Chapter 27
Abductions
Soon, Videl’s Revenge was back on course for Earth. But the mood on the bridge was somber and desperate after the shocking loss of Humanities Hope. Nobody said a word for a long time as each tried to analyze for himself what had gone wrong. Finally Vice Admiral Cystrom broke the silence.
“This changes everything,” he said. “They have a weapon that can destroy our attack cruisers. What’s the range of a plasma cannon, anyway?”
“Pretty short, actually,” Lt. Lethrow said. “That’s why they waited until the cruiser was almost on top of them.”
“So, as long as we keep our distance, we’ll be fine.”
“What if they put one of those weapons on a fighter?” Lt. Hanze asked.
“Not possible,” Lt. Lethrow explained. “Plasma cannons require a lot of power. A fighter wouldn’t have anywhere near enough of it.”
The com specialist stood up. “Sir, I have contact with Earth.”
A smile burst onto Vice Admiral Cystrom’s face. “Excellent. Put me through immediately, and go find Rupra Bruda.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Commander Kulchz here,” a voice said.
“Commander,” Cystrom said. “So good to hear your voice.”
“And yours as well, Vice Admiral. We were talking to your lead ship, which is approaching Earth, and they forwarded our signal to you. We are so saddened to hear of the death of Videl Lai.”
“Yes, that was most unfortunate.”
“Is Operation Conquest Earth still on?”
“Yes, it was his will that the mission go forward whether he lived or died. He told me that himself.”
“Good. Everything is in place for immediate implementation. All we need is proper authorization to go forward.”
“The admiral is here, and Rupra Bruda should be here in a tik. I assume that will represent sufficient authority in the absence of my father.”
“Certainly.”
“Have any Earth shuttles arrived in the last few days?”
“Yes, one came yesterday apparently. We know that because Peter Turner has surfaced here.”
Vice Admiral Cystrom clenched his fist. “Well, we knew he was on his way. He must be killed.”
“We killed a man his father hired to investigate us, but Turner and his father have since made contact with the FBI and the CIA and are now under protection, so they’re out of reach for now.”
“His death should be a high priority,” Cystrom insisted. “He caused us much trouble in Tarizon.”
“We’re watching him, just waiting for the right opportunity.”
“How much does the U.S. government know about OCE?”
“Not much. Most of the agents working on the case still don’t think aliens exist.”
Vice Admiral Cystrom snickered. “Good. It sounds like the time is right, then, to set them straight on that point.”
Rupra Bruda stepped onto the bridge.
Evohn nodded to his Tahma. “All right,” he said. “I’ll put the admiral and Rupra Bruda on.”
The admiral stepped forward and spoke. “Commander, good work. I knew we could count on you. So, everything is in place, I understand?”
“Yes, once we have your authorization we’ll take custody of the American president, vice president, and Speaker of the House. That will make our comrade next in line to become president.”
“Excellent.”
“Once he’s sworn in, he’ll start putting more of us in key positions of authority. It will take some time but not so long before we are in complete control. Of course, the beauty of Videl’s plan is that the Americans will never know we have taken over their government.”
“Unless Peter Turner and his father wake up the sleeping giant,” Rupra Bruda said.
“Tahma Bruda! It’s go good to hear your voice,” Kulchz said.
“It’s been a long time,” Bruda said.
“Yes, it has. I’m so glad you made it back to Earth.”
“Me too. Now we must make sure nothing goes wrong. You must kill Peter Turner and his father. They are both quite dangerous.”
“You know that Stan Turner conspired with the Loyalists on Earth to blow up my space shuttle?” Kulchz remarked.
“I heard that. So, why is he still alive?”
“Since he worked closely with the CIA, we were afraid his death might alarm them and they might start snooping around and discover how many of us had not returned to Tarizon.”
“Very well, but now you must kill them, and the other two sons as well. We cannot allow anyone to stop OCE.”
“It will be done,” Kulchz said.
“Good. So, as the leader of our party, I authorize you to begin Operation Conquest Earth,” Bruda said.
“And I,” the admiral added, “as the commander of the Intergalactic Fleet, join in that authorization. We will take our positions in orbit around the planet to support your efforts as needed.”
“Very well. I have just set OCE in motion,” Kulchz said. “I will keep you posted on our progress.”
“Thank you, Commander. God be with you.”
The com link went dead and everyone broke out in smiles. Then someone started clapping. Soon bottles of Tekari were being passed around and the party had begun. Lt. Muri showed up a little later with some of her female friends and they piped in music over the com link. Everyone was in great spirits and having a good time. The party lasted about a kyloon, and then Specialist Prill interrupted them.
“Vice Admiral,” Prill said. “I’ve been advised by our sister cruiser Invincible that another Earth shuttle is nearing Earth.”
“Has it met up with Earth’s Destiny yet?” Vice Admiral Cystrom asked.
“Not yet. Apparently they are still a few kyloons away.”
“Excellent. Tell them to intercept it and destroy it. We’ll get there as fast as we can to help.”
“Yes, sir,” Prill said.
Evohn felt good. He believed his string of bad luck was finally over. Now things were starting to fall his way. It was only a matter of time until Videl’s dream, and now his dream, would be realized. He’d rule Earth the way God intended humans to rule it. It would be his paradise.
A slightly drunken Lt. Muri staggered over to him and almost fell. He grabbed her arm to steady her. She put her other arm around his neck.
“Congratulations, Vice Admiral. You did it!” she said.
He smiled and eased her over to a chair. Before he could dump her in it she kissed him. He broke away somewhat irritated but kept his composure. He’d have all the women any man could want soon enough, he thought. He saw Rupra Bruda approaching.
“So, the day has arrived,” Bruda said.
“Yes, I can’t believe it. Thank you for making it possible.”
“Well, thank you for not letting me rot in prison.”
They raised their bottles of Tekari.
“So, I hope Kulchz can handle everything on Earth,” Evohn said. “Do you think we should go down there and help out?”
“No. We’d stick out too much and wouldn’t know what to do anyway. I’m sure he has everything under control. He’d have asked for help had he needed it.”
“I don’t know. Peter Turner worries me.”
“He’ll be dead soon.”
Specialist Prill walked up. “Sir, Commander Kulchz has an update for you.”
Cystrom and Bruda stood up and followed Prill to the communications room. “Yes, Commander,” Cystrom said. “That was fast.”
“Yes, I thought you’d like to know the President has been abducted without any difficulty. He’s en route to ES 13.”
“Excellent. What about the vice president and speaker?”
“The funeral they’re attending is not for another kyloon, but I knew you’d want to know our first objective had been realized.”
“What was the reaction to his sudden disappearance?”
“The White House is in chaos. Nobody knows what to do. It’
s rather comical, actually.”
“I imagine so,” Cystrom said. “Good work. Let me know when the others have been apprehended.”
“I will, sir.”
Cystrom turned to Bruda and smiled. “My father was a brilliant man, wasn’t he? While everyone else was worrying about sending children back to Tarizon, he was studying the American government and plotting its overthrow.”
“Yes, and the Americans gave us free rein to run around their country with no oversight and few restrictions, just so their military would always be the strongest on Earth. They swallowed our assurances that we had no interest in Earth as a home for our people.”
“Such naiveté will be their downfall,” Cystrom said.
As they were about to leave, a light began blinking on the communications console. Prill picked up the receiver and listened.
“Sir. Invincible has intercepted one of the Earth shuttles. They’re preparing to attack. We should catch up with them in about a kyloon.”
“Very good. Tell them to attack when ready and send us a live feed.”
“Yes, sir,” Prill said and turned back to relay the order.
“I want to see that shuttle blown to bits,” Cystrom said. “It will be the climax of a historic day.”
Bruda nodded. “Yes, indeed.”
Cystrom and Bruda went back to the bridge to wait for the live feed to come up. The party had ended and only Lt. Hanze, Lt. Lethrow, and Lt. Muri were still there. Lt. Hanze was on duty, and Lt. Lethrow was trying to rouse Lt. Muri, who was passed out in a chair. She finally stirred and her eyes opened.
“Oh! The party’s over?” she asked sleepily.
“I’m afraid so,” Lt. Lethrow said. “Can I escort you back to your quarters?”
Lt. Muri stretched and then sighed. “Well, actually I had a question for the Vice Admiral.”
Cystrom, hearing a reference to him, turned and looked at Lt. Muri. “Yes, what’s your question?”
“Well, you promised Vice Admiral Brunns that if he ran his fighter into Earth’s Destiny that he’d be a martyr and his alleged treason would be expunged from his record.”
Cystrom didn’t respond. Lt. Muri continued. “So, my question is: Are you going to honor the promise made to him even though the mission was a failure? I think you should. He did what you asked.”
Cystrom was about to speak but Bruda cut him off. “His record will be expunged but since he botched his mission and endangered OCE he’ll be no martyr. In fact, from this day forward his name will never be spoken again, understood?”
Lt. Muri frowned and was about to object when she noticed the scowl on his face and thought better of it. “Well, I guess that’s reasonable,” she conceded.
The screen suddenly stirred, and an image of ES 52 appeared in the distance. Hundreds of fighters were flying toward it in formation. Fighters from the shuttle were pouring out to intercept their attackers. When the formation got close to the shuttle they broke off into two wings to attack from both flanks. Soon the two sides were exchanging missiles and laser fire. At first, both sides seemed to be losing fighters at about the same rate, but because the Purists had twice as many fighters, their advantage was growing as the battle went on.
For the first two kyloons, the Purists were unsuccessful in getting close to ES 52, but eventually they were able to approach within missile and laser range and began firing at the big ship. ES 52 fought back stubbornly, taking out numerous Purist fighters. As the battle continued to rage, Evohn Cystrom grew impatient.
“Why can’t they destroy it?” he complained to Lt. Lethrow. “Are our weapons useless?”
“It looks like their fighters are more advanced than we expected. They must have gotten some of the upgraded T-69s.”
“Why didn’t we get them?”
“We were cut off when the siege of Shisk began. The Loyalists took control of all manufacturing facilities about that time.”
“We need to finish ES 52 off.”
“Don’t worry, Vice Admiral. Their hull can’t hold up forever. If it’s still intact when we get there, I’ll personally go out there and finish it off.”
Cystrom took a deep breath, trying to maintain his composure. “You may just have to do that, Lieutenant. It seems the pilots from Invincible are incompetent.”
As the officers on the bridge of Videl’s Revenge watched the battle rage, there was a slight glimmer of light near the aft landing platform. Cystrom saw it and blinked. He looked again but saw nothing. He wondered if there was something in his eye so he rubbed it vigorously. He looked again but there was nothing to see. As he gazed out at ES 52 an ominous feeling came over him. As hard as he tried he couldn’t shake it.
Chapter 28
Zekiah Swamp
It was the first time Peter had been to the White House. The last time his family had visited DC, they’d spent too much time at the Smithsonian and missed the last White House tour.
Peter marveled at the paintings, ornate decorations, and historical furnishings as he sat patiently with his father and Dr. Gerhardt outside the Chief of Staff’s office. Much to their chagrin, Reggie and Mark had been forced to stay at the Watergate, since they hadn’t been invited to the White House.
The door to Chief of Staff Roger Winslow’s office finally opened, and Mo stuck his head out and nodded for them to come in. They got up, filed in, and were directed to sit on a long bench seat to the left of Winslow’s desk. Two Secret Service agents, Arthur Griggs and Jason Hamilton, introduced themselves.
Winslow looked tired and beaten as he fell back into his executive chair. He looked at Peter. “So, you think the President’s disappearance has something to do with the Tarizon project.”
“Yes, I know it does,” Peter replied. “Didn’t Agent Snead tell you about the transcript I translated?”
“Yes he did, but it’s all a little hard to swallow.”
Peter shrugged. “I don’t doubt that, but believe me it’s what’s happening right now, and if you don’t take immediate action it’s going to be too late.”
“What kind of action?”
“Well, you’ve got to protect the vice president and Speaker of the House, for starters.”
“Don’t worry about them. They’re attending a funeral right now and the Secret Service has them under heavy guard.”
Peter rolled his eyes. “I’m afraid that’s not going to cut it. Did Agent Snead tell you there’s a mole in the Secret Service?”
Winslow looked at Snead. Snead took a deep breath. “We don’t know for sure, but there was a mention in one of the meetings we monitored of an alien recently being accepted into the Secret Service.”
“Do you have a name?”
“Not a name, no, but he’ll be one just recently admitted. It shouldn’t be too hard to figure it out.”
“So what do you suggest we do?”
“You need to move the vice president and speaker to a secure location immediately,” Peter said. “But don’t call the on-site team and tell them where to go. Send a new team over and let the new team take them to a safe place. And let me screen the new agents before they go. I’ll be able to tell if they are aliens or traitors,” Peter said.
Agent Hamilton shook his head. “This is crap! They’re perfectly safe where they are. There are hundreds of people at the funeral.”
Stan looked at Hamilton. “Do you remember a murder trial a few years back in Dallas where the defendant was abducted in mid-sentence during her testimony?”
Hamilton nodded. “I heard something about it.”
“The aliens did that. If they know the vice president and the speaker are at the funeral, they’ll go there, use their memory gun, and your agents along with everyone else at the funeral will be out of commission for ten or fifteen minutes. In the meantime, the VP and speaker will be long gone, just like the President.”
“Okay, so we do what you say. How do we get the President back?” Winslow asked.
Peter sighed. “I’m not sure abo
ut that, but you can start by letting Dr. Gerhardt hypnotize your agents to find out who took the president, and if there was any indication as to where they were going with him.”
Winslow gave Dr. Gerhardt a hard look, and then the telephone rang. He picked it up and listened. His face grew red and he slammed the telephone back on the receiver. He looked at Peter. “That was the team leader at the Hodges funeral. Someone attacked them during the ceremony. Nobody knows what happened except that the vice president and the speaker are missing!”
Peter stood up. “We’re running out of time! Take me to the funeral. Let me check his security team. Maybe I can figure out where they took him. Dr. Gerhardt can stay here and start interrogating your agents. We’ve got to find your mole.”
“Okay. Hamilton, take Peter to the funeral. Stan and Dr. Gerhardt can stay here with Mo and interrogate anyone here at the White House who might have seen something.”
“Someone ought to start doing some research on Senator Rubio,” Peter said. “If he’s an alien we better start gathering data to prove it.”
“I’ll do that,” Snead said. “That shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Look for opponents dying or dropping out of the race unexpectedly,” Peter advised. “That’s the Purists’ modus operandi—eliminate your opposition by any means necessary.”
Snead nodded. “Will do. You better get going.”
Peter nodded and looked at Hamilton.
“Okay, let’s go,” Hamilton said, standing up. “The funeral was on the other side of town, so I’ll call in a chopper.”
After Peter and Agent Hamilton had left, Stan and Dr. Gerhardt went to the security gate to start hypnotizing witnesses. They figured they’d start there and then try to figure out how the abduction took place.
The guard Dr. Gerhardt hypnotized first was Tom Stern. The psychiatrist flashed a small penlight in front of Stern’s eyes.
“Look at the light and when I count down to zero you’ll remember how you allowed an unauthorized intruder enter the White House. Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . zero. Tell me what you see,” Dr. Gerhardt ordered.
“It’s a maintenance van,” Stern said. “Two men in the front seat dressed in uniforms of Parr Heating & Air. They claim to have received a call to fix an AC unit. I know nothing about it, so I call in to the maintenance office. Then the driver pulls out a gun and fires. I see the gun and expect to die, but instead a blue light flashes in my face. My body suddenly feels numb and I feel myself falling. . . .”
“Do you remember anything else?” Dr. Gerhardt asked.
“No. When I woke up the President was gone and everyone was frantic.”
“From here, where would the intruders have gone to find the President?” Stan asked.
He pointed down the driveway. “To the West Entrance Portico.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Stan said, starting to walk. When they got to the West Entrance Portico he stopped at the door that led into the West Wing. A Marine was posted at the door. “Soldier, were you on duty when the President disappeared?” Stan asked.
“Yes. I was.”
“Okay, Dr. Gerhardt here will need to hypnotize you to see if you can remember anything about the abductors.”
The soldier nodded and followed Dr. Gerhardt inside to a private conference room adjacent to the lobby, where he was seated for the session. After he was under, Dr. Gerhardt asked him what he remembered.
“There were six men dressed in identical uniforms,” the Marine guard said. “Two of them were carrying tool boxes. They had not been cleared to enter the West Wing, so I alerted the Secret Service and stopped them. Two Secret Service agents came out from the lobby almost immediately. They argued with the men for a few seconds then one of them pointed a gun at us. The agents drew their weapons but it was too late. I don’t remember anything after that. I woke up on the ground about eleven minutes later. The Secret Service agents were lying next to me.”
“Where would the men have gone once they’d gotten into the West Wing?” Stan asked.
“Through the lobby and then by the Roosevelt Room to the Oval Office.”
“Whom did they have to pass to get to the Oval Office?”
“A lot of people. His secretary for sure.”
Stan looked at Mo. “Let’s put her under next.”
Mo nodded and led them to the President’s secretary’s office. She didn’t look well. Mo asked her if she was up to being hypnotized. She said she’d do anything to help find the President.
“I just don’t understand how he could have vanished into thin air,” she moaned.
Stan nodded. “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s an advanced technology that we don’t understand yet.”
Dr. Gerhardt put her into a trance and then asked her what she remembered.
“The men just came rushing in and went right past me,” she said. “Two Secret Service agents came in after them. There was a flash of light in the Oval Office. I was looking down so I didn’t see the light directly, just a reflection. I guess that’s why I didn’t become unconscious like the others.”
“Did you hear them say anything?”
“Yes, but they were talking a foreign language I didn’t understand.”
“So, what happened next?” Dr. Gerhardt asked.
“Two of the men dragged the President down the corridor toward the lobby, then another one pointed his gun at me and that’s the last thing I remember.”
Stan turned to Mo. “Good. So, we know six men took him away in a Parr Heating & Air van. You can probably get a license plate from your surveillance cameras and the direction they took when they left the White House grounds.”
“I’ll put out an APB on the van and then have the Secret Service check the surveillance tapes. We should have a license plate number in just a few minutes.”
Mo headed downstairs to the Secret Service office on the ground floor.
“That’s the same cover Kulchz used back in Dallas. You’d think they’d mix things up a bit,” Stan observed.
“He probably didn’t think it was necessary since DC is a long way from Dallas and the memory gun wiped away any memory of the Parr company vans,” Dr. Gerhardt suggested.
“I suppose,” Stan said. “I wonder where they took him? Would they take him to one of their Earth shuttles?”
“Probably, that would be a pretty secure location.”
“Okay, where is a likely spot to land a spaceship the size of a football field?”
“I don’t know. We need to look at some maps. It would have to be flat, no trees, and somewhat secluded.”
“I doubt there are very many places like that around DC.”
“A wildlife refuge maybe or some land near a flood plain?” Dr. Gerhardt suggested.
Mo came back, and Stan asked him if they could get some maps of the local area to see where a space shuttle might land. Mo said he could do better than that. He’d have some satellite images taken of the area and displayed in the Situation Room. They would show the likely landing spots. Stan suggested they might want to compare them to previous images of the same area to see if there were any unexplained changes in the structures on the ground. Mo agreed and left to go get that project started. When he returned he had news.
“They got a license number on the van. It’s registered to Parr Heating & Air, Inc. of Dallas, Texas. There was a local address on the registration. An FBI SWAT team is on their way there now.”
“They wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave a trail like that. It’s got to be a bogus address,” Stan said.
“True. But we have to roll over every rock.”
“Right. Have you searched their Alexandria offices yet?”
“Yes, they were cleaned out during the night.”
“Figures,” Stan said. “What about Jerry? He was supposed to stick with Kulchz. Has he checked in?”
“About twenty minutes ago. He’s staked out across the street from Kulchz’ apartment. Says he hasn�
��t budged all night.”
“I bet he did sneak out, but flashed Jerry with the memory gun so he wouldn’t remember it. You should send a team out there to see if Kulchz is there now and search his place if he’s not. Can you get a warrant?”
“The frickin’ President is missing,” Mo said irritably. “I think we can get a warrant.”
“Right,” Stan said. “Sorry, I know all this must be difficult for you.”
“Difficult! It’s a frickin’ nightmare.”
“Have the people been informed that the President is missing?” Stan asked.
“Not yet, but he’s due for an appearance in less than an hour. We can probably cancel the meeting and say he’s not feeling well, but that won’t buy us much time. The press will want details of his illness and they’ll be calling his doctors.”
Snead walked into the room holding a sheet of paper. He handed it to Mo.
“Here’s the scoop on Senator Rubio,” Snead said. “In his first political campaign for mayor his opponent was caught messing around with one of his campaign workers a few days before the election. He claims to have been set up—denied any previous relationship with the woman.”
“Probably drugged him, took him to a motel, then had one of Kulchz’ guides snuggle up next him in a room,” Stan said. “Took a few photos, called the press, and it was all over.”
Snead raised his eyebrows, nodded, and then continued. “In his congressional campaign he was in a tight battle in the primary. Fortuitously, his opponent ran into a train when a signal light malfunctioned. There’s still a wrongful death suit pending against the railroad company. ”
“Peter was telling me about an ion shield they use on their battle cruisers,” Stan said. “It screws up anything electronic that passes through it. Causes the missiles to prematurely explode. I’m sure they have a portable version that could make a signal light malfunction.”
“Okay, but that’s all speculation,” Snead said. “It’s not enough to challenge his right to be sworn in as President if he’s the next in the line of succession.”
“I know,” Stan said. “That’s what Kulchz is counting on. Once Senator Rubio is sworn in, the Cabinet will resign and he’ll appoint his own people. After that it will be downhill for the Purists. They’ll gradually consolidate their power and subtly destroy any opposition. That’s how they did it on Tarizon.”
“What about the tape?” Mo said. “We have Rubio on tape at the tail end of the meeting the other night. They were discussing the overthrow of the government for godsakes. He was the one suggesting they speak Tari.”
“True but we only have his voice. Nobody spoke his name and he didn’t identify himself,” Snead replied.
“Didn’t they photograph him coming out of the meeting?” Stan asked.
“They may have, but all the photographs have disappeared.”
“Disappeared? How did that happen?” Mo asked.
“They were checked into evidence but when I went over there looking for them a little while ago they couldn’t find them.”
“Oh, great!” Stan exclaimed. “They’ve got someone inside the FBI. I bet by now the tape is gone too?”
Snead picked up his phone and made a call. “Hey, Jon. How are you coming on that audio tape I left with you. Were you able to authenticate Senator Rubio’s voice?”
Everyone watched Snead expectantly.
“What do you mean it’s been erased!” Snead snarled. He listened a moment longer and then hung up the phone angrily. He looked at Stan and Mo and sighed. “Jon was processing the tape at his work station. Apparently while he was at lunch someone erased it.”
“They must have found out we taped their meeting,” Stan suggested. “How well do you know this Joh fellow?”
Snead didn’t answer; he was listening to someone in his earpiece. “Ah. They have the satellite images up in the Situation Room if you want to take a look.”
Stan nodded and got up. They all followed Snead into the Situation Room, which was a hubbub of activity. Hamilton was already there. On the wall were several photos of the DC area. They studied them for a moment. Stan pointed to a green area on one of the photos.
“Cedarville State Forest—Zekiah Swamp Run runs right through it. It’s the closest secluded area. That would be my bet.”
“How could a spaceship land that close to DC without being detected?” Hamilton asked.
“Ah. You know the guy on the tape, Colonel Huffman?” Snead replied. “He’s assigned to NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector.”
Stan shook his head and sighed.
“You guys go check Zekiah Swamp Run,” Snead said. “I’m going to do more research on Senator Rubio and see if I can find those photographs, although without the tape I’m not sure what good they will do us.”
Stan nodded and looked at Mo.
“I hope this side trip isn’t a waste of time,” Mo said.
“You can stay here,” Stan said. “Dr. Gerhardt and I will go check it out. If we find the shuttle we’ll call you.”
Mo thought for a moment and then nodded. “Yeah, I think that would be best. I’ve got several other leads to check out. I’ll arrange a car and a cell phone.”
Stan nodded and then wondered if he was actually wasting his time. What made him think this location was where the shuttle would be hidden? He couldn’t explain it, but the spot had just jumped out at him when he saw it on the map. He thought about it while he and Dr. Gerhardt waited for the vehicle to be brought up. It was a long shot but he couldn’t think of anything better to do, so he and Dr. Gerhardt set out for Zekiah Swamp Run—whatever that was.
Chapter 29
Martyr
Red reluctantly rolled out of Lora’s bed. It was 0500 and he only had thirty loons before he had to relieve Lt. Leary on the bridge. He looked back at her, wishing they were in his house on Tarizon and not in a shuttle traveling FTL toward their doom.
He wasn’t a coward. He’d proved that on many occasions, but he tended to be pessimistic and negative about the future. Then, at the last minute, when he found out he’d be flying the one weapon that could destroy a Purist attack cruiser, it was almost too much and he’d lost it. Had Lora not taken care of him and nursed him back to health, he knew he’d have gone crazy.
Falling in love with Lt. Lora Marz was a wonderful thing, and he thanked God and Sandee every day for making it happen. But it made the stress of the mission even worse. Now, not only did he have to worry about himself, but Lora as well. He couldn’t let her down, he told himself as he finally closed the door and headed for the bridge. When he got there Lt. Leary told him three attack cruisers had passed them by during the night and that he should be on the alert for the other two. His stomach twisted at the news.
Several kyloons into his watch, his communications specialist advised him there were two large ships closing in on them.
“The first will make contact in ten loons,” he reported. “The other will be on us in two kyloons.”
Red swallowed hard. “Well, this is it. Notify the Captain.”
“Yes, sir,” he said.
Red leaned into his com link and said, “All hands! Battle stations! This is no drill. All hands! Battle stations. This is no drill.”
A piercing alarm bell began to ring, and every person on the ship jumped out of bed or stopped what they were doing to scramble to their assigned posts. When Captain Sparten made it to the bridge and relieved him, Red went straight to the flight deck. On the way, Lora intercepted him. They embraced.
“Oh, Red. I can’t believe this day has come. Be careful out there. I would die if anything happened to you.”
He forced a smile and looked down at her. “I’ll be fine. No matter what you see, don’t worry. I’m going to kick some Purist ass.”
They kissed passionately one last time and then he disappeared into a swarm of anxious pilots running to their planes. Tears welled in Lora’s eyes, and she wondered if she’d ever see him again. When she’d rec
overed she went back to prepare sick bay for the flood of casualties that would soon be overwhelming her.
On the flight deck, Red met with his two squadron commanders, Lt. Leary and Lt. Sham, to review their strategy.
“I don’t know if they both plan to attack us, but if they do Yellow Squadron will defend us forward and Green Squadron aft,” Red explained. “When the time comes to attack, let’s do it just like we practiced, Yellow port, Green starboard. Hit them hard so they won’t have time to react when I come out of stealth.”
The two flight leaders nodded and ran to their fighters. Red waited until they were all launched before he got into his T-73 and shot out of ES 52’s aft landing bay and immediately went stealth. From a distance he watched the two Loyalist squadrons collide with the horde of Purist fighters. The Purists had them outnumbered, but they had slightly superior aircraft, so the Loyalists had the upper hand in one-to-one combat. At last, the attacking fighters flew off to refuel, leaving just a handful of defenders in front of the cruiser. Red knew this was the opportunity they had been waiting for to attack the battle cruiser itself.
“G1. Y1. I’m tired of watching you have all the fun. Let’s see if this PC of mine really works.”
“Affirmative,” G1 replied.
“We’ll keep ’em busy, Captain,” Y1 said.
As they’d practiced, the two squadrons broke off into two wings to attack the battle cruiser from both sides. They swung around and came at their target in a line. The few fighters left to defend tried to cut them off with a salvo of missiles but had no chance at stopping them all. Several fighters blew up, but most of them broke through and launched their missiles at Invincible. The ionic shield immediately powered up and the missiles exploded on contact. The ship was jolted around by the shock waves from the missile but wasn’t damaged.
The fighters flew by and turned around for a return attack. As they approached the attack cruiser, hundreds of refueled fighters flew out and met them close to the ship. It was a chaotic scene, with hundreds of ships in close combat almost on top of Invincible. Red, watching from behind the attack cruiser, grinned as he saw his plan unfolding perfectly. He knew Yellow and Green Squadrons couldn’t stay that close for long as the cruiser’s lasers would cut them to shreds, so he gave it full throttle and headed straight at Invincible.
He watched the ship coming up quickly, and when he calculated the time was right, went out of stealth mode and armed the plasma cannon. Time seemed to almost stop as he waited a few tiks for it to power up; then the sky exploded as a laser shot past him, knocking off the tip of his wing. His plane jerked wildly, but Red managed to keep it on course. Then suddenly, a thick stream of plasma shot out of his plasma cannon toward Invincible. It was so bright Red had to turn away to keep from being blinded.
A portion of the plasma stream hit the aft landing platform and flooded into the ship. The rest oozed around its hull until the ship finally exploded and split apart. Red tried to pull away from the ship but the laser blast had impaired the T-73’s maneuverability. He managed to avoid colliding with the ship but was pelted by debris from the explosion.
Two Purist fighters saw him in distress and went in for the kill. His decoys automatically deployed when the first fighter locked onto him and launched its missiles. The missiles took the bait and blew up harmlessly, but the second fighter waited until he was right on top of Red and fired his laser. Meanwhile, Y1 saw that Red was in trouble and came to help out, but it was too late. He saw Red’s fighter explode right in front of his eyes.
Lt. Marz looked on in horror as Red’s fighter exploded and quickly disappeared from view. Tears welled in her eyes and she began to cry. Captain Sparten came up from behind and put his hand on her shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, Lora,” he said. “I thought sure he’d make it back safely.”
She turned to look at him, her eyes swollen and red. “He knew he was going to die. He knew from the day he boarded this ship. Why did it have to be him? Who decided he’d be the one to fly the T-73? He never wanted the responsibility.”
“Why don’t you go to your quarters and lie down,” the Captain suggested.
She shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. “No, I’ve got patients to attend to. They’ll be arriving at any moment. I’m sorry for the breakdown, Captain.”
Tarizon, Conquest Earth, Tarizon Trilogy Vol 3 Page 35
