Titan Stand

by Max Jager

  "Android, mom!" He exclaimed, "Jezang is a highly advanced android."

  "I'm sorry Matt…An android. Anyway they all seem concerned for your safety."

  He gave his mother an irritated look,

  "Mom…Dad, they do care."

  "Well you have to admit, son," said his father.

  "You have to admit, it's not every family that has their child head off to space and parts unknown. Well look son, you certainly don't need us preaching at you, so once again stay safe, and come back when you can."

  "I will dad, although it might be a different group next time, who knows."

  He hugged them one more time before walking back to the ship.

  "You certainly have warm and caring parents," said Slavek, "However I find them quiet different from mine."

  "Well your folks have high positions of authority," replied Matt, "Not that my parents don't, but your's have rather high expectations of you and Tiag." Slavek sighed,

  "Don't I know it."

  "Well let's get out of here," exclaimed Matt, I know a place where we can practice shooting these guns." He made sure Orlak understood the coordinates of Coryville, which took less than ten minutes to travel to. There was more snow here, and Matt carefully checked the surrounding mountains and steep hillsides for potential avalanches. What was left of the buildings were covered in snow as well. With Slavek's and Rekton's help, they set up a number of targets including an iron plate he remembered from his old tree-house. Te make-shift hut was showing the wear and tear from another unprotected winter, and he figured then by next winter or possibly the one after it would start falling down. He sat inside for a moment remembering the last time he was in here just before Amber and Greg showed up.

  Standing over Greg's grave, he said to no one in particular.

  "How ya doin' Greg, as you can see, I brought a bunch of friends with me. Amber's doing okay, I brought her "sister" with me. You certainly got me started on something, and I still don't know whether to thank you or curse you…Jury's still out on that one. Well we have a little target practice to take care of, so I hope you don't mind the noise…Later."

  Surprisingly, no one seemed to mind the snow and cold, all seemed to have enough warm clothing. Matt then conducted a "class" inside the ship on proper gun safety, and how to load them. Thankfully he didn't have to repeat much, for this crew, although getting the proper sight picture using iron sights took careful explanation and several drawings. Finally it was time to go outside and do a little practicing. He got a kick out of playing range officer to these aliens, but they took all his safety advice seriously, as he showed them how to properly load and charge their weapons. Using everything from boards, an old wooden barrel, and even an old stove, they practiced the basic's of shooting cartridge based firearms. He also got a chance to shoot his Christmas present which astounded everyone, not the least himself, with its incredible delivery of lethal and extremely rapid firepower. Firing two drums of ammo in one of the RPD light machine guns also made a big impression as it literally tore the wood and iron plate target to pieces.

  They shot close to six hundred rounds firing the AK 47's, 74's, CZ's plus an RPD.

  Jezang, and Ifwol turned out to be the best shots, putting all their rounds into the hand drawn circles. Jezang, also proved to a rather good shot with the RPD light machine gun as well, prompting Matt to designate her, "Our machine gunner."

  While Matt's friends weren't crack shots he felt they at least had the basic's down. Then came the fun part…Cleaning everything. It was late when he felt everything was properly cleaned and oiled, tomorrow they would make a short jump over the cell tower where they would wait for the government men to show up.

  That night in his bunk Matt thought back on the day's events and the meeting with his parents. He thought of his feelings toward them, their concerns for his safety, and this current venture to earth before drifting off to sleep.

  The Azani lifted off from the Coryville site shortly before five a.m. touching down in cloak mode fifteen minutes later. It was still dark out, and the scanner had shown no life forms wandering around. Matt and Jezang stood outside the exterior hatch. The orange light from the streetlights was muted from the falling snow. He could see people looking out their windows trying to determine where the loud rumbling had come from.

  "I sure hope those guys can get up here," he said to no one in particular. Jezang was still marveling at the snow, not being familiar with it.

  "It's just frozen rain Jezang, when you live out here in the mountains you learn to live it real fast." Stepping back inside, he called everybody together.

  "Jezang, I want you next to me all the time. Scowl, and look nasty. I'm going to invite them inside, and give them translators. If you guys have anything to say during the conversation, speak up, but for the most part just follow my lead. I might bullshit them a little, but for now we'll just play things by ear."

  Just after eight, Rekton alerted them to the fact that the scanner was picking up vehicles coming towards them.

  "Showtime everyone!" Called Matt. Standing next to the ship he could feel it's presence and the shimmying of the distorted air but with the snow and the fact that they were sitting well back towards the trees those guys weren't seeing anything. Stepping out farther so they could see he and Jezang had the desired effect. Both vehicles parked on the street as six men exited. Turning to Jezang, he snarled,

  "Fuckers can't follow instructions for shit, I told dad to tell them only two men they come with six."

  As the men started to trudge across the snowy field Matt called out,

  "What the fuck is the matter with you; I made it clear I would only deal with two of you."

  "Are you Matt Grainger?" One of them called out.

  "I am!"

  "Who is that next to you?"

  "Her name is Jezang, now, you guys decide which two of you are going to do all the talking, 'cause that's all we are speaking to."

  "Where's this so-called spaceship of your's?" Asked one of them. Matt laughed,

  "Right behind me, so decide right now which two of you are coming with me, while the rest of you get into those SUV's. Don't fuck with us there's a gun turret on top of this ship that can vaporize both your vehicles in one second. I'm willing to talk, this is your only chance guys, don't blow it."

  The men looked at each other, and Matt could see them talking among themselves. Finally two men slowly came forward, as the others got back into their vehicles. As they approached, he could see them staring at Jezang, as well as trying to figure out where Matt was taking them.

  "Watch your heads guys, step inside." Matt and Jezang quickly moved into the crew area where everyone else stood glaring. The two men kept trying to gage the entrance with their hand until they realized there was a ship here, and they could see inside. Pointing to two small crates Matt said,

  "Have a seat, let's talk." When the government men spotted his friends they started to go for their guns at which Matt growled.

  "Try it and none of you will ever see your wives again. I'm acting in good faith I want to talk; you want to talk, quit fucking around and let's get down to cases."

  Chapter 69

  Titan Stand Chapter 69

  The two men continued to survey their surroundings, and although they exhibited no facial expressions, Matt could tell these guys knew they were in over their heads.

  "So which one of you is "Kay" and who is "Jay?" Asked Matt referring to the two characters in "Men in Black."

  Both men removed their badge wallets and showed them to Matt and the others.

  "James Warmaster, how appropriate," said Matt, "Eric Mavers, National Security Agency eh," said Matt, "I might have known. Now let me guess, you're here to arrest us for buzzing area 51?"

  "We don't have the authority to arrest you Matt," said Warmaster, "However what did you think that was going to get you?" Matt shrugged,

  "I don't know, it seemed like the thing to do. Besides, I'll bet it get's pretty borin
g sitting out there in the middle of nowhere, now those guys will have something to talk about. So what else is on your mind?" Both men stared at Matt's friends, especially Jezang.

  "Who's in charge here?" Asked Mavers. Matt handed them translators,

  "Put these in your ear, but I want them back when you leave." Once they had done as he requested, they asked the question again.

  Both Rekton and Orlak stepped forward.

  "This is my ship," said Orlak, "Rekton is second in command."

  "Would you consent to speaking with some people in Washington?" Asked Mavers. Both aliens looked at each other then broke out laughing.

  "No…No, I don't believe that is going to happen,' replied Orlak, "We are here strictly for adventure. We are curious about your planet and merely wish to explore it." Turning to Matt, Warmaster asked,

  "So where do you figure in all this?"

  "I'm just the tour guide," he replied, "My job is to make sure they don't land in someplace like Russia, or China, or Iran."

  He couldn't help feeling that the other "shoe" was about to drop, so sure enough.

  "I don't suppose you know anything about a terrorist training camp being wiped out in Lebanon do you?" Asked the agent.

  "Don't you mean the refugee camp in the West Bank?" Asked Matt. Both agents looked at him with blank expressions.

  "We aren't here to play games son, you know very well what we're talking about. People tend to remember when they are being attacked by some sort of strange spacecraft."

  "Do they now," he replied, so you're going to take the word of a bunch of goat fuckers over ours?" The agents groaned then said,

  "Just answer the question." Matt shrugged, then replied.

  "Here's an idea. Since you're accusing us of all this, why don't we go back over there and pay those people a real visit. You know, leave certain capitols smoking holes, whole cities vaporized, the dead in the hundreds of millions. Or, if that's a bit strong this ship has an interesting device that can tamper with the weather. Perhaps we could generate a massive tornado of say, wind speeds in excess of eight hundred miles an hour. We could create two or three of them and just let them roam around the middle east, goddamn, I'd love to see something like that." Then Skart stepped forward,

  "He's right, one of the major weapons we have aboard this ship is a Neutronic amplifier that can literally control weather and atmospheric conditions. One of my first jobs out of engineering school was working on the project. When conditions are just right, it's possible to create a windstorm of absolute incredible proportions. Then with all that sand over there and at the speeds we could get the wind to move you could sandblast stone down to nothing in a matter of "kleck's, think what it could do to living flesh."

  Matt resisted the temptation to chuckle at Skart's description, this guy was a master at bullshitting, and what's more, these guys appeared to be buying it.

  "I'll tell you this much," said Matt, "Were we to pay those people a visit, this country's problems with the Middle East would be over, they would be finding bodies a thousand miles out into the gulf."

  "Now hold on there," exclaimed Warmaster,

  "That would be wholesale slaughter."

  "Would it?" replied Matt matter-of-factly, I see it as simply solving a problem, it wouldn't matter a bit to these guys, they don't live here those people mean nothing to them. But enough with the threats, these guys are strictly here to have fun and if they want to fight you'd better let 'em." Then Slavek spoke up,

  "My name is Slavek Slykhor, my father is the foreign minister on Ruddoria. Matt here is a citizen of Ruddoria, and on top of that, I consider him a very good friend. Now, I'm not in the habit of threatening people, but I really don't think you want a Ruddorian fleet sitting in orbit over this planet, am I making myself clear?"

  "He's right," added Rekton, "Each of us represents a different planet, one's that just happen to have sizeable battle fleets. Now at the present, nobody has any particular interest in this "rock" however each of us has a lot of sway back home, and know influential people. It would be a terrible shame for this planet to suddenly become the focus of attention, am I making myself clear?" Matt grinned as he saw two government agents scared shitless. Then Mavers spoke up.

  "Look, we don't know what prompted you to attack that terrorist base. Personally, I don't care, but that whole area is a powder keg, you know that.

  Please, don't add fuel to the fire." Then Warmaster looked at Slavek,

  "You said your father was the foreign minister of what was it…"

  "Ruddoria," injected Slavek.

  "Yeah, well would he be interested in speaking to the president, or the UN?"

  Slavek looked at Matt who barely shook his head "no."

  "Well it's a very long trip here," replied Slavek, and although my father is the Ruddorian foreign minister, Ruddoria is only a small part of the Loridian Empire, even if he had the time or the inclination to come, speaking with your president wouldn't matter much. However were something to happen to us all bets would be off I'm afraid what I've seen of your defenses would be nothing compared to our battle fleet."

  "Well would you at least consent to speak with selected individuals," asked Mavers.

  "About what?" replied Slavek. With a note of irritation in his voice Mavers replied.

  "I don't know, scientific matters."

  "Well I'm not sure what sort of scientific matters would interest us," replied Slavek, but I'll pass the word along. I can't say when I'll be through here again, this place is starting to bore me, but if someone else decides to travel here, I'll see to it they get a couple scientists to come along, that's the best we can do."

  "He's right," added Matt, "At some point I will return here. Give me a number so I can contact someone when we arrive, I think I know a couple people who have some authority, and might be interested."

  "One more thing," said Warmaster,

  "Hacking into communication satellites is illegal, that alone could get you thrown into the slammer, it has to stop."

  "Well whoopee-doo," exclaimed Matt, "How else can I speak with my folks or surf the internet. We're not spying on people's phone conversations like you guys."

  "That's beside the point," replied Warmaster, "We'll let you pass this time, but you try it again, you will go to jail." Then Gyod got Matt's attention,

  "Let it go Matt," he quietly said, "Not worth the trouble."

  "But…" Gyod shook his head,

  "Drop it." Matt shrugged.

  "Better listen to him," replied Mavers, "You've been warned."

  Then Orlak spoke up,

  "I've been glancing at my monitor, and there seems to be quite a crowd gathering outside, what are those flashing lights? Here, I'll put it on the large screen."

  He was right; the side street was full of cars, police vehicles, and a whole lot of people. Then someone started banging on the hatch door. Orlak adjusted the scanner so that they could see who it was. Standing outside were the other agents along with Matt's father, and two city cops one of whom Matt recognized as Frank something or other.

  "Just a moment," exclaimed Matt, "That's my dad out there and I remember that cop from last time, let me find out what's going on."

  Opening the hatch his father exclaimed,

  "Sorry son I saw all these people and cars over here had a pretty good idea what was going on."

  "Everything's fine dad, we're just talking to these NSA guys." Then Frank the cop stepped up,

  "Sorry Matt, but is everything okay?"

  "Yeah, sure, come on in if you don't believe me. You too dad, but you other agents stay out." He let Frank and his dad enter, both looking for any signs of trouble. Frank spotted Slavek,

  "Say I remember you from last time how's it going?"

  "Just fine sir, we were just coming to an agreement with these two fellows. Hello Mr. Grainger." Matt's father nodded in acknowledgement, just as more banging sounded from the hatch. This time it was the reporter Ed Bruce and a photographer. The N
SA men refused to be photographed and threatened to crash the whole party until Rekton spoke up.

  "Why don't all of you step outside, and allow us to wrap up our little meeting. Then these fine fellows can leave and you can get some do whatever it is you do."

  Frank looked at Matt with a face of concern.

  "How much longer are you going to be, the neighborhood is really piling up with cars and people?" Matt shrugged,

  "Ask Bruce, we're ready to leave once we come to an agreement with these guys but apparently he wants pictures." The cop then turned to the reporter.

  "Look Ed, we've got a real mess out there, and you know as well as anyone we're shorthanded right now, can't this wait?" Matt didn't hear what Bruce's reply was as the argument went back outside.