Defiant Order

by Donald B McFarlane

  As the mighty ship gingerly lowered itself onto the tired runway, Joe stood up and walked to the rear of the bridge, stopping by Rhea. "This is going to be a quick stop. I want you to stay on the ship."

  She looked up at him. "Do you think they'll try something?" She was still trembling slightly.

  Joe knelt down and took her hands in his. "Look, we're getting the rest of the team, and then we're getting out of here." He looked back at the front view screen. It was clear that the four Sentinels plus the two Crawlers had already deployed around the ship. "We're safe, nothing is going to happen to us."

  "Major, we're being hailed on several channels by local authorities. They are stating that we are in violation of something." Sulvan said calmly as he read from a console to the right of the command chair.

  "That's nice." Joe replied, then looked back at Rhea. "I'll be back soon. I just need to make sure that we leave here with the rest of the SETI team." He quickly rose to his feet, kissed Rhea on the forehead, and moved out the bridge. As Joe walked down the passageway towards the hanger bay, he was awash in emotions that he had been able to conceal from Rhea, but now he was on the verge of letting them out.

  Reaching the bay, he quickly moved to the open hatch and jumped down onto the tarmac. The Sentinel Commander was standing twenty meters away, and Joe could tell that the ship was drawing quite a bit of attention.

  "How's the perimeter looking?"

  "Secure."

  "Okay, I need to find the rest of my team, then we need to get to New York and find Ranix and Yuli."

  "Agreed."

  It didn't take Joe long to find Doctor's Beck, Chan, Jannsen, Lau, Ji-woon, and Lisa Lee. All six immediately agreed with Joe that the only course of action available to them was to leave Paraguay behind and find the two aliens that had gone to New York.

  As the team members boarded the ship, Joe looked around the airport one last time, and just as he was about to turn and climb into the ship, he noticed John Robert's private jet parked at the end of the runway.

  "Sentinel Commander. Is there anyone inside that aircraft?" He asked, pointing towards the plane.

  "Stand by." The machine looked at the plane, ran a series of quick scans, and concluded it was empty. "Negative."

  "Destroy it."

  Without replying, the machine sent a command transmission to one of the Crawlers that was making its way back to its holding area. The machine stopped, chirped a confirmation, and launched a short-range missile towards the Gulfstream jet. Joe watched as the rocket raced through the sky and slammed into the cockpit of the aircraft and then discharged a bright flash of blue light before the jet was vaporised.

  The explosion was so powerful but controlled that someone could have been standing just a few metres away and survived.

  "Nice shot." Joe started moving back towards the ship. "Now let's get the fuck out of here."

  52

  When the news of that morning's events reached the President, he was speechless. Sitting behind his desk in the Oval Office, he sat in silence with several senior members of his cabinet. While they knew that both Ranix and Yuli had survived the attack in New York, they hadn't received word from Paraguay about the status of the spacecraft or Major Hunt and his team.

  When the phone call finally came in, everyone in the room locked their eyes on the President's telephone. Clearing his throat, the President leant forward and picked up the phone and brought it to his ear. The conversation was short and to the point.

  Setting the receiver back down, he looked at the faces that were eagerly awaiting the update.

  "Major Hunt, his team, and the spacecraft are on their way to New York City as we speak."

  "What are his intentions?" Asked the Vice President.

  "He said they were going to secure Ranix and Yuli." The President checked his watch. "And he said he'd be there in about twenty minutes."

  "How is that possible?" Asked General Anderson. "Paraguay is thousands of miles away from New York."

  Zach North just smiled and chuckled lightly. "They've got a spaceship, General. I wouldn't put anything past them."

  "Major Hunt said there was some shooting in Paraguay." The President shook his head. "I hope he can keep a lid on this thing from spiralling out of control."

  "It already is out of control." Commented a smug Chief of Staff.

  53

  When the Epsilon crossed the equator rocketing north at 12,000 miles an hour, the SETI team were gathered in the ship's dining hall attempting to agree on the best course of action.

  Doctor Beck, one of the younger members of the team, had come up with a very concise plan. "We've agreed that we need to get Ranix and Yuli back on board this ship as soon as possible. I propose that we land the ship on North Brother Island, in the East River. It's been abandoned for quite some time, so we won't have to worry about too much company for the short term."

  Lisa Lee, the always outspoken legal expert, chimed in. "So once we've landed on a piece of real estate that belongs to the US government, then what? They'll undoubtedly surround the island." She paused and looked around at the other members of the group. "Are we still planning to let Ranix give his UN address, and after that, then what? Staying on an island in the East River is not a long-term solution."

  "We must also consider what Master Engineer Sulvan and the Sentinel Commander will say about our options. I understand that Ranix is technically in command, but Sulvan outranks him, and the SC has a lot of sway with Ranix." Add Doctor Ji-woon.

  Joe shook his head. "Let's assume all parties want the UN address to go forward. What's our next move? The ship can't jump back to their homeworld, and they need access to liquid water, so they obviously need to stay here on Earth." He jabbed at the table with his finger. "We need somewhere to go after New York."

  Lee chimed back in, "We need somewhere that's relatively remote, and in a country that is going to amenable to our needs."

  Rhea leant forward, looked at Joe, then smiled. "My parent's estate in British Columbia is large enough to handle this ship."

  "And it's very remote." Joe added, smiling back at her.

  "What about the weather?" Asked Doctor Lau.

  "It'll be cold, but I don't see how that will be a major issue." Rhea replied.

  "Any other objections?" Joe asked, scanning the room. "No, then we'll put it to Ranix when we get him on board."

  "And just out of curiosity, how are we going to do that?" Asked Beck.

  "Good point. I'll give the President a call, explain to him the situation, and hopefully get an answer. If necessary, we can take the shuttle and get him ourselves, or have him brought to North Brother Island."

  As the group broke, Joe made his way to the bridge, while Rhea and Doctor Beck made their way to the medical centre. Joe knew that the President was not going to be a fan of the suggestion to relocate the ship to Canada, but he also knew that there was very little chance that the American government was going to just let the ship park itself in some remote corner of the country and not intervene.

  When he arrived on the bridge, he could tell from the view screen that the ship had reduced its speed, and they were close to New York.

  "Master Engineer, can you pull up a map of New York City on the primary monitor?"

  "I can." Sulvan responded. He hit a few buttons on his side console and brought up a bird's eye view of the city.

  "Access our internet, and find North Brother Island, please." Joe sat down in the Communications station chair and continued to watch the monitor. "Jonas, what's the radar look like?"

  "There are several military aircraft trying to trail us, as well as several aircraft taking up station over our destination. In total, roughly 40 combat aircraft." The Detection Technician replied.

  "A warm welcome." Joe said under his breath. He continued to look at the main view screen and was pleased when a map of Manhattan was pulled up, along with North Brother Island, highlighted in yellow.

  "Rais, do you see that yello
w island?"

  "Yes."

  "That's our landing zone. If you could park us there, we'll be in business."

  Joe looked at the Master Engineer and pitched him his plan.

  After listening to the proposal, Sulvan rolled his neck, then looked over at Joe. "It sounds like a reasonable short-term plan. The idea of picking somewhere remote, and hard to reach like that will serve us well for the foreseeable future." He looked back to the main viewer. "Rais, status?"

  "We'll be down in two minutes." Came the reply.

  As Joe continued to watch the main view screen, the presence of the Epsilon was now painfully obvious to people on the ground. Once the ship was only 300 miles from New York, Rais had started to drop the ship's speed, and reduced the ship's altitude. By the time the Epsilon was over Coney Island in Brooklyn, the ship was flying at only a few hundred metres above the ground.

  Hordes of people that were out for their lunch breaks gasped as the 200-metre long ship cut across the sky heading north over Brooklyn. The patchwork repair job clearly visible to spectators below as the warship passed overhead.

  As the ship passed La Guardia, hundreds of people at the airport, and on grounded planes took phone and film footage of the ship as it slowed, and started its descent towards the small island in the middle of the East River.

  Joe looked over Rais at the main view screen and noticed that the island looked heavily wooded.

  "Are we going to be able to land there?" he asked, slightly worried.

  "My sensors are picking up several structures, but there is enough space for us to land. We might crush a few trees, but no damage to the structures." the pilot replied just as the ship dropped below 30 metres.

  "Landing gear down."

  As the ship lowered itself gently to the ground, Joe could feel a few slight nudges as the ship crushed some trees.

  "In three, two, one."

  A final shudder as the landing pads made contact with the ground, and then as the suspension eased the ship into its resting place.

  "We're down," Rais reported as he started his post-flight checks. "I'm going to keep the engines on standby in case we need to leave in a hurry."

  "I'm going to call the President and find out where Ranix and Yuli are." Joe said while departing the bridge.

  Joe moved quickly through the ship to the hangar bay. He wasn't sure what the President would say about their long-term plans to abscond with the ship to Canada, but he felt fairly confident that the President would agree that the two aliens should be returned to the ship as soon as possible.

  When Joe exited the ship, he noted that the ground was saturated, even though the skies were clear. The Sentinel Commander had already deployed his forces around the ship when Joe walked up to him.

  "How long will it take to get the shuttle out and prepped if we need it?" Joe asked.

  "Not long. What is your plan?" The robot asked.

  "Get Ranix and Yuli back to the ship as soon as possible and evaluate our options."

  "A wise course of action. I do not recommend staying at this location any longer than we need to. We are too close to such a large urban area."

  "We've come up with a possible location to keep the ship. It's on a remote island where Doctor Stokes family lives. It has very limited access, and should be ideal for our needs."

  "Understood."

  Joe pulled the satellite phone out his pocket and hit the redial button. Within seconds he was connected to the President.

  "Mr President. We've arrived in New York." Joe looked skyward and noted that a slew of helicopters, police and news, had started swarming over the island, and above them, fighter jets raced back and forth across the sky.

  "What is your next course of action?" The President asked.

  "We would like Ranix and Yuli delivered to the ship as soon as possible. Once they are onboard, we'll figure out what's going to happen next."

  "And the UN address?" The President asked.

  "That could still happen, and I hope it does, we just need to get everyone back on board the ship and catch our breath."

  "I'll get in contact with the agents who are protecting them, and have them flown to you as soon as possible."

  "Thank you, Mr President."

  Joe lowered the phone from his ear and looked at the Sentinel Commander. "Did you catch that?"

  "Yes." Came the metallic reply.

  It took two hours until an FBI Blackhawk helicopter landed on the south edge of the island containing Ranix and Yuli. Both were unharmed, but still slightly shaken from their ordeal.

  54

  Ranix and Yuli recounted their disastrous arrival in New York to the rest of the crew and the SETI team in the dining hall. Everyone in attendance knew that they had been lucky to survive a coordinated attack like that.

  "We have a location in mind to relocate to. Remote, hard to reach. I think that it would be ideal for our needs." Joe said.

  "I still want to make the address to the United Nations." Ranix said, a very deadpan expression on his face.

  "We'll have to review security options." Joe scratched his head. "We could take the shuttle to the UN, at least that would cut out any risk of an ambush along the way."

  Ranix nodded. "Can we reschedule for sometime tomorrow?"

  "I'll make some calls." Joe got up and exited the dining facility, cut through the hanger bay and exited the ship.

  The hulking Sentinel Commander was standing nearby and approached Joe.

  "Status?"

  "Ranix wants to deliver his address. I think we get some shooters, load up in the shuttle, and fly there. He goes in, makes his speech, we egress back here, then travel to the remote location I mentioned earlier."

  "Can we trust the other humans to protect him?"

  Joe pulled the sat-phone out of his pocket. "They protected him once already."

  "Mr President, Ranix has agreed to go ahead with the UN address tomorrow, but we're playing it our way this time."

  "What do you need?"

  "Some shooters. Some very good shooters." Joe replied.

  "I'll make it happen."

  "Good. Let me know when the address will be, and then if you can have them delivered via chopper thirty minutes before that."

  "Right."

  "Thank you, Mr President."

  55

  The next afternoon saw a vast improvement in the weather, and the sun was beating down on the little island they were on. Joe received a call at midday informing him that the UN address would be at three that afternoon. Shortly afterwards a single AH-6 Little Bird landed not far from the ship with the two shooters that Joe had requested.

  The two men had just flown up to New York from Fort Bragg that morning. Each man carried an HK MP7 as their primary weapon and an HK USP Compact as their reserve. Going by Mike and Matt, the pair spent an hour speaking with Joe and Ranix discussing any contingencies that might arise in the event of another hostile act.

  While no chances were being taken, Joe was assuming that the odds of another attack were limited. Either way, they were hedging their bets. At two fifteen Mike and Matt joined Joe and Ranix as they boarded the small helicopter and lifted off towards Manhattan. The skies were devoid of all civil aviation, and the Coast Guard had stationed ships all the way down the East River to the UN building.

  As the helicopter started its run down the river, it was joined overhead by four Blackhawks from the New York National Guard while a combat air patrol was also in effect at higher altitudes. No chances were being taken for this address.

  The open sides of the chopper allowed the wind to rush into the four-seat passenger compartment, while Mike and Matt sat on two troop pads on the edge of the helicopter. Ranix was wearing the same uniform from the day before because he only had one set of his dress clothes onboard the ship. He looked down at the suit, giving it a final once over before the helicopter landed on the roof at the UN headquarters.

  When the skids touched down, Mike and Matt hopped off from th
eir positions and scanned the roof, which was empty as requested. The two operators had taken no chances on the security packet they had submitted to the White House when asked to ensure the safety of the event, and the UN had agreed to their requests, which included not having to encounter anyone between the roof and the main hall several floors below. The fewer people, the lower the threat they thought.

  The group didn’t move until the rotor blades had stopped. Joe helped Ranix unbuckle his belt before joining Mike and Matt on the roof. The two men quickly checked their communications gear with the pilot, and then looked at Joe.

  “Here.” Mike handed him a PPK. “A round’s in the chamber.”

  Joe nodded and stuck the pistol in his back pocket before looking at Ranix. “Ready?”

  “I am.”

  56

  The UN address had gone well, at least from Ranix's point of view. He had been able to get his message across to the delegates that were in attendance, which certainly wasn't everyone who was invited. Some countries had boycotted the address, but he felt that his message of friendship and hope was well received.

  When the ship left New York, it did so in the middle of the night, in an attempt to be as discrete as possible, but that was, after all, impossible. The East River had been swarmed by boats of every shape and size trying to get as close as the Coast Guard would allow to the island where the ship was located, and the shoreline was packed with onlookers eager for a glimpse of something. La Guardia was given notice of the ship departure, but at two in the morning, nothing was scheduled to land for some time to come.

  As the ship started the more than 2000 mile journey to the west coast of the continent, there was an air uncertainty hanging over the crew and the SETI team. While Ranix might have put on a good show at the UN, and with Paraguay behind them and the Russian threat finally over, they knew that they were in a better position than they had been, but there was still a large degree of uncertainty about what lay ahead.

  Tohil had fled back to Ottawa, and there was no knowing what the ramifications would be of keeping the ship in British Columbia and so close to the headquarters of the company that had blatantly tried to seise the ship for themselves.