt on Earth
Raven had decided to make a quick trip to Earth in early May to train the fresh crew of his new ship, The Ghost Liner. The voyage was also to be a rest-and-recreation journey for the few survivors of his old vessel's original crew. True, Sunev was at war with rival planet Triod, but even in war there is need for recovery, physical and mental.
The new crew flew The Ghost Liner from the capital, First City, to a place on planet Sunev that matches the geographic location of California on Earth.
Raven, Lena, Wilson, and Raven's buddy, Roberto Yarnell, planned to visit Gold Country, not far from Sacramento, California. Yarnell, a gung ho police officer who had posed as a taxi driver and chased Lena's kidnappers, also was one of Raven's oldest friends. Yarnell had joined the new crew at Raven's request.
It was May 3. After the crew had conducted training drills for a few days in the ship, which was still on Sunev, Raven called Wilson to the control deck just before the vessel was about to begin its jump to Earth.
After Wilson walked onto the deck, Raven said, "Above all, the new crew has to quickly learn how to work as a team. This will be their first big jump to another planet."
"Will they be ready for battle when we return, even if their training is being cut short?" Wilson asked.
"I hope so. They must be prepared. If not, they could endanger the ship," Raven said. "We don't have many ships, and neither does Triod."
"So, there's no chance Triod would invade Sunev?"
"There's no risk of a
big invasion," said Raven. "But there's a slim possibility that the cyborgs could drop mini-fusion bombs on our cities, if they've learned how to build them. We don't know if they stole, bought, or made the explosives that they set off at the Parliament Building."
"That makes me wonder if our next objective should be to bomb Triod's capital before they bomb First City," said Wilson.
"What I'm about to tell you is top secret, so don't repeat it," Raven said.
"You have my word."
"Both sides have fusion weapon detectors which can find large bombs even if they are shielded. Smaller, mini-fusion bombs are harder to detect," Raven said. "So, we would spot a big bomb before they could set it off."
"But how can you stop them from detonating one even if you can locate it?"
"We can disarm the big bombs from a distance," Raven said. His mention of an ability to defuse a nuclear weapon by remote control seized Wilson's interest.
"How many dimension ships does Triod have?" Wilson asked.
"We think that they have three. Just like our ships, their vessels can't carry enough undetectable bombs to win a war. And our ships only have a capacity of just a few hundred soldiers. Because ships won't make much difference right now in the war, we have time to go to Earth to train the crew."
"I look forward to showing Lena Northern California," Wilson said. He also hoped to see relatives and friends and introduce them to Lena.
"I can't wait to tour California's Gold Country again," Raven added. He winked and began to set switches and touch screen controls.
Wilson reached in his hip pocket. "That reminds me. Here's a plastic map of Gold Country I found when you were wounded. It's yours." He handed it to Raven.
"Thanks. I thought I had lost it during our battle with the cyborg. I've already printed another one. How'd you find it?"
"When you asked me to take the ray pistol from your pocket, I also grabbed the map. It was with the weapon. In my rush, I stuffed the map in my pocket.
"How did you guess what the map shows?" Raven asked.
"Lena saw it, and she told me she thought that it was of Gold Country. Where did the map come from?"
