Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire

by J W Murison

  ‘Ready,’ Logan asked.

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘On my mark, three... two... one... mark!’

  The two Starfighters jumped together to their search coordinates and started the long patrol. They began searching their grid in a long curving spiral pattern, will all of their sensors turned on.

  Alfie switched his radio onto local, directional, so they wouldn’t be overheard by anyone.

  ‘So how did your date go with the Iron Queen?’

  There was a long pause and Alfie was beginning to think John hadn’t heard his question. ‘It wasn’t a date as such, just dinner.’

  ‘Did you tell her?’

  ‘Yup, sure did. Came right out and told her I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever met in my life.’

  ‘Oh yeah, what did she say?’

  ‘She said she gets that a lot.’

  Alfie wasn’t sure how to respond to that. ‘What did you say?’

  ‘Wasn’t sure what the hell to say bud. I think I stuttered something incomprehensible. Anyway, she did say that she had always admired me. Thought I was extremely handsome, very sexy.’

  Alfie was impressed. ‘Oh yeah, so what happened?’

  ‘Not a thing.’

  ‘Why the hell not? Wasn’t that the green light?’

  ‘Nope. She sat and talked about me, about the missions I had done. She asked me a lot of questions about them. She already knew most of the answers. I was impressed.’

  ‘Yeah so, what happened next?’

  ‘She asked me if I knew anything about her career. I couldn’t answer her. That kinda killed it.’

  Alfie was silent for a while. ‘Why would we know anything about her? She isn’t famous like we are.’

  ‘Maybe not in America. Have you ever asked any of the cadets about her?’

  ‘Hell yeah, same answer every time. Nice tits.’

  ‘Ask one of the girls next time. I did.’

  ‘So?’

  John sighed. ‘Turns out she was a top fighter pilot. She is an ace. Shot down six aircraft, two of them in one dogfight, guns to guns. Highly decorated. The first female pilot to be made a Starship Captain. Commended for her part in the Albany war, for her abilities and her courage. Was given command of the Sir William Wallace right after. Ever wonder why there were so many women in our squadrons?’

  ‘Let me guess, she is an inspiration.’

  ‘Yup sure is. Know what she said as she kicked my ass out the door?’

  ‘Not a clue bud.’

  ‘Well she whipped those puppies out and said to me, “These are the bonus prize. It is the rest of me you have to impress first. If you had just taken a little effort to see past them, and look at the person beneath...”’

  Alfie took an age to respond. ‘Missed your chance.’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘Man, were they as nice as they look?’

  ‘34 FF, all natural, with not a hint of sag.’

  ‘Holy shit.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  They were both quiet for a long time. ‘Do you think you are still in with a chance John?’

  ‘Oh hell no.’

  The hours began to drag, but they couldn’t complain about the scenery. Suddenly an alarm buzzed and their radios came to life. ‘All stations Whisky Whiskey. An object has just come through the barrier at light speed. We are feeding you the coordinates and vectors now.’

  Their navigational computers lit up and the two men punched the throttles of their fighters open.

  ‘We gonna make it John?’

  ‘Yeah I think so, looks like it’s going to cut along the top of our search box.’

  ‘Most excellent.’

  The two laughed as their ships reached the top of their search grid. Now they began to run back and forth along an invisible line.

  ‘I can only see six of our guys.’ John told Alfie.

  ‘Look again John.’

  ‘I see them.’ Within a few minutes they could count the ships from both their squadrons strung out in a long line. Both knew that every fighter from every vessel available would now be flying along this line. The tension grew with each passing second.

  ‘All stations Whiskey Whiskey, the package is separating and it looks like it could be in our sector. Weapons stand by.’

  They had no sooner checked their weapons were ready to fire when something flared on their radar screens. ‘Woah! There they go. Hit it Alfie!’

  The two men punched their throttles forward and the two objects approached at an alarming speed. John began braking as they came within range. He was firing before he even saw the engine. It appeared in front of his nose and green light lanced into it. ‘I hit it.’ He shouted into his radio. Alfie was a split second behind him. He also fired but the engine seemed to slip sideways.

  ‘That damn thing just avoided me.’ He kicked the Starfighter round a hundred and eighty degrees, firing again. The nose of the engine lifted and his ships went underneath. In a flash the engine snapped above his head. ‘Watch out, these engines aren’t dumb. They know we are after them and are avoiding our fire.’

  John swung round as two more ships appeared in his radar. The engine he had hit was staggering, trying to manoeuvre. He checked the designations of the ships and plotted the staggering engine. ‘Red section, finish off target one.’

  ‘Roger.’

  John followed Alfie round after the second one. Behind him the two fighters blasted the damaged engine to smithereens.

  Both John and Alfie fired at the remaining engine as it tried to turn, but again it anticipated their attack and jinked out of their line of fire.

  ‘Damn this thing.’ Alfie cursed.

  ‘Don’t let it turn, keep firing. All Starfighters form up on us and fire. If it gets its nose onto its proper vector, it will jump to faster than light speed.’ Four ships formed up on them and green light lanced out into the dark of space. Somehow the engine managed to keep itself out of their direct line of fire.

  ‘It’s still turning, for God’s sake someone hit it!’ John shouted. Just then green light shot across their noses and cut the engine in two. The back end began to spin like a Catherine wheel.

  ‘Brake.’ Alfie ordered and the six ships peeled away.

  ‘OK who the hell was that?’

  ‘Who cares, finish the damn thing off.’ Alfie growled. ‘Follow me.’

  John looked out to his right as a Starfighter slid alongside. He recognised the white ship with the red stripes and could clearly see her smile across the short distance.

  ‘Commander Logan. I hope I didn’t steal your thunder.’

  He took a deep breath. ‘No Captain Wilson, not at all. That was beautiful shooting. Congratulations.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Alfie and the rest of the section finished off the engine. Jean looked round her, a quick glance told her, that her birds were undamaged. ‘Listen in everyone, good job. You have done the Sir William Wallace proud today, well done. But the job isn’t over yet. There is still one more asteroid out there. Continue your patrols.’ She gave a short wave and jumped. John began to wonder at what he may have lost.

  A short while later they were back in their patrol area. ‘That’s some gal.’ Alfie ventured.

  ‘Sure is. I wonder if they will give me a transfer.’

  ‘You are shitting me right, a job training cadets?’

  ‘Tell me the last time you felt so worthwhile.’

  Alfie thought it over. ‘You got a point John. It’s also been a long time since we worked for someone that could outfly and outfight us. Would they let us work on a British ship?’

  ‘Scottish and Commonwealth really Alfie. Don’t see why not. After all we are all in the same damn air-force now.’

  Twenty minutes later they were recalled. The second asteroid had crossed the barrier a few sectors over. The engines had appeared right under the noses of two Russian pilots who had reduced them to scrap within a few seconds. Every battleship turned their attentio
n towards Earth. Many began to pray.

  CHAPTER 52

  The destroyers Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and the Neil Armstrong had all managed to get in front of the asteroid. The Buzz Aldrin had lost its bomb as it accelerated too hard towards light speed and the tether had snapped. Now it flew alongside the asteroid and slightly in front. All three captains were aware of the historical significance of the three ships coming together like this in a bid to save the Earth.

  The Michael Collins and the Neil Armstrong were about twenty miles apart. The Neil Armstrong, however, was on the edge of the asteroid.

  The bomb from the Armstrong just anchored itself on to the asteroid. The ships drew away and they detonated the bomb. There was a brief flash and debris could be see expanding out from the asteroid. Beyond that, there was very little damage done.

  The Captain of the Collins could feel the sweat pour down the inside of his uniform. ‘I want to know why that didn’t work people. Are we wasting our time here?’

  One of his operators zoomed in on the area where the bomb had detonated and noticed something.

  ‘Sir, I don’t think there were any explosives in that area.’ The Captain came down and leaned over his shoulder. ‘Show me.’

  By tracking their cameras over the area, they could see the spider’s web of explosives across the surface of the asteroid. It seemed to stop close to where the Armstrong’s bomb had gone off.

  ‘I think your right son. OK, I want to make sure that there are explosives under that thing we are towing. Show me where it is going to land.’

  The operator changed cameras. Now they were looking at the asteroid from the camera on the bomb itself. It was very obvious that they too were going to land their bomb on a spot where there were no explosives.

  ‘This is no good. I want to know if there is anyone else in position to intercept.’ His answer wasn’t long in coming. They were the last line of defence. If they failed the asteroid would hit the Earth.

  The Captain searched the surface of the asteroid for a solution. It looked like the bomb would land on a small ridge that rose above the surface of the asteroid. On either side of the ridge, the spiders web laced across the surface of the asteroid. On the right side of the ridge there was a small depression that was in darkness.

  ‘Light me up that small depression. I want to see into it.’

  The operator obeyed and he saw what he wanted to. Right at the bottom of the depression was a hole filled with alien explosives. Lines or wires stretched out from it in different directions.

  ‘We need to land it right inside that hole. Lower the bomb but disable the anchors.’

  The bomb began to move towards the asteroid. It landed square on the ridge and remained motionless. The Captain tutted with frustration. ‘OK, pull it in about a meter.’ He had a little think about it. ‘Tell the men tending the wire to start pushing it from side to side.’

  It took a few minutes but eventually the bomb began to swing a little.

  ‘OK, tell the men to standby. When I give the order to lower it, they are to jump out of the way.’

  On the first try the bomb went down the wrong side of the ridge. On the second it stuck on top of it again. The third try saw the bomb go part way down the right side of the ridge, but not far enough. The Captain’s tunic was now soaked in sweat, right down his back.

  He took a deep breath, ‘OK men, we are getting there. Let’s just try it again.’

  It wasn’t until the seventh try that the bomb rolled far enough down into the small crater. The trouble was the bomb was lying on its side. He contemplated the problem.

  ‘Reel it in just a few centimetres at a time.’ They managed to get the bomb half upright. ‘Right. Fire anchor three and four.’ The two anchors fired into the rock. He knew this was a one time deal only. ‘Let’s see if they hold. Tighten up three and four and give the tether a little slack.’

  Men shouted with relief as the bomb came upright. ‘Slacken up on the tether and pull more on three and four. I want to see what’s happening underneath the bomb.’

  Millimetre by millimetre the bomb was pulled across the crater until it was directly over the explosives. ‘Fire anchor one and two.’

  ‘The bomb is secure sir.’

  The Captain took a deep breath. ‘Release the tether and take us to firing distance.’

  It took less than a minute. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, take a deep breath and pray to whatever damn god you please. Fire the bomb.’

  The asteroid disappeared in a bloom of explosions and the crew jumped to their feet with a great roar of triumph. The Captain laughed out loud. He stood and the crew settled down. They watched him expectantly.

  He looked down and pressed a button on the arm of his chair. ‘Crew of the Michael Collins. Our namesake may well not have walked on the moon during the Apollo Eleven mission. Many people don’t even know who he was. I am quite sure they will never forget him now. This ship that was named after him has just saved the planet Earth from an extinction level event. Well done everyone, I am very proud of you.’

  Every member of the crew cheered him. He turned to the navigator when the noise abated a bit. ‘Get us the hell away from this debris cloud. Communications, let the world know we stopped the first asteroid.’

  CHAPTER 53

  Steven stared at the second asteroid. They were just in front of it, however to get into that position quickly enough they had lost their bomb. The tether could not take the strain and it had snapped. He felt despair creep up through his soul. The surface of the asteroid was pitted with a half dozen scorch marks where bombs had detonated but missed their mark. In one place, the web that connected the explosives had been cut by a bomb. Steven wasn’t sure that, even if they could detonate the asteroid, it would be smashed evenly.

  Komoru caught up with the asteroid but she was too far away to be able to help. She hadn’t managed to get in front of it. A quick glance was all it took to see that she had also lost her bomb. Despite the warnings from the Michael Collins, no one had been able to place their bomb directly over one of the explosive devices on the surface.

  Steven made his way aft. At the far end of Babes a small room had appeared. Colonel Howe was firing a pistol through a small opening in Babes’ shields. Steven could actually see the different layers of the shields that protected them. Babes was protesting dramatically at the abuse. Every time Howe fired, Steven could see the ripples in the shields.

  ‘This is highly dangerous Colonel. Can’t you see the distortion you are causing in her shields?’

  Howe ignored him for a few seconds. Beaver, who was spotting with a large scope, shook his head. ‘No idea where they are going. They don’t seem to be hitting the surface of the asteroid.’

  Howe sighed and unloaded the pistol. The magazine slipped into his hand and he cocked back the slide and looked inside the chamber. He eased springs and slid the pistol back into his holster.

  ‘I’m sorry Captain, Babes said this was about as big as a projectile as she could let through. We thought it was worth a try.’

  ‘I didn’t think you were going to try and discharge a dozen of them.’ Babes protested.

  It brought a small smile to the men’s faces. ‘Any luck Captain?’ Beaver asked.

  ‘I’m lost Beaver, sorry.’

  Another three men turned up: Matt McGuire, the ship’s Chief Engineer, Kelly and Charlie. Matt was carrying a long tube, Charlie what looked like a compressor with a large gas bottle and Kelly a box of grenades.

  Matt rubbed his hands together. ‘Plan B gentlemen.’

  ‘I think its plan D, E or F.’ Steven mused.

  ‘No matter. We have come up with the idea of hurling grenades at it. We are going to use compressed air so there is no disruption to Babes’ shields.’

  ‘I didn’t say no disruption Matt, but a lot less than a bullet.’ Reminded Babes.

  Steven stood out of the way as Matt set the device up. Kelly helped him aim it while the other three primed the grenad
es. It was quite a neat device. Kelly loaded the first grenade, which was placed inside a plastic form that materialised beside him. A pot of grease appeared and Kelly greased up the outside of the plastic form. He slid it into the tube with the ring-pull sticking out of the side. The ring-pull, or pin as some liked to call it, ran up a thin slit. Matt placed on the back end. When it was hard up against the grenade Kelly pulled the pin and Matt slid the breach on fully and locked it down.

  Steven began to panic as Matt seemed to be taking his time. ‘Is that going to explode?’ He squeaked. The soldiers laughed.

  ‘The pin holds down the leaver sir.’ Matt explained. ‘When the leaver flips up it strikes the fuse, which burns for seven seconds. The grenade then explodes. You are completely safe until the leaver flips up.’

  ‘Sorry, didn’t realise that.’

  ‘You aren’t a soldier sir.’ Howe excused him.

  Matt fired his home made cannon. The yellow form punched through the ship’s shields with barely a ripple. As it shot out of the end of the ship it began to spiral wildly.

  ‘Does anybody spot anything wrong?’ Charlie sniffed.

  ‘Yeah, the form hasn’t split.’ Beaver surmised.

  Matt growled, ‘The damn grease I used has probably frozen. It’s also taking too long to reach the asteroid.’

  When the form eventually hit the asteroid, it split in two. Every man was on his feet counting the seconds.

  ‘I’m at ten now.’ Charlie’s eyes zoomed in. ‘The leaver is still stuck down.’

  Howe leaned forward. ‘Wait, you can see that?’

  ‘Aye.’

  Howe shook his head. ‘Wish I had a pair of eyes like that.’

  ‘The oil on the grenade must have frozen as well.’ Matt grumbled. ‘Let’s change it out.’

  The next grenade was sprayed with a new oil. It launched successfully. Just after leaving the ship the plastic form split apart, but about halfway to the asteroid the grenade shattered into a hundred pieces. The men sat dumbfounded.