Author: J. W. Murison
Date: 2015-06-15T18:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Science Fiction & Fantasy; Science Fiction; Adventure
Description: In this second adventure, Steven and his friend reach out into our solar system. Halfway between our sun and the Great Barrier they come across a previously undiscovered Black Planet. While exploring this strange new world they come across a strange alien structure, and what they find inside will change human history forever. A desperate race ensues to save mankind from a dreadful foe. Steven finds himself having to drag the human race up by its bootstraps and into a new age.
Publisher: Create Space

The Black Planet

J W Murison

Copyright © 2015 J W Murison

All rights reserved.

ISBN:

ISBN-13:

DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this book solely to my lovely wife Myra

Other Books by J W Murison

ACV’s 1 Operation Black Gold

ACV’s 2 Operation Island Green

Gareth Ogilvie The Highland War Chieftain

Gareth Ogilvie The Great sea King

Teardrops in the Night Sky

CarnMo’r

Death Rises

1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders (Space Division)

Embers

The J.W Murison Short Stories Collection

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As always I would like to thank the dedication of Jeannie Michaud for her amazing covers.  I would also like to mention my big sister Grace and my mother Lillian  Murison for editing this novel for me .

The Black Planet

The large chunk of rock and ice had reached the zenith of its outward journey and swung back towards the sun.  An iridescent trail that lit up the dark void of space followed it.  The two sleek ships turned in towards Halley’s Comet.  They stopped at a safe distance to view the passing wonder.

‘Christ it’s big,’ muttered Buzz Anderson, more to himself than anyone else.

Steven Gordon the ship’s captain grinned to himself, ‘OK Babe show time.’  The command was silently given to the self-aware ship that had chosen Steven as her captain just over a year before.

‘Yes my heart,’ Babe or Babes as the crew had inadvertently renamed her over a period of time confirmed the order.  The walls surrounding them began to shimmer, then they became translucent.  There were gasps of surprise and wonder from the crew as they seemed to find themselves sitting outside the ship.

‘Man it’s like floating in space,’ all were experiencing what Buzz had voiced.

There were a few nervous titters from operators who couldn’t see the consuls in front of them.  A wicked grin slowly spread across Stevens face and he sent another silent command to Babe.  Suddenly the comet seemed to pick up speed and come racing towards them.  Gasps of surprise and wonder turned to howls of terror as men and women dived for cover.

Only Steven seemed unaffected, this time he spoke aloud, ‘I think that’s to close Babes, maybe only fifty percent magnification.’

The comet raced away.  Buzz picked himself off the floor with a scowl and punched the grinning Steven on the shoulder, ‘you nasty little shit.’

Steven couldn’t help himself he burst out laughing, ‘I'm sorry everybody I should have warned you I was doing that.’

‘There are times Steven when the spoken word would be appreciated more,’ Buzz growled.  As he looked round at the crew as they picked themselves up of the invisible floor and search for their invisible consoles he suddenly saw the funny side of it and burst out laughing.  His laughter was infectious and soon the whole bridge was consumed with laughter, even if some of it sounded a little nervous.

Steven noticed the only man who wasn’t laughing was the formidable Colonel Howe, he was scowling fiercely at Steven.  Steven grinned, ‘sorry colonel I promise I won’t do that again.’  The stern look slipped a little and the colonel nodded his acknowledgement of the statement.  Stevens mind turned back to the work at hand.  ‘OK everyone let’s get back to work.  Let’s do a deep scan of the comet and send the results back to Moonbase.’

Steven decided to have a wonder about while the scientists were busy.  He knew the ship could do the job in a fraction of a second but he wanted them to feel productive and discover things for themselves.  It was good to finally get out into deep space.  For the last year he had become more and more frustrated as he had become snowed under by bureaucracy from Earth.  Their home on the moon was now a hive of activity and fully manned.  Humanity now also had a forward base on Mars.  If he wasn’t doing paperwork or stuck on Earth in one meeting or another, they were towing huge rocks for building materials from the asteroid belt or hunting for precious metals for the ship building programs.

Now however the correct people were in their places and the massive building programme he had begun was now beginning to look after itself.  This first mission had been requested by the children of Earth through a website they had built.  Of course the scientific community had other priorities but in the end it was Steven’s choice.  He firmly believed that the children were the future and wanted to grasp their interest right from the beginning.  The scientific community had eventually fell into line.  Besides Steven thought that they should learn to walk before they tried to run.  They already had a number of lifetime’s worth of data to wade through from Earths nearest planets.

Buzz had been alone on the bridge for ten minutes before he got bored with the silence of the working scientists.  He concentrated hard, ‘where the hell are you Stevie?’

Steven heard him clearly through the link, ‘just having a wonder about Buzz why?’

‘I'm bored.’

Steven found himself grinning, ‘come and find me then.’  He projected an image of where he was into Buzz’s mind.  It didn’t take Buzz long to catch up.

‘Hey shrimp, why aren’t you in there with the rest of the brainyakes?’

Steven laughed, ‘I lost interest in Hailey’s Comet when I was about six, besides Babes gave me a run down on it weeks ago, it holds no surprises.  It’s this dark planet I want to see.’

Komoru Kaizu’s voice reached into Steven’s mind, ‘Steven can we dock?’

Steven answered the same way, ‘yeah of course, want to get something to eat?’

‘Would love to.’

Buzz noticed the look in Stevens’s eye, ‘you’re doing that thing again aren’t you?’

Steven smiled, ‘Komoru is going to dock, want to grab something to eat?’

‘Yeah, why the hell not.’

They all met up in the canteen and Cookie served them up something to eat.  With food on the go it wasn’t long before the rest of the military contingent found out and joined them at the table; the canteen was filled with laughter and voices rose as familiar arguments became passionate.  Occasionally a lone scientist would appear to grab a sandwich or something quick to eat and invariably cast a suspicious eye towards the group.  These were the men who had grabbed the highlight a year before when they had rescued Stevens’s father from the military prison.  When the news of the daring rescue had finally reached the media it was these men who had been held high as heroes.  The strained looks did not escape Steven but there was very little he could actually do about the situation.  Despite all his efforts the two groups had refused to gel as a single unit.  He was sure however that once they had shared a few more adventures together then they would begin to form a commonality of purpose.

Steven wasn’t the only one to notice the strained relationships between the two groups.  Buzz watched the scientists come and go and also reflected on the situation.  The scientists seemed to turn their noses up at the military contingent and sensing their distain the military just ignored them.  Only he, Steven, Komoru and the engineers were welcomed into the military circle.  The scientific circle had proven to be a tougher nut to crack.  Komoru had distanced herself from the scientific community back on Earth many years before.  On her own ship with her own crew she was deeply respected but had formed no friendships.  Steven also seemed to struggle to form a relationship with his scientists.  Yet the two of them were accepted into the military circle without question.  The military men were enamoured by her shy beauty, none more so than the giant Lewis.  He had taken it upon himself to act as her unofficial bodyguard and few would dare argue with her with the giant scowling at them over her shoulder.

As for the relationship between Komoru and Steven; it had never really got off the ground.  Both were by now hopelessly in love with each other; however with neither, ever having had a partner before and the huge workload fostered on to them; the relationship had just never materialised.  The ships themselves discussed the relationships that developed between their human hosts with great interest and even greater confusion.  Yet despite this the ships found themselves deeply contented.

Chapter 2

The darkness below was all consuming.  The nose of both ships were transparent so they could see everything yet Steven found himself looking up on occasion to see if the stars were still there.

‘Two thousand feet, one fifty, one thousand feet, five hundred,’ Hailey’s voice was the only one to be heard on both ships as they descended towards the darkness.  ‘Five hundred feet.’

‘OK stop here Steven commanded.’

‘Engines stopped sir, we are in hover.’  Hirosho, his pilot confirmed, yet still they could see nothing.

‘Anyone?’  Steven inquired.

‘I can see something sir,’ colonel Howe told him.

‘Where?’

‘Black on black sir, Hirosho turn the ship twenty degrees to starboard please.’

‘Yes sir, turn executed.’

Steven shook his head, ‘I still can’t see anything colonel.’

‘Don’t look straight down sir look to the side slightly.’

It was then Steven saw the black upon black that the colonel was talking about, ‘I see it.  Lights please.’  Matt McGuire the chief engineer pressed something on his console and light spewed into the darkness.

Steven scratched his head, ‘are our lights reaching the surface Matt?’

‘According to my readings they are sir.  It would seem whatever is down there is just absorbing the light.’

‘Yes along with everything else we have, it’s hardly any wonder we haven’t seen this planet from Earth.  OK let’s try flares colonel Howe and make sure you spread them over as wide an area as possible.’

‘You mean both sides of the darkness sir?’

‘That’s exactly what I mean colonel.’

The flares arced out from both ships as Komoru got in on the act.  Some of the flares seemed to stop after a few hundred feet while others seemed to keep falling.  It was with a jolt that Steven realised what he was looking at.  ‘Is it me or is that a ruddy great chasm we are hanging over.’

Everyone suddenly seemed to see it at once and many shouted out with excitement.  Stevens face was full of wonder at the sight and Buzz felt a strange sense of gratitude as his friend had finally found something that captivated him.

‘OK Hailey let’s not park here, how about we try and find an area a good hundred miles or so from here, a nice big flat area.’

‘Sir I am having great difficulty with these readings.  Going straight down is one thing running parallel to the ground is something else entirely, we could run straight into a mountain.’

‘I hear you.  Babes do we have something equivalent to Earth sonar.’

‘Yes my heart.’

‘Make it happen please.’

A sound wave boomed out, Hailey was beginning to get frustrated, ‘the wave just disappeared sir.’

‘OK Hailey; Babes can we measure the point at which the sound wave is absorbed?’

‘Yes my heart.’

‘Then send out waves at a thousand cycles a second and map the points at which the sound is absorbed please.  Put it up on screen so we can see the terrain ahead.’

‘Yes my heart.’

‘Pilot, navigator, get us to a point a hundred miles from here on a flat piece of ground.’

‘Yes sir.’  They both confirmed at once.  Hailey was blushing brightly, nor was she happy at Steven’s intervention.  She had enough sense to realise she would never have thought of the solution as quickly as he had.  With a map now in front of them they skimmed over the ground as Ico rode above them.  As they finally came into land Steven ordered more flares deployed.  They fell onto the black soil and spluttered away merrily; a few sank into the deep soft soil and were almost buried.  By the time their oxygen supply had burned out the pilot had landed.

‘Babes switch on all your lights on the port side for Ico to land,’ Steven asked.

The lights showed a flat even black surface and Ico came down to nestle by Babes side.  The two ships docked.  There was a feeling of excitement and it was shared across the whole ship; an unknown planet in their own solar system and they were going to be the first humans to set foot on it.

Twenty minutes later Steven was the first to step off the ramp, behind him half the crew were waiting.  They began to cheer and clap as he stepped off.  He burst out laughing at their enthusiasm.  ‘Come on everybody.’  They dashed off the ramp but they were in for a shock; unlike the moon this small planet had quite a dense gravity.

‘It’s like wading through dubs in yer wellies.’  Cookie decided.

‘Wot u sayin Cookie?’  Lewis asked.

Cookie looked up at the giant, ‘sorry Lewis, like walking through mud in your wellington boots.’

‘Oh yeah, I got you man.’

Colonel Howe was playing with the fine dust.  He was amazed by the light absorbing qualities of it and his mind was full of the military applications it could be used for.  Tapper came next swinging his small metal hammer.  ‘Any one see any rocks?’  He was universally ignored as it was obvious there was nothing in the vicinity of the craft but the fine black dust.

Within a few hours all the crew from both ships had been on the surface and every one of them had taken their own private sample.  With the fun over they got down to business of mapping and exploration.  Traditional mapping techniques were of no use so they built sonic satellites and set them off to map the planet.  Every day new features were added to the map.  Expeditions went out to explore and measure the depth of the black dust.  Samples of the dust were taken and samples of the local bedrock as well.  Small explosive charges and sensors were also used to map out the bedrock.

Reports were sent to Earth and they were bombarded with requests.  As the weeks passed they explored farther and farther away from their original landing site.

Chapter 3

One-day colonel Howe requested to see him alone and he didn’t look happy.  He handed Steven an electronic pad, ‘when were you going to tell us about this sir?  I talked to Babes and she said you were aware of them.’

Steven picked up the pad and flicked through the report and the pictures.  ‘I wasn’t going to colonel; I wanted you to discover them for yourselves.’

‘There are hundreds of ships out there sir, maybe thousands, do you have an explanation?’

‘It’s fairly simple; you know how the neutrons from our sun kill those from across the great barrier?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Well this is pretty much as far as most of them got.  It is a midway point between our sun and the great barrier.  This planet has some protective properties however not enough, neutrons still get through; they still kill.  As you know or you should know by now, no ship that has crossed the barrier is allowed back.  A thousand years ago one such ship did exactly that.  Half the crew were killed in their short excursion into our solar system and when the crew returned they came down with some kind of plague.  Eventually all died of course but not before the plague had spread to dozens of different planets and killed millions.  They found no cure and it infected all species, nothing was immune including the insects which actually carried it.  In the end the disease ran its course and disappeared however a new law was brought out.  Anyone who crosses the barrier stays across.  What you are looking at is a graveyard.’

He handed the pad back, ‘this planet is stationary, it doesn't orbit our sun it is too far away to be affected by the suns gravity.  It just sits here, a midway point.  To be honest it’s the only show in town.  When Babes and Ico first arrived here with their original crews they detected some form of activity.  Half the crew were already dead or dying.  The captains frightened of scavengers decided to push on.  By the time all of the crew had perished they were just close enough to pick up stray signals from Earth.  The rest of the story you know.’

‘To be truthful sir I'm still not happy about the situation, I should have been informed before we arrived at the planet.’

‘This is a one off colonel and it will never happen again.  This crew has been together a year now and we still haven’t gelled as a team.  I needed you and the crew to find these craft on your own.  I want conferences, I want planning, I want healthy debates, the whole nine yards.  We need to come together as a crew and as a team.  We need to learn each other’s strength and weaknesses.  The scientists will discover very quickly that they need you and your men to explore these craft.  If this doesn’t happen colonel them I'm damn sure I'm not taking this ship through the great barrier; not with a crew I can’t rely on to work together.’

‘I thought you were stuck with us sir.’

‘For the past six months I have been working on a nano removal program with Babes.  You will not relay that information to anyone else.’

Howe nodded his understanding, ‘Have you completed the technology sir?’

‘Yes I have.  Now I sent out a probe just after we got here and detected no signs of life anywhere within the bone yard.  So take this as a low risk training exercise.’

‘I hear with what you are saying sir but maybe some of those ships have technology that can beat your probe.’

‘There is a very good probability of that colonel, so when you are sent out there to investigate you had better be on your toes.  Will that be all?’

‘Yes sir.’

Colonel Howe left and Buzz appeared a few minutes later, ‘what was the colonel after, he doesn’t look very happy?’  Steven told him but Buzz just shrugged.

‘He’s just gonna have to learn to live with it isn’t he Stevie.’

Chapter 4

They argued for days and Steven left them to it.  Every now and then a department would come up with a plan and Steven would reject it.  Slowly they began to draw together and more importantly they began to understand more intimately the systems they had at their fingertips.  By the end of the week Steven was able to trawl through stacks of information.  Almost half of the planet had now been surveyed and they were still finding individual craft.  Finally he decided they had done enough and called a big meeting.

The briefing room was crowded as everyone from both ships crammed into it.  The whole of one wall turned into a massive screen.  ‘Is everyone here?’  Steven didn’t bother waiting for an answer, ‘good then let’s begin.’

The first picture appeared on screen, it was of two builder ships exactly the same as Babes and Ico but they were much bigger.  ‘I am going to break up our tasks into a number of different missions.  This is the first.  I am sure you have all noticed the similarities between these ships and ours.  They are of course ships built by the same race as this one.  Since we discovered them our ships have been trying to get in contact.  It hasn’t happened so we have to conclude that the ships have died as well.’

Tapper held up a hand, Steven nodded, ‘how can that be sir?’

‘Short version is that when the crews died the ships gave up the will to live.  These ships are big enough to be third or fourth generation ships.  The death of the crews devastating.  Our ships are young, first generation and even though the loss of their crew was crippling they were able to go on and find another one.  Of course if this had happened in their part of the universe they would have returned to their home planet.  Once a ship has been joined for as long as these ships were, it is impossible for them to take on board a new crew.  They will return home only to die.’

‘But aren’t they mechanical sir?’  Tapper insisted.

‘They are self-aware Tapper; conscious beings with a soul and they can die. Simply put they just cease to function.’

Tapper nodded, ‘thank you sir.  It was just something I wanted clarification of.’

Steven gave him a nod and continued, ‘we are going to carry out the funeral rights for the ships and crew.’  There was a gasp of surprise.  Steven cast his eyes over them hoping they would accept the seriousness of the task ahead.  ‘This job will be carried out by a select few.  Only the captains can open the ships from the outside.  We will go in and collect two things.  The first is the data crystals, the second is series of small containers.  They will be in the heart of the ship.  These containers hold what you might call the essence of the crew and the ships.  All of these will be returned to the builder’s home planet at some later date.’

A scientist popped his hand up, ’sir if I may?’

Steven gave him a small nod, ‘yes what is it George?’

‘Will we be able to look at this essence, examine it?’

‘Not unless you wish your bunk to suddenly find itself on the outside of the ship by morning.’  There were a few giggles and laughs and the scientist blushed.  ‘We will able to look at parts of the data crystals if Babes or Ico think it is appropriate or necessary.  Other than that they should be returned untouched preferably.  Once these have been removed Komoru and I will initiate a sort of self-destruct mechanism.  This will awaken the dormant nanobots which will tear the ships down.’  He thought it over for a moment, ‘basically they will use the ships to replicate themselves until there is no more ships.  At that point we will return and harvest the bots.  Any questions so far?’

There were none.  ‘OK good, the next mission will be to investigate the only building we have found on this planet so far.  Why it is there or why it was built we have no idea.  If it hadn’t been surrounded by dozens of these smaller ships we would never have found it in the first place.  The race the ships belong too isn’t well known according to Babes and Ico and they were surprised to see them here.  Their technology is a little more primitive, however their craft have been known to fly at extraordinary speeds.  As you can see they are quite small and Babes thinks they only have a three to five man crew.’  He pointed out one of the craft.  ’Some are slightly bigger, as though they were built to hold cargo.’

‘Or a unit of soldiers,’ Howe interrupted, ‘sorry sir.’

Steven smiled, ‘that’s OK colonel the thought had crossed my mind.  It is why I want to look over this place first.  Of all the craft these are the only ones fast enough to reach Earth with their crews still alive.’

Cookie stuck up his hand and Steven gave him the nod, ‘they look a lot like the ones you see in those UFO pics.’

‘Exactly Cookie, and that’s why we are going there right after we perform the funeral service.  I want to know why they built that building and what for; have they visit earth and why?  I also want to know if we can get some of those craft working.  At some future date they would make excellent scout craft for our new Space Defence Force.’

Cookie smiled his approval.  Steven changed the picture and every military man in the room sat up and took notice.  ‘When our ships passed over this planet the first time they crossed this area of the planet and this ship wasn’t there then.  This is a Hogarth battle cruiser.  A scan of the hull showed recent signs of battle damage.  We can detect no energy signatures from within the vessel but that is hardly surprising as it is an advanced military vessel.  According to Babes they weren’t at war with anyone when they crossed the great barrier but the Hogarth are the peace keepers of their universe.  When we approach this ship it will be with the greatest of caution.  It will also be a military mission only.  To begin with anyway.’

He changed the picture and there were huge lumps of another ship scattered a short distance away.  There were also other vessels scattered around, or to be exact pieces of them.  ‘It would seem the battle cruiser chased a foe into our universe and gave battle.  As you can see they won.’

Steven wound up the meeting by answering dozens of questions.  Some of the scientists got rather heated under the collar when Steven admitted that he had known about the ship graveyard for months.  It was Buzz who interceded.

He banged a fist on the table, ‘shut up the lot of you.’  There was a shocked silence and Buzz glowered at therm.  ‘You all think you are something damn special, sitting there day after day in your own little worlds.  Keeping your little secrets to yourself; writing your academic papers to send to Earth with the next big discovery.  Yeah we knew about these ships, well some of them anyway and maybe if you had learned to work together then this wouldn’t have been necessary.’

Steven decided to intervene before Buzz really got stuck into them, ‘OK Buzz I will take it from here.’  Buzz scowled at him but Steven just grinned back.  ‘Buzz has a point; this has been a kind of test for all of you.  We are millions of miles from home and I needed you to pull together as a team.  These past few weeks has been for want of a better phrase your final training exercise.  I am glad to say you have passed.  From here on in I have no more clue as what is going to happen than you do.  I needed to know that you could come up with the right solutions or at least a solution I could agree with.  This is where it gets very, very real people, so please bare that in mind from now on please.  From this moment on you will have full access to Babes and Ico’s database’s.  Let’s try and find out as much about these ships, those who built and crewed them.  Dismissed.’

He could see many weren’t very pleased.  Komoru however was hiding a smile behind her hand.

Chapter 5

Lewis stood by the airlock as Ico docked with the dead ship.  Komoru slipped out from behind his shadow and placed her hand against the now dull hull.  The metal was freezing and she winched.  A thin film of nanobots on her hand was absorbed into the ship.  Within a few seconds she felt a connection with the ships passive systems.  There was no reply from the ship itself, only a few mechanical systems that still remained active.  Ico transmitted a signal to the systems identifying himself and the airlock opened with a hiss.  Steven was a few hundred yards away doing exactly the same thing on the other ship.  As the lighting came up Lewis stepped round Komoru and strode on board; before she could move, Cookie and Tapper along with her own Japanese contingent of Special Forces soldiers followed him onto the derelict ship.  Komoru could only sigh with exasperation and follow them.

They soon came to a stop.  It was lifeless and felt lifeless.  The corridor’s still configured for the builder race reached high above their heads.  Komoru caught up with Lewis.

‘Dey is big these ships Miss Komoru, even for me.’

She smiled then shuddered, ‘they are huge, but I don’t like this ghost ship Lewis, let’s just get what we came for and leave.’

He simply nodded and followed her to the bridge.  She sat in the captain’s chair and placed her hand on a pad.  Ico transmitted signals through her hand to the ships systems.  In the middle of the floor a large circular section began to rise.  It rose to the height of Lewis’s head and stopped.  It was full of beautiful crystals.

‘OK be careful,’ she warned.  The team for the bridge began to pull the crystals and put them into individual containers that Ico had manufactured.  She led the second team to the heart of the ship.  There she opened a door and strode into a circular room.  Placing her hand against a panel, the wall began to slowly dematerialise.  There were hundreds of small beautifully coloured vials.  Komoru lowered herself to her knees and with her hands clasped in front of her said a short prayer in her native language.  When she was finished she simply nodded and the team began to place the vials into racks.  As each rack was filled they began to shimmer and the rack became a solid container.

Komoru had time to do a little searching and was directed to the captain’s quarters.  She was in for a shock when they opened before her.  Steven and her own quarters were quite austere while these were opulent by comparison.  Strange multi coloured drapes covered the walls and a huge bed.  She couldn’t help but touch one.  It felt even finer than silk.  She wished she could take some but felt it would be disrespectful.  It was an Aladdin’s cave of wonder.

Lewis lowered himself onto the bed, ‘dis is real comfy, and big.’  The look on his face said it all.  Komoru couldn’t help but smile.  He stood up and went over to a unit and opened a drawer.  ‘Dis ain't just a ship miss Komoru, dis is a home.’  He closed the drawer slowly.

‘You are right Lewis and we are trespassing, let’s go get the others.’

Once everyone was off Lewis and Komoru returned to the bridge.  Lewis watched as she sat on the chair for the last time.  The normally shy and reserved woman was sitting with her hand hovering above the panel.  It was as though she was stuck in time.  Her face filled with emotion as the indecision hit her.  Lewis felt his heart swell.  He loved this woman more than life itself.  It wasn’t a sexual thing; never had been.  He regarded her as a rare flower, a person of great beauty inside and out, it seemed to radiate out of her when she was happy.  Lewis loved to see her happy and bathe in those beautiful rays.

Lewis’s life had been full of hardship; brought up on streets full of gangsters, hate and violence.  He had pulled himself out of the gutter by his own intelligence.  When a local gangster tried to recruit him as an enforcer Lewis ran off and joined the army to escape the endless cycle of violence.  Ridiculed at first for his massive size the army soon realised the value of the man.  Promotion came fast and then he was offered a transfer to the Special Forces.  He excelled, but after being badly wounded in a fire fight Lewis was transferred to the heavy weapons department.  It was here he really came into his own.  For years he worked as a specialist, it was then he met his Sharron.

She was a big girl and had been ridiculed all her life as he had because of it.  He had been on leave and travelling home.  He had decided to break his journey at a small city.  He had walked into a local bar and within a few minutes had felt a presence behind him.  He had snapped round and there she was, sanding with her mouth open in wonder.

She looked him up and down, ‘soldier boy my grandma always told me there was a man out there just specially for me.  I always doubted her until now, but if you ain't him then I don’t know who is.  You had better ask me for my number now before I lose my courage and run.’

It had taken him a few minutes to get over the shock.  Lewis never did get home that leave, or the next, or the one after.  When he finally returned home it was with Sharon by his side.  Sharon had discovered everything good in Lewis and had nurtured it.  After a year they had got married and Lewis decided to leave the life of destruction behind him.  They returned to her hometown and settled down.  They had been happy, so very happy.  When Sharon had succumbed to cancer Lewis had wanted to die as well.  Lewis had never thought he would ever love again until he met Komoru.  It was a different type of love, but it filled his heart with joy all the same.  He knew his presence gave her strength.  She depended on him and he reviled in it.

Her stricken face turned towards him and he thought his heart was going to burst.  A single tear ran down that beautiful face.  He smiled slowly and nodded.  Komoru closed her eyes and lowered her hand.  It only took a few seconds and Lewis felt something change around him.

‘Time to go Miss Komoru.’

She got up off the chair and crossed to him.  For a brief moment she paused and placed her head against him.  He reached down and stroked her head, ‘let’s go.’

The brief moment of contact passed and he followed her quickly off the ship.  They undocked and moved away.  When they reached the bridge she ordered the viewer to be activated.  Below the fine black dust that had settled on the craft began to cascade off it to reveal it in its entirety.  As they watched, the surface of the ship began to shimmer.  ‘Let’s go join Steven,’ Komoru ordered.

Chapter 6

It was a sombre crew that sat and watched the replay of the alien captains last log.  Until now Steven and Komoru had hidden from the crew and the Earth exactly what the builders looked like.  It was with awe that they now sat and watched the wildebeest type looking alien speak for the last time.  They couldn’t hear his true words only the translation and to some it looked almost comedic.  More than one wondered if it was a wind up, a joke by Steven; however one look at his face told them it wasn’t.

‘We were fools guided by the greed of our third stomachs; for months we had been on the trail of the blue grass.  We thought we had finally tracked it to its source.  Dreams of grazing through fields of blue grass drove us onwards in this desperate folly.  We knew we were in Ortea space yet ignored all the warnings we were given.  We thought our size would easily frighten off a few of these disgusting meat eaters.  Alas, it was not a small flotilla of ships that met us as we entered the planet’s atmosphere.

They were highly organised and deadly; both our ships were damaged in the immediate assault, but we managed to break free.  We thought we had escaped; however an even larger flotilla was waiting.  They harassed us, herded us to the edge of the great barrier.  They must have a new leader; never before have the Ortea shown such resourcefulness or organisation.  We were given the choice to surrender or cross the great barrier.  We took the later choice.’

The great head shook sadly, ‘we believed that we could skim across the forward edge of the barrier without harm; that our shields would protect us.  We were wrong.  When one member of my crew was struck down we knew we had travelled too far and that there was no return.  Our only consolation was being able to send out a warning before the Ortea surrounded us completely and blocked our transmissions.  Hopefully no one else will fall for this trick again.’

He rested for a few minutes before going on.  ‘The journey to this planet took my mate and over half of our combined crews.  Not every strike has been fatal and I myself have been hit half a dozen times.  I cannot describe the agony, the pain is almost unbearable.  It is the only planet we have found in this solar system so far.  There may be many more nearer its Sun, but we would all be dead before we were able to travel that far.  Those of us that are left have tended to our loved ones.  We can only hope that in the fullness of time that our ships and our essence will be found by travellers who are able to cross the barrier and survive.  That one day they will return our essence home to the planet of our conception.  May you live forever in peace.’  The recording ended.

‘Has anyone anything to say?’  Steven asked the general company.

It was Cookie who asked the questions a few were thinking about, ‘why run, why not surrender?’

Steven shrugged and threw the question up to Babes, her answer was simple and direct to the point.  ‘The Ortea are meat eaters.’

It took a moment for her answer to sink in.  Cookie shook his head, ‘surely not.’

‘The Ortea are scavengers, their planets are over populated and the people starve.  They never invented the technology that took them to the stars, it was crashed ships, curious passers-by.  Over the years they were able to reverse engineer many of the ships that crashed or landed.  They spread out amongst the inhabitable planets in their region.’

‘What do they look like?’  Cookie asked out of curiosity.  A series of pictures were put up.  He grunted,   ‘Evil looking buggers aren’t they.’

Even Steven couldn’t argue with Cookies uptake on the race, ‘they do look a bit like those jackals from Egyptian mythology don’t they?’  He mused.  There was some agreement on it.  ‘Babes do you have any more information on this situation?’

‘This incident happened before I was conceived; however it is a matter of historical significance.  The captain was right, his signal did get out and it was received.  The Ortea did indeed have a new leader who had forged his forces into a significant fighting force.  In the end a Hogarth fleet brought them to battle and decimated their numbers and capabilities.  They also hunted down their leader and killed him.  The ships were never heard from again until now.’

Steven sighed, ‘well I hope that one day we will be able to return their essence to their home-world.  Tomorrow we will return and pick up the nanobots.’

Chapter 7

The following morning Steven gave them a new briefing.  ‘Today we are going to visit the buildings that we discovered.  We are going to split into two teams.  The first under our pilots are going to ascertain the state of the fast craft.  The rest of us are going to explore the building.  We are going to play most of it by ear.  The military will go in first with a reconnaissance team.  If there is no risk we will check to see if there is any power and air.  The quality of the air will be checked and if safe, the full team will go in.  Babes will create an air lock between the ship and the building so we can enter at will.  If not we will just have to explore in suits.’

A few hours later a frustrated Colonel Howe and his team finally found the door.  Lewis slapped a patch against what looked like some kind of pad.  The nanobots in the patch worked themselves into the locking mechanism and thirty minutes later a door slid open.  Cookie dashed in only to be stopped dead as he hit the opposite wall.  He bounced off and hit the floor.

Lewis reached down, grabbed him by the scruff and launched him back onto his feet, ‘you OK deh Cookie?’

‘Aye thanks Lewis, man this stuff is lethal; I just never saw that wall.’

‘Be careful,’ Howe growled at them.  ‘Lewis, find the inside lock; the rest of you get in here.’

They shuffled inside, arms out stretched so they didn’t suffer the same fate as Cookie; there were more than a few grins to fuel Cookies embarrassment.  Once inside Lewis got the outside airlock door closed first then set to opening the inside door.  It eventually opened with a hiss and the men deployed themselves inside against the almost invisible wall and knelt down.  The place was in pitch darkness.

‘Listen can you hear it?’ Lewis cautioned.

There was a faint hum and as they listened it became a little louder.  Everyman tensed not knowing what to expect.  Cookie had fleeting images of killer robots leaping at them out of the darkness and felt the sweat begin to trickle down into his spacesuit.  In fact the only thing that happened was a light came on.  They found themselves in a secondary chamber and the walls in this one were covered in what could only be signs with writing and symbols on them.  Another light came on and swept up and down them.  ‘Don’t panic,’ Babes voice sounded inside their heads.  ‘It is only a decontamination unit.’

‘Easy for you to say,’ Cookie thought.

The humming noise got louder and another door opened.  This time light flooded in.  They found themselves in a number of corridors and Howe sent his team out to explore a short distance.  They returned within a few minutes.

‘Looks like offices Suh,’ Lewis reported, ‘don look like nobody been home for a while.’

Howe nodded, ‘OK let’s deploy the equipment and get out.’

Two hours later Babes docked with the building.  She had built her own external docking ring to match that of the strange building.  A large team of scientists and soldiers were ready to explore.  The oxygen levels were a little higher than they were used to, but the air was clean and free from anything that might harm them.  Despite believing the site to be void of life, every member of the team still carried a side arm and the soldiers were fully equipped.  They went in first.

Some doors were open but others had to be picked.  The scientists were simply drooling over the discoveries.  Each had some form of computer and viewing device but although all seemed to be in working order they also seemed to be encrypted.  They began to explore deeper and Steven quickly realised the base was massive.  It actually had different levels that went down.  A large repair shop was discovered on the top floor and the engineers came running.

Steven was feeling good but they still had no idea what the hell the place was for.  Everyone seemed to disappear as they split up.  There were no lifts but large stairs gave easy access to the levels below.  Steven and Buzz wondered about the first floor for a while then decided to go downwards.  There were footsteps in the dust as they descended.  Steven pointed to them, ‘looks like we were beaten to it.’  Buzz laughed, the two sets of prints were unmistakeable.  The tiny feet of Komoru and the giant prints of Lewis.

Komoru hadn’t been as fascinated by the workshops as the men seemed to be.  She and Lewis had quickly discovered the staircase.  As they descended into the darkness, lights began to flicker on before them.  The temperature was also beginning to rise. Automatic systems sprung to life as they detected living beings.  They wondered about strange coloured corridors.  Komoru realised they were entering a part of the building that was a little more luxurious than the other parts she had seen so far.  With some direction from Ico she found the commanders office.  The door swung open and she jumped back in surprise.

At her reaction Lewis barged past and came to a halt just inside the threshold.  A desiccated corpse sat at a desk.  ‘It OK Miss Komoru, it dead; whatever it is!’

‘Stand back Lewis.’  From her utility belt Komoru removed a small black cube.  She tossed it onto the desk beside the corpse and backed out of the room.’

‘Wat dat Miss Komoru?’

‘Nanobots, they will dispose of the body; package it.  Let’s leave it for a while.’

With a nod he followed her around, ‘dat creature look a lot like the builders miss Komoru.’

‘It did, didn’t it, what do you know of the Species Ico?’

‘The Albany are distant cousins of the builder race my heart.  Their technology isn’t as far advanced as the builders and they have travelled down a different route when it comes to space travel.  They are more secretive and do not mix well with other races.  They like to keep themselves to themselves as you would say on Earth.  They are much more aggressive than the builders are and have been known to go to war, but only to protect their own territories.  They have never been known to take an aggressive stance against any race other than the Ortea.  An incident involving one of their craft and a small fleet of Ortea resulted in the Albany sending a large fleet to punish them.  They pounded a number of Ortea cities to rubble and destroyed at least three of their small fleets.’

They wondered about for a bit but found nothing interesting.  Lewis tried some of the furniture but it was too big even for him.  When Komoru received a message from Ico they returned to the office where they had found the body.  The black box lay on the floor and Lewis picked it up.  It was much bigger now than it originally had been, but still fitted into one of Lewis massive hands

‘Dis him Miss Komoru?’

‘Yes Lewis.’  He placed the box down on a shelf.  Komoru perched herself on the edge of the strange chair and ran her fingers over a small mat.  She jumped in surprise and let out a little squeal that alarmed Lewis.

‘You OK Miss Komoru?’

‘Yes Lewis, I can’t believe it; he must have died while working. This computer is not only on, it is still logged in.’

He smiled, ‘maybe we find out now what happened to these poor people.  Can you read it Miss Komoru?’

‘Yes sort of, Ico is translating it for me.’  Her smile began to slip, then she began to frown.  Ico guided her in the use of the mat in front of her as she scrolled through a document.  All of a sudden the colour seemed to drain from her face.  ‘Oh my god, Steven can you find me quickly?’  She had spoken it loud as well as with her mind.

‘Yes of course, is something wrong?’

‘Ico is sending you the details now.’

It wasn’t long before she heard the pounding of his feet.  He burst in, ‘this can’t be real.’

Komoru stood up and let him sit down.  He read what must have been a form of email, then under the ships tuition began to navigate his way through the commander’s database and communications.  What he found shocked him to the core.  He slipped a cube from a belt pouch and slipped it onto a port on the side of the screen, the nanobots went to work and within a few moments Babes was downloading the entire contents of the computer.

He put out a communication, ‘I want everyone back on board the ships now.  There will be a briefing in about half an hour I want all key personnel to attend.’  He turned to Lewis, ‘will you stay here and guard this post Lewis?’

‘Yes suh of course.’

‘What is it Stevie?’  Buzz asked concerned about the look on Stevens face.

Steven shook his head, ‘let’s get back to the ship.  We need to get in touch with Earth and I need a few minutes to let this sink in.’

‘We have a problem?’

‘You have no idea.’

Half an hour later Steven was sure of his facts and stood before the gathered personnel.  ‘We have just discovered something grievous.  About a hundred years ago an Albany ship escaped the Ortea and entered our part of the universe.  What they discovered astounded them.  Obviously the seven planets that surround our sun, including the Earth.  The report talks about a planet covered by two-thirds water and inhabited by an inferior meat eating species that was technically backward.  A race of meat eaters that seemed determined to wipe itself out.  The report also spoke about our asteroid belt, a rare resource that was untouched and valued as priceless.  Not to mention of course the untapped resources of our outer planets and moons.  The craft managed to send a distress beacon to their home world through the great barrier before the crew perished.

It would seem that our solar system and home planet are an extremely rare find.  Bear in mind that the species on the other side of the great barrier have been developed and space travelling for thousands of years. Resources like ours are extremely rare.  So rare in fact, whole races involving dozens of planets have gone to war over a fraction of the resources that we have in our solar system..

The Albany were so curious, they sent out suicide parties into our universe.  When the reports were proven correct they began a long-term plan. This plan involves the wholesale eradication of the human race and occupancy of our planet.  They will then be free to exploit our solar systems resources to make themselves rich.  There was only one flaw in this plan; they can’t survive in our solar system for long periods of time and once here they can never return home.’

Amanda Freeling their chief medical officer felt prompted to intervene, ‘Steven, what do you mean by, there, “ was” only one flaw?’

Steven sighed and rocked back on his heels for a moment, ‘yeah, “was”, because they have now discovered a way of binding our DNA with theirs so they can survive in our solar system.’

She seemed stunned, ‘Oh shit!  How did they manage that?  They would have needed human DNA.’

‘You are right Amanda, and they have human DNA; plenty of it in fact.  They have been experimenting on humans for a very long time.  We aren’t the first humans to visit this planet, or even cross the great barrier.’  He took a deep breath, ‘these creatures have been kidnapping people for many years and experimenting on them.  Some of their top scientists sacrificed themselves at this base.  Although they themselves cannot cross the great barrier again, they were sending humans to their home world.  They have been breeding, and experimenting on them for decades.  One of the last messages received, said they had been able to find a way to bind our DNA’s together.  I believe it takes a few weeks to become effective. However once immunised they can expect total protection from the effects of our sun for a lifetime.  They also believe any children born to them will also have the same genetic marker and be immune.’

Steven shrugged, ‘of course they don’t actually know for sure if it will work yet, as they have never sent anyone immunised through.  The Albany discovered this almost ten years ago and have been building an invasion fleet ever since.  An adult human can produce enough of this serum for thousands of Albany.  From existing human stock they can make enough serum to immunise the leadership and top military people.  This base was in its last phase used to stock enough humans to immunise most of their military personnel and key workers.  They will then send advanced units to Earth to kidnap as many humans as possible, to immunise the rest of their workforce.  I am afraid that is about as much intelligence as I can find at the moment.  I am sure we will discover more as we go.’

Colonel Howe held up a hand, ‘wait a minute sir.  How many of them are coming if one human can provide serum for thousands and they only have enough for their leadership?’

Steven shook his head, ‘I have no idea colonel, there are over a dozen planets inhabited by their kind, but by the sounds of it, it’s hundreds of thousands at least.  I have Babe and Ico searching through all their data banks for as much information on this race as possible.  It will be for the authorities back on Earth to decipher it all.  Right now we have three missions.  To gather as much information as we can.  To return to Earth as soon as we can and help prepare for this invasion.  Our first mission however is to return to the base and find near a thousand souls that are being kept in some kind of stasis chambers.  There is also some form of pod that was to be sent to their home planet.  We have to find that and disable it.  It has detailed plans of Earth on it and our current defences, or as they were about ten years ago.  I don’t want that information going to the enemy.  Any more questions?’

Tapper shoved his hand half way up ‘I have one sir, if I may?’

‘Of course major.’

‘Are we going straight to Earth after we deal with this problem or are we going to check out that warship first?  At best we should not leave a gift of a battle wagon of that magnitude as a gift to our foe.’

‘That is a very good point Tapper and I haven’t forgotten it.  As soon as we have enough information, I am going to send a complete, and as comprehensive report as I possibly can back to Earth.  This is really a military problem now and I am well out of my depth.  From this point on you and the colonel will guide me on what you both think needs done.  That means you talk to each other and discuss things before one of you come to me.  Colonel Howe, I will also expect you to lease with military authorities on Earth.  I will not accept any secretive stuff either, am I clear on that?’

‘Yes sir,’ both men answered.

‘Good in that case let’s get our teams together and find those people.’

Chapter 8

Steven led the way to a lower tier and the lights began to blink on.  Row upon row of cylinder was revealed as the lights came up.  Buzz stopped beside Steven and shook his head, ‘there's more than a thousand cylinders here Stevie.’

Steven nodded, ‘looks like it.’

‘Will they be alive?’

Steven shrugged, ‘I don’t know Buzz.’  Both seemed frightened to approach the cylinders.

‘What if they are dead Stevie?’

‘We leave nothing for these people Buzz; one way or another.’

‘They aren’t people Stevie.’

‘Figure of speech Buzz, chill man.’  He took a deep breath, ‘let’s go look.’

Amanda Freeling was walking right behind them.  When Steven and Buzz looked into the first container they went pale and seconds later they began to vomit.  She pushed past the puking men and looked inside, ‘Oh!’  Was as much as she could think of to say.  The unit was filled with body parts, including a head with no skin on the face.

Colonel Howe looked inside and anger infused him, ‘what the hell were they doing?’

‘Experiments with different parts of the body trying to extract enzymes according to the data Babes retrieved.’  She told him offhandedly.  Howe frowned and turned away.

Steven stood up straight, ‘Colonel take your team and go find that pod.’

‘Yes sir.’  With a wave of his hand his team followed.

There was row upon row of these ghastly cylinders.  They moved from cylinder to cylinder with a sinking feeling in their guts as they went.  All of a sudden it no longer felt like an adventure.

It didn’t take Howe long to find the pod room.  It was on the same level but down a different corridor.  Lights on a console still flashed brightly.  ‘No one touch anything,’ he warned.  ‘Babes have you ever seen one of these before?  It looks solid!’

‘It is a simple transport pod colonel, it is not self-propelled as the captain thought it might be.  It would be raised to the surface and picked up by a ship that would accelerate the pod then release it.  It would quite simply keep going until picked up on the other side of the barrier.  Once it was near its designated coordinates it would set off a homing beacon and be picked up.’

‘Simple but effective.’  Howe mused.  ‘Now how do we get into them?’

‘Mr McGuire has a cutter; they are cut and shut as you would say.’

The colonel looked round, ‘Mr McGuire, would you like to do the honours.’

‘With great pleasure Colonel.’

Matt took out his cutter and under Babes guidance began to cut open the pod.  ‘Like a hot knife through butter,’ Matt grinned.  He cut round the base first then the top as high as he could reach.  Then he cut the cylinder into panels.  When he was finished he gave the panels a bit of a bash with a hammer and the men jumped back as they fell away.  Grey internal cylinders were revealed with a glass face.  They were frosted up.  Colonel Howe moved forward and wiped the first.  It revealed the face of a man.  He wiped more of the glass.  The man was naked and looked to be asleep.  The men moved in to the other cylinders.

‘Oh Wow!’  Cookie exclaimed.

The colonel moved to his side and gave him a push, ‘stop staring Cookie.’

‘Hey, I found her.’

‘Stop clowning,’ Howe growled, ‘you have seen a naked woman before.’

‘Aye plenty, but never one that flawless.’  Cookie moved on, ‘here is another sir; same again.’

Howe joined him, ‘what do you mean Cookie?’

‘Look at them both sir; flawless, perfect.’

Howe got it, ‘god yes; the guy too looks straight out of a magazine.  Perfect specimens.  Babes said they were breeding them on their home planet, they could still be alive.  Babes how long will these units work for, are these people in suspended animation and could they still be alive?’

She answered so all the men in the room could hear, ‘those units are fairly standard throughout the universe.  They are often used if a journey is going to take years or more to reach a particular destination, they will last a hundred years before requiring maintenance.  Hold your hand up to the side panel Colonel.’  He obeyed.  It took her a few seconds.  ‘The woman in that chamber is still alive.’

Cookie had moved on and suddenly burst out laughing, ‘you have to see this sir.’  Cookie wiped that last of the frost away with a sleeve.

Howe caught up with him and his jaw dropped, ‘oh you have to be shitting me!’

Cookie burst out laughing, ‘he looks pissed doesn’t he?’

Howe suddenly grinned, ‘he does doesn’t he.  I will call the captain.’

Ten minutes later a very pale Steven arrived, his colour began to return as he stared in at the figure within the glass in wonder, ‘wow, he looks pissed.’  The men all laughed.

Howe was grinning, ‘he was the only one dressed; the rest are all naked; men and women and even number, four of each. I would describe them as perfect specimens of humanity; then there is this guy.’

Steven reached up and ran his fingers over the thick glass like surface, ‘he cracked the glass, another layer has been welded on top.  That is an American uniform isn’t it colonel?’

‘Yes sir, I would say his smock is late forties, fifty’s era.  The shirt underneath I would say was older; Second World War and if you come to the side you can just see ribbons on the shirt.’

Steven did as bid and squinted, ‘that’s a lot of medals colonel; do you recognise any of them?’

‘Medal of honour, Normandy, purple heart, looks like campaign medals mostly; can’t really say for sure.’

‘He is a big fella, it looks like he was a wake when he was stuffed in here.’  Inside the cylinder stood a soldier dressed in full battle regalia with a snarl of hatred on his face.  ‘He is obviously a sergeant; do you know what regiment colonel?’

‘1st Infantry division sir.  What do you want to do sir?’

‘I want to wake him up and find out what the hell happened.  By the looks of it he will be far more compos-mentis than any of the others.’

Howe scratched his head and grinned, ‘I can’t fault you on that assumption sir, but I think we had better all stand back.’

Steven ran his eye over Howe, ‘you still have your uniform don’t you colonel?’

‘You mean my combat uniform sir?’

‘Yes.’

‘You think it might be better if he is greeted by someone in a uniform he can recognise sir?’

Steven nodded, ‘he might not recognise the uniform straight off colonel but I don’t think badges of ranks and things like that have changed much since his days.’

‘They haven’t at all sir.’

‘Then go get changed please.’

Half an hour later Steven began the sequence that would release the mad looking sergeant from his prison.  Steven expected the man to collapse in a heap after being in stasis for so long.  He couldn’t have been more wrong.  With a mighty roar the sergeant burst free from the unit.   Steven was forced to duck as the glass door went flying and the sergeant came leaping out.

‘You dirty stinking rotten…’

Howe’s voice snapped with authority, ‘front and centre sergeant.’

The man froze for a second his eyes sweeping the room.  They lingered for a moment on the collar of Howe’s uniform and he suddenly snapped to attention.  Steven moved forward to quickly reaching out with his hand, ‘good afternoon sergeant, my name is.’

Before Steven could react the man had grabbed Stevens arm and pulled.  Steven found himself in a vice like grip.  The sergeant tore Steven’s sidearm free and pressed it into the side of his head.  He nodded to Howe, ‘you might have the stars of a full bird colonel, but you ain't wearing any damn uniform I recognise sir; now I had better get an explanation quick before I blow this little guys head off.’

Howe’s eyes turned cold and his own pistol whipped from its holster, ‘let the captain go sergeant.’

Before the situation could escalate Steven reached up and gripped the sergeant’s pistol arm.  With the precision of a surgeon he pinched a spot on the sergeant’s arm and the arm went limp dropping the pistol; before the soldier could react, Steven had thrown him across the room.  He crashed to a halt against some computer banks.

Howe covered the man, ‘don’t move sergeant, it would be a pity for you to have gone through all the shit you obviously have in your life to end up being killed by your rescuers.’

The sergeant sat up holding his arm.  Steven stooped and picked up his pistol.  Rubbing his throat for a moment he turned his attention to the sergeant, ‘well that wasn’t pleasant.’  He help up his pistol, ‘thing is sergeant, this isn’t a firearm.  Even if you found the safety it was set to stun.  You might have cooked my brain a little but you wouldn’t have blown it out around the room. ‘

The sergeant rubbed his arm suspiciously finally coming to rest on Howe, ‘I recognise your stars boy, but that ain't no American uniform that I've ever seen.’

Howe took off his cap and wiped his brow, ‘no I don’t suppose it is sergeant but if you call me boy again I will kick your arse from here into the middle of next week.’

Steven decided to intervene, ‘sergeant my name is Steven Gordon, I am in command here.  This is a civilian operation however these men are all military men who serve under me as part of my team.  They provide any military expertise and muscle if need be during our exploration.  We would like to know how you got here and the circumstances leading you to be shoved into that chamber there?’

The sergeant waved his arm a little as the feeling began to return, ‘329714 sergeant Kelly.’

‘Ach jist leave the daft bugger,’ suggested Cookie.

‘Can it Cookie,’ Howe growled but Cookie just grinned.

Steven shook his head, ‘this is no good.  Colonel put your weapon down.  No in fact, please hand it to the sergeant.’

‘Excuse me sir! Is that wise?’

‘Sergeant Kelly here obviously doesn’t trust us.  I bet he has been a soldier so long he feels pretty vulnerable without a weapon in his hands.  I am quite sure that the sergeant is also aware of his own abilities.’

‘Sir if he decides to shoot, half of us will be dead before we can kill him.’  Howe interrupted.

‘That’s pretty much how I see it colonel and we really don’t have the time, nor do I have the inclination to prattle about playing games.  He will either trust us or he won’t, it is his choice.  Now pass him the bloody weapon.’

With a frustrated sigh the colonel went over and held out the pistol the 1911 pattern pistol.  The sergeant almost snatched it out of his hand.  He inspected the weapon closely while keeping an eye on the men gathered.  Then he ejected a round and inspected it.  Steven noticed a small smile play on the man’s lips for a second.  He ejected the magazine, flipped out a few rounds and inspected them.  Then he recharged the magazine and replaced it; eased the hammer down and shoved it in his pocket.  ‘Can I keep this for a while sir?’

Howe frowned, ‘for a little while sergeant but that’s my personnel weapon, it has a return spring.’

The sergeant grinned and got comfortable on the floor.  His eyes found Stevens, ‘what is it you want to know sir?’

‘Just what happened to you sergeant; or at least what you can remember?’

‘Can you tell me where I am first?’

Steven sucked his breath through his teeth, ‘that might be a little hard for you to digest straight away sergeant; I would like to know what you can remember first before you start freaking out on me.’

The reclining man frowned, he didn’t recognise the word but he got the jist of was Steven was saying.  He leaned back, ‘ain't much to tell really, we were on top of a hill in Korea.  My platoon was ordered to hold the commies back as the rest of the regiment retreated.  We were quickly surrounded but managed to hold out for about three days.  We ran out of ammo food and water,’ he shrugged, ‘not that it mattered.  The platoon by that time was reduced to about eight effectives and a dozen wounded.  Still those that could hold a weapon did.  We decided to stay as there wasn’t enough of us to carry out the wounded.’  He shook his head, ‘it was hopeless really but we were prepared to fight with what little we had left.  The next thing I know there was a real bright light.  I woke up strapped like a pieces of meat to some kind of metal table.  I heard a man scream, it was one of my wounded men.  I looked over and saw some kind of creature cut off his wounded arm with a strange thin blue wire of some kind.’  The look on his face darkened, ‘then they opened him up with it and began, uh!’ The sergeant hesitated, ‘well they killed him anyway.  I managed to break free from my bonds.  They had taken my weapons but missed a combat knife I kept in my boots.  I killed a few of them and managed to release a couple of my men before there was another bright flash.  Next thing I know I'm in that thing and some creature is telling me that I being sent to his home world; that his military were interested in doing experiments with me.  I tried to bust out and here I am.  Now what the hell is going on, where the hell am I?’

‘It might be easier to explain if we just show you sergeant.’  Steven concentrated, ‘Lewis can you find me but return to the first ship and bring your spacesuit will you.’  The sergeant frowned but kept his mouth shut.  ‘One of my men is coming down here.  Accompany him, he will explain it all to you.  Now Lewis has a habit of taking people by surprise, please don’t shoot him.’

The sergeant sat forward, ‘I will keep that in mind sir.’

‘What about the rest of them sir?’  Colonel Howe asked.

‘Leave them just now, let’s see how our new friend adapts to his situation.  Has this thing been disabled?’

‘Babes assures me the safety systems would have kicked on the moment we began to cut into it.  It’s going nowhere.  How’s it going at your end?’

‘Not good, so far not a single survivor.  I had better get back to it.’

‘Good luck sir.’

Sergeant Kelly waited patiently keeping himself to himself but when Lewis turned up his mouth dropped open, ‘holy shit boy, what your mama been feeding you?’

Lewis wasn’t amused, ‘you dis Sergeant Kelly fella?’

‘Yup.’

‘Den you gotta come with me.’

The sergeant followed him through the complex and he seemed to have no trouble keeping up with Lewis.  His curiosity kept him from asking questions as his eyes swept over everything.  They reached the air lock and Lewis thrust the suit at him, ‘you gotta put this suit on.’

‘What the hell for boy?’

‘It absolute zero out der.’

‘Hell boy I been in places that were minus thirty or forty; zero is nothing to me.’

‘Not zero, absolute zero.’

‘Don’t get yah!’

‘Don they teach you white boys anything, absolute zero, dat means it’s minus two twenty out der.’

‘It’s what, where the hell are we?’

‘You see soon enough.  Just shove the damn suit on’

Just then Komoru and her pilot walked past and the sergeant went for his gun, ‘is that a nip?’  Lewis hand slapped against his and pinned it down.  A struggle developed between the two men.  When the two Japanese were out of sight Lewis let go.

‘What the hell’s going on here boy; who was that?’

‘Dat der was Miss Komoru, de captain of my ship.’

‘The nips aren’t allowed a damn navy.’

‘You been on ice for a damn long time Kelly, lots has changed, and we ain't at sea either.  Get the suit on and you ass out there, then you may begin to understand what going on.  Give you all de answers you need after dat.’ He suddenly felt a moment’s sympathy for the man.  ‘What you gonna see is gonna knock your socks off.  Hope you man enough to take it.’

Kelly growled, ‘I've been man enough all my life boy, I've seen shit that would turn you white.’

‘Yeah heard dat before and I still ain't white.  Put you hand against dat green panel when you ready; I’ll close the door inner door from here.  On the other side you will see another green panel.  When this door closes put you hand on dat and when it opens step outside.  Don’t wander off nowhere.  When you want to come back in de same thing, you will see a green panel, you will have to close the outer door before you can open this one.  Now let’s get this suit on you.’

Kelly was well over six foot but he was very aware of how loose the suit was on him.  Lewis checked him over then opened the door.  Kelly stepped inside, ‘ain't you coming boy.’

‘You got my suit fool, ain't no way I'm going out there without it.  Don’t try and take it off neither; I ain't never seen no one die in space before but dey say you blood freezes so fast it boils and your eyes pop out oh you head.’

Kelly suddenly felt a sudden dread and didn’t want to close the door, but there was no way he was going to let this man see his fear and indecision.  Lewis placed his hands on the panel and the door slid shut.  Kelly opened the outer door and stepped boldly out into the all-consuming darkness.  He felt his fear rise to a level he had never felt before in his entire life.  The door hissed closed behind him and the last remaining light left him in this strange and hostile world.  Eventually his eyes began to adjust, he looked upwards and saw the stars.  Kelly knew the stars well and prided himself in being able to navigate by them.  There was something strange about them he took a few steps away from the building to get a better look.  Something else began to happen.  There was a shimmering in front of him and two large, bright, tear shaped objects appeared out of nowhere.  He stumbled back against the door and when the green light appeared he hit it.  The door slid open soundlessly and he tumbled back into the airlock.  His world spun as he grabbed a rail for support.  He hit the panel and the door slid closed behind him.  Lewis seeing the state the man was in opened the inner door and Kelly stumbled back into the building.  His heart hammered in a way he had never felt before and he fell to his knees.  Lewis grabbed him, sat him back against the wall and removed the helmet.  For a full five minutes the sergeant hid his hands in his face.  When they stopped trembling he removed them.

‘Where the hell are we?’

‘You in outer-space man.  Halfway between our universe and de next on a planet we have nicknamed the Black Planet.  You wuz abducted by an alien race and brought here.’

‘Those beasts weren’t a nightmare?’

‘Nope dey were real.’

He shook his head, ‘I don’t want to ask this.’

‘Two thousand and twenty three.’  Lewis supplied having a feeling he knew what the man wanted or didn’t want to know.’

Kelly’s hand shook as he wiped his mouth, ‘holy shit.’  He thought his situation over, ‘can I see the captain again?’

‘Yeah sure, he said to bring you if you asked.’

The sergeant staggered to his feet and was still trembling when they found Steven.  Kelly fiddled with his helmet, ‘thank you for the rescue sir.’  He reached into his pocket and unloaded the pistol.  He handed over to Howe with a nod and a thank you then turned his attention back to Steven.  ‘It’s quite a shock.’

Steven smiled sympathetically, ‘I imagine it would be sergeant, how are you feeling?’

‘Like shit sir.  I suppose all of the people I once knew are now dead.’

‘That would be a fairly safe bet, did you have family sergeant?’

‘A brother sir, that’s all.  He had a wife and a couple of kids.  I was married to the army sir.’

‘Then you may still have some relations; when I get in touch with Earth tonight I will send your details and try and find out for you.’

‘Thank you sir, do you know if any of my men are still alive?’

Steven looked towards the capsules, ‘I have no idea sergeant.  There are thousands of these capsules and so far we have only found the remains of people.  Maybe somewhere deeper are your people, they may well be still alive, I don’t know.  Right now I want you to go get cleaned up, report to the doctor for a physical; take a little time to adjust to your new reality.’

‘Yes sir, thank you.’

‘Lewis I want the sergeant to bunk with you.  Take care of him will you?’

‘Yes suh.’

Chapter 9

Steven was angry; Sergeant Kelly stood rigidly to attention in front of him his eyes reaching out into the darkness beyond the ship.  They were in Stevens private quarters where he had a desk built that could swivel three hundred and sixty degrees.  Today it was swung inwards.  Buzz and Colonel Howe were present along with Lewis and Komoru who lounged prettily on the couch.  It was she who had asked Steven to deal with this man.

‘Remove those sun glasses please sergeant.’

‘Uh!  The glare sir.’

‘Take them off sergeant, it wasn’t a request.’  Kelly did so reluctantly.  ‘That’s quite a shiner sergeant would you like to explain yourself?’

He sniffed, ‘no sir.’

‘This is the third time you have attacked Lewis in a single day and the third time you have taken a beating for it.  Wasn’t once enough?’

‘I don’t like people that lie sir.’

Steven sent a silent command and behind him the wall became white and on it played a number of incidents that the sergeant had been involved in; the man’s jaw dropped open.  Steven let them play out.

Steven saw them man’s jaw harden and he stiffened.  ‘Let me make things clear for you sergeant if I may.  Lewis does not lie; there has been two black presidents since you were put on ice as you like to refer to it.  You did not beat the Koreans and the American forces did get their asses handed to them in Vietnam.  On the last matter, Lewis most certainly can build an atomic bomb from scratch.  These days we call them nuclear weapons or devices.  He isn’t the only one on board that can do it either.  Lewis was a member of your American Special Forces.  After being wounded on a number of operations he specialised as an armourer where he was taught how to build one.  Oh and one more matter I want to clarify; just because I may talk with a bit of an American accent and was brought up in America, I am not American, I am Scottish.  I have never applied for American citizenship.  Do you understand?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Good, now let’s move onto your deplorable behaviour in the canteen shall we and the remarks you made to some of the Japanese.  Do I have to play the incident in question?’

‘No sir.’

‘Your remarks were racist to say the least, and you turned the air blue.  That kind of language will not be tolerated outside your own private quarter’s sergeant, nor will any form of racism, neither here nor when you return home.’

‘I ain't racist sir.’

‘Really you’re not!’

‘Hell no sir, white, black, yellar I've killed them all sir.’

Howe burst out laughing and Steven went red in the face.  ‘I don’t find that funny colonel.’

‘I am sorry sir it’s an old soldiers joke.’

‘Still not laughing colonel,’ he turned his attention back to the sergeant who seemed a little amused at his own wit, even if he was trying to hide it.  ‘Back home remarks like the ones you have made here will land you with six months in jail sergeant, but here I have only one punishment and it involves an airlock and no space suit.’

‘Holy shit!’

‘Language, there is a lady present.’

He snapped to attention again, ‘sorry sir,’ he nodded towards Komoru, ‘sorry Ma’am.’

Steven leaned forward, ‘an old spaceships captain’s joke sergeant.’

Kelly took a deep breath, ‘I am sorry sir, it’s just been very hard.  Yesterday I was fighting for my life on a hill in Korea and today.’  He shrugged, ‘I don’t have the words, I'm sorry sir.’

Steven relented a little, ‘I am not unsympathetic to your situation sergeant, despite what you might think.  All of the military men on board these two ships are Special Forces and all have seen combat.  I am sure you have probably clocked up more time in battle than most of them put together, but they too have faced the same dangers, lost friends and live with their own personal demons on a daily basis.  The gulf between your world, your time, and this is immense.  You won’t fully understand that until you reach home.’

He flicked up a screen, ‘the pentagon sent me your file sergeant.  Your combat record is beyond reproach.  The part that covers your personal conduct however reads like a herd of goats stumbling through a minefield.  It reads to me like you have seen too much combat sergeant and you can no longer cope with what comes with a normal life.  I do have one piece of good news for you, two in fact.  You have living relatives, although your brother passed away a long time ago.  They knew about you and are delighted to hear that you are alive and can’t wait to meet you.  The pentagon has also told me that you will receive full pay at today’s present rates for all the time you have been here; from your day of abduction to the day you return home.  Congratulations sergeant, you are a very wealthy man, even by today’s standards.  You will also receive a full pension at today’s rates when you reach home.’

He looked shocked, ‘they gonna retire me?’

‘You were due to retire anyway weren’t you?’

His eyes turned shifty, ‘in a couple of year’s sir.’

‘In that case sergeant it would seem you have only one battle left to fight and that’s the one with your own foul mouth.  I may not toss you out of the airlock but I will shove you in one of those pods until we reach Earth if your bad behaviour persists.  Now get out of my sight.’

‘One thing more sir.’

‘What is it?’

‘I hear you are packing up the bodies you have found so far.’

‘Yes we are, why?’

‘I did my part with the graves registration sir, I can help with those people, probably cope with it a lot better than some of yours.  It will also get me out of this light.’

‘OK sergeant, if you want to work I won’t stop you.’  Stevens eyes flicked across the room, ‘Colonel Howe he can join the doctor.’

‘Yes sir.’

Kelly took a step back and saluted.  Steven shook his head, ‘I'm not military sergeant, no need to salute me.’

‘I know sir.’

The men filed out and Steven joined Komoru on the couch; Buzz followed.  Steven sat down with a sigh, ‘that wasn’t pleasant.’

Buzz grinned, ‘you gave it to him straight and I think he respected that.’

‘What is the latest tally Buzz?’

‘One thousand three hundred and twenty seven living.  Nine hundred chambers with body parts.’

‘When are we going to start reviving them Steven?’  Komoru asked.

‘We aren’t.’

‘Why not, we should be doing it right now.’

‘We are months away from Earth at top speed Komoru; how the hell are we going to feed them all?’

She blinked, ‘oh how stupid of me.  Then what are we going to do?’

‘I have no idea, there was a large freighter in the graveyard.  It would hold every one of them.  I am going to get Matt to investigate it with one of the pilots.  Maybe if it will fly we can convert it to haul those canisters.  After Sergeant Kelly’s reaction I think I would far rather have them revived at home. We will have to revive those from the pod though.  Babe’s assures me it would be easy to transfer the other canisters to the freighter, she would just beam them across.  We could set up an independent power source to keep them powered up.  Each cylinder has emergency backup power for about three weeks, so there is no danger of them quitting on us before we can connect them back up.’

‘Sounds like a plan to me,’ Buzz agreed.

‘We also need to check out that Battle Cruiser.  If we can, we will get it back to Earth.’

‘Then what!’  Buzz asked.

‘We give it to the Space Corps for the defence of the Earth.’

‘I thought you didn’t want to do anything like that?’

‘No I didn’t, but we have little choice now.  Earth is going to have to grow up fast.  Whether it likes it or not; or we like it or not.’

Buzz stood, ‘I will get some of the ladies to grab some clothes and revive the women from that transport pod.  Rather they did it that some hairy arsed leering scientist.’

They all laughed knowing he meant the soldiers, ‘great idea Buzz.’

‘I will get to it.’

Komoru sat and stared at him for a moment then she launched herself into his arms and held him tight.  The contact barely lasted thirty seconds and then she stood up and almost ran from the room.  ‘What was that for,’ he asked silently aware that his body was tingling from head to toe.

‘Oh nothing, I just needed a cuddle.’  Her words whispered in his inner ear.

Steven found himself grinning stupidly at his reflection.  ‘Glad to be of service.’ He burst out laughing.

Babes decided she needed to have a word with him.  ‘You need to rest my heart; you have been up for 48 hours.’

‘I am OK Babes.  No time to rest just now, too much to do.’

‘You are becoming dehydrated.’

He sighed, ‘OK I will have a quick coffee before I get going again.’

He sat down on his couch with the coffee and barely had a sip from the hot mug before his eyes began to close, ‘what are you doing Babes?’  Was all he was able to say before she knocked him out.  Then she locked all his doors and warned both crews to leave him be.

Chapter 10

Amanda was feeling the pressure when Colonel Howe arrived with the big sergeant.  ‘How’s it going Doc?’

She smiled grimly, ‘very slow colonel; what can I do for you?’

‘Sergeant Kelly here is looking for work; he is going snow blind on board ship.’

She sighed, ‘this isn’t pleasant work sergeant; do you think you are up to it?’

Kelly looked round at all of her helpers; most were pale and here and there some were puking into bags; ‘with respect ma’am, I am a lot more up to it than you or any of your people.  I came through the Second World War and Korea and have done my time with the graves registration.’

‘Wow!’  Was all Amanda could think of to say for a moment then she had an idea.  ‘In that case sergeant I am going to put you in charge of this operation.  I am up to my ears in work at the moment, nor have I slept in thirty hours or eaten much of anything.  I will tell the people you are in charge.  Come with me I will show you what we are doing.  I am sure some of it will be beyond your comprehension, basically instead of paper we use electronic devices to record on.  We have no idea of who these people are or were, so they will be given a number and tagged.  Once we get them to Earth it will be up to the authorities to try and identify them.’

‘I understand ma’am.’

‘Once as much details of the person as we have has been recorded, i.e. weight, height sex, approximate age etc. Has been recorded, a label will go onto the bag and then the ship will take care of the body, don’t worry about that.  Your job will be to organise the people and get this done as quickly as possible.’

The sergeant quickly took over and under his direction things began to speed up.  There was a lot of discussion about what the captain was going to do with the bodies.  No one liked the idea of carrying them to Earth and the sergeant had DNA explained to him.  A sample was taken from every body and filed with the appropriate number.  He was amazed the first time he saw a body bag disappear and the process was explained to him.  He didn’t understand the science behind it, but he could believe what his eyes told him.  They spoke a lot about their job and what they had found.  They also talked a lot about the crews of the ships and the captains.  Kelly absorbed it all like a sponge.

After about ten hours of packing bodies away they were told to stop.  Few were inclined to eat but the sergeant insisted that they did so.  After the crew disappeared to their bunks for a well-earned rest Kelly decided to do a little exploration of his own.  With no one to tell him differently he began to search the top tier of the alien structure.  He knew exactly what he was looking for and found it at the far end of the complex.  The room was just as he remembered it with lines of metal tables.  They were covered in a fine black dust now, but when he ran a finger over one the metal beneath shone bright.

Large screens cluttered the walls and below sat square tall metal units.  The sergeant opened one to find weird instruments, one of which he recognised.  Beside each metal table there was a bin and the sergeant quickly guessed what they were for.  He gave one a push and to his amazement it moved freely; not only that it never stopped until it hit the wall, then the damnedest thing happened.  The wall opened and the bin tipped into a hole.  It paused for a few seconds then popped upright again before returning to the table.  The sergeant went over to the wall and gave it a kick; the wall swung inwards and a strange smell reached his nostrils.

‘Bingo.’  He retrieved one of the long metal units and managed to balance it so that the wall stayed open.  It was then that Lewis found him.

‘Hey what you doing Sarge?  You supposed to be resting.’

‘Doing a little exploring Lewis; don’t happen to have a rope and a flashlight handy do you?’

‘Can git them ifin you want Sarge; what kind of rope?’

‘Good strong climbing rope.’

Lewis peered down the dark hole and sniffed, ‘dat stinks, what's down there?’

‘What I want to find out.’

Lewis shrugged, ‘why man?’

‘Some of the crew says the captains been thinking of reviving some of those folks but he is short of clothes and stuff.’

‘Yup, I suppose so.’

‘That there Lewis is the smell of dirty laundry.’

‘Oh yeah I git you Sarge.  I will go get some rope and a torch.’

He wasn’t gone long and they tied off the rope to a leg on one of the tables.  ‘Want me to come Sarge?’

‘Later Lewis, I need you to make sure that unit don’t shift and cut my rope.’

‘Yeah I git you Sarge.’  Lewis tossed in a few round cylinders; they floated in the air and spread out.  They revealed a long and broad hole that spread right along the wall.  Lewis had to show him how to use the modern equipment with the thin rope but he soon got the hang of it and disappeared into the darkness below.  It didn’t take him long to reach the pile and he stood upon it as the lights descended above him and revealed it all to him.  He found himself standing on a mountain of clothing and equipment and he began to rummage.  It only took a few minutes to discover what he was looking for.  He had never seen a gas filled lighter before but it didn’t take a genius to work out what it was for.  He carefully took a cigarette from a packet and lit one up.  The nicotine rush went straight to his head and he had to sit down.

‘Oh wow that is good.’

‘Did you say something Sarge?’

‘No Lewis I’m fine.’

‘Wot u found?’

‘A mountain of clothing Lewis and by the looks of it I would say there were more than two thousand people here at one time.’

‘Yeah u sure Sarge?’

‘Very sure Lewis,’ then he added quietly to himself, ’very sure.’

Once he was able to stand again he began to rummage through the piles.  He noticed there were distinct layers by the type of clothing in the mountain.  He picked up a floral shirt and held it up in disgust.  ‘Jezz, hope they still ain't wearing these.’

Lewis pondered Kelly's words for a few moments.  He knew Steven was up now and sent a message to him.  It wasn’t long before he and Buzz appeared.  ‘What have you found Lewis?’

‘Taint me suh, it was the Sarge.  He has found all those folks clothing and says there's much more than we think there is.’  Steven and Buzz took a sniff and both reeled back.

‘Please don’t tell me you want to go down there Stevie.’

‘I'm going.’

‘Do I have to?’

‘Nope.’

Buzz sighed, ‘do you have a descender for me Lewis?’

‘Yeah sure Buzz got half a dozen.’

The two men let themselves down.  They found Kelly sitting smoking with a strange look on his face; he contemplated the pair of them as they looked round in astonishment.  He also had a recognisable weapon in his hands and was wearing full combat gear.

Steven suddenly grinned, ‘I see you found those smokes you were after Sarge; you enjoying that?’

‘You have no idea sir.’

‘Watch you don’t set this lot up.’

‘I'm being careful.  May I ask you a question sir?’

Steven shrugged, ‘fire away.’

‘Heard say you were thinking of leaving some of those bodies here, burying them somewhere and returning them home later.’

‘To hold all these bodies we are going to have to considerably increase the size of the ship.  So it’s certainly an option.’

‘You can’t do it sir, you can’t leave anyone here.’

‘I understand you may have friends here Sarge but really that’s a choice I may well have to make.’

‘Ain't because of my friend’s sir it’s because of the enemy.’

Steven frowned and crossed his arms, ‘OK Sarge, run me through your reasoning.’

‘Why do you think the enemy have left so many cadavers and body pieces sir?’

‘A couple of reasons come to mind Sarge, the first is to provide serum, but from what I can find out I think they need a full body.’

‘Maybe they haven’t a way of disposing of the bodies,’ Buzz suggested.

Kelly shook his head, ‘ain't that sir, they certainly have a way of disposing of the bodies.’

‘How the hell do you know that?’  Buzz snapped.  Kelly's eyes went cold and he simply took a long drag of his cigarette.  Even Steven was surprised.  Buzz immediately regretted his outburst; he ran a hand through his hair, ‘I'm sorry Sarge.  It has been a long day.’

Kelly nodded and reached behind him.  He tossed a small bundle at Buzz.  Buzz unwrapped a garment from the bundle.  ‘This is a kid’s jacket.’

‘And the rest of it, I heard tell you ain't found no kids at all.’

‘Oh shit!’  Buzz tossed the bundle away from himself.  The Sarge laughed.

‘What was it?’  Steven asked.

‘Shit!’

‘Uh!’

‘Shit, a kid’s diaper.’

‘Oh right,’ Steven laughed.

‘Here’s something else.’  Kelly tossed another larger bundle.

Steven caught it and unwrapped it and frowned, ‘don’t get it this time Sarge.’

‘Look in the jacket pocket sir, there is an Id.’

Steven fished it out and frowned.  ‘It’s an Id right enough; still don’t get what you are at Sarge.’

‘Doc told me every body they have found deceased or alive is in the prime of their life.  That Id belongs to an old guy.’  The two men were struggling to come to terms with what Kelly was saying.  ‘I've seen this kind of thing before.’

Buzz was beginning to get fed up, ‘seen what before man?’

‘This,’ he gestured, ‘this mountain of clothing and personal items from people.’

Buzz still didn’t get it, ’where?’

‘Auschwitz.’

The two men stood frozen in horror, Buzz looked at Steven then back to Kelly, ‘you were there?’

‘Yup, and I seen this kind of thing before.  Separate the men from the women, the young and the old.  You dispose of the young and the old.  Of course they could take a few tips from the Nazis, their piles were far better ordered.  On the subject of Nazis, you had better see this as well.’  He tossed a tunic at Steven, ‘check out the collar dog’s sir.’

‘Oh shit!’  He showed them to Buzz.

‘Is that what I think it is?’

They both looked at Kelly, ‘Waffen SS, they were the fighting branch of the SS.  I also found some Japanese uniforms as well.’

Steven suddenly saw it all, ‘they have been disposing of those they don’t need, so you are saying every one of those bodies they can use to make serum.’

‘Yup, that’s the way I see it captain.  You can’t make a gift of even one corpse to those things.’

‘You’re right Sarge, we can’t make a gift of a single body.  Somehow we will get them to Earth with us.  We could also use some of these clothes.  Babe’s has very little material to make clothes from.  If we need to waken up some of those people then they will need something to wear.’

‘What I want to know is where the hell did you get a Thompson sub machinegun from Sarge?  Buzz inquired.

Kelly grinned, ‘This here is Mary Beth, the first and second love of my life.  Both have a fearsome bark and can bring any man to his knees.’

‘You be bloody careful with that thing,’ Buzz warned.

‘You have an armoury sir, I will put her in there along with my other weapons.’

Buzz nodded, ‘that’s good, besides I doubt if your ammunition would work anyway.’

‘It is a bit old,’ Kelly agreed, but it’s still dangerous.  If you do get someone down here to grab some of this clothing then you had better be careful.’  He pulled a grenade from his pocket and held it up.  ‘There are bound to be lots of this stuff in here somewhere; you will need military men to handle it.’

Steven scratched his head, ‘we really don’t have anybody free at the moment.  You are right though, it will be dangerous.  This stuff is full of identifications and personal items.’

‘You have resuscitated those like me haven’t you sir, the ones in that transport pod thing?’  Kelly asked.

‘Yes we have, they are in deep shock.’

Kelly stood, and he looked every bit a soldier, ‘give them to me sir.  The Doc’s crew have the hang of bagging and tagging those poor souls out there now.  I recon we could sort through this stuff.  I don’t fancy trying it down here though.’

Steven thought it over.  ‘There is lots of room up there plenty tables.  Babes could transport it up, and you can sort it out.’

‘I know what I am doing sir; trust me.’

‘I have been told you did a great job today Sarge, thank you for that.  Tomorrow you can begin on this.  First go get something to eat and then get some sleep.’  He turned to Buzz, ‘that includes you.  Now let’s get the hell out of here.’

Chapter 11

Komoru stood with Lewis and some of her men on a platform outside the freighter.  Ico had to hover beside it, the thing was so big.  ‘No sign of life captain,’ one of her scientists reported.  ‘No air either if these readings are right. From what information I can glean from our ships these freighters often carry perishable goods.  If some catastrophe overtakes the crew the ship will automatically come to a standstill or head to a predetermined destination.  To preserve perishables they are kept in an air tight oxygen free environment.’

‘You mean a vacuum,’ Komoru suggested.

‘Not quite my heart.’ Ico interrupted. ‘It ultimately depends on the cargo.  A freighter can produce any environment the cargo requires.  It may just cost you a little more.  Once the crew died the ship probably pumped out all the air in the crews quarters to preserve the bodies then powered down.  They aren’t meant for atmospheric entry or take off.  They are simply cargo haulers.  Every planet has a spaceport off world and goods are shipped on world by local haulers.’

‘Will it take off from the planet then, it has no atmosphere Ico but it does have gravity?’

‘I don’t know my heart.  The ship itself should be able to, it depends on the container and the weight within.’

‘I see, the ship is little more than a cradle with an engine and quarters for the crew.’

‘Yes my heart the ship can take on one single massive container or dozens of smaller ones.  This one is a single unit, normally used to haul foodstuffs.’

Komoru placed a small black box against the access panel and a few seconds later the airlock opened.  She repeated the process inside and they all walked in.  ‘Let’s go forward to the bridge,’ she suggested and her soldiers streaked off in front of her.

‘Captain I have a body.’  One of her men reported.  They came across it a few seconds later.  It was of a species they had not seen yet.  The ugly desiccated corpse sat with its head back howling in agony as it died.  Komoru shuddered and dropped a black box beside it.  The nanobots went to work immediately.  The soldiers reached the bridge and gained access.  It was full of corpses of many different species.  Komoru arrived and tried to take to all in.

‘What was happening here?’  A large bale of what looked like hay lay spilled about along with some strangely shaped bottles.

Lewis took a look around, ‘I think they had a party miss Komoru.’

She saw it then, ‘I think you are right Lewis.’

She went over to the opened bale and picked up a label.  Ico read it through her eyes, ‘that is a very rare and expensive type of grass my heart.  Those bottles also contain alcohol made from various grasses.  I believe Lewis is right.’

She was both fascinated and repulsed.  ‘Leave the nanobots to do their job and let’s explore the rest of the ship.’

Both Andy Myers and Matt McGuire made a bolt for the engine room; Ico had finally got over his revulsion of Andy and now allowed him free passage through his interior.  They checked the fuel levels and the state of the engine.  ‘The engines powered down as expected captain and vented the atmosphere to preserve the cargo and the crew.’  Matt told Komoru when she arrived.

Komoru’s attention was captured by something else.  Three aliens sat round a large bale.  Holes had been torn in the bale; on top sat some kind of game board and empty bottles.  One still sat with his chin in his hand.  It reminded Komoru of an old masterpiece she couldn’t remember the name of.

While the two engineers got the engine ready for start-up Komoru found herself facing a delegation of scientists.  She was furious when they requested permission to dissect some of the bodies.  She refused their request and made them lift the black cubes on to Ico.  They were buried half a mile away and the spot recorded in case they ever crossed the barrier.

It took a couple of hours for the engineers to restart the ship and to flood the cavernous cargo bay with enough oxygen so they could breath.  Matt reported to Komoru who was now on the bridge.  ‘I have completed a diagnostic Captain and the ship is ready to fly.  Hull integrity is good but she is too heavy to take off.  We need to lose about a hundred tons of cargo if we are to achieve orbit.  I am supplying power to the bridge now.’

‘Thank you Matt,’ she turned to the consoles as they came to life.  ‘Let’s find out how they came to be here.  These vessels are protected by a large treaty and are rarely attacked.’

It didn’t take her long to find the reason in the captains log, she read her findings aloud, ‘they were cruising along the great barrier having picked up an expensive cargo that only grows on the rim when they were hit by a meteor shower.  They lost all power to the bridge.  The external damage was easy to fix but the interior damage took a fortnight.  When the work was completed and they got navigation back they discovered that the meteor shower had thrown them off course and they had already crossed the barrier.  They managed to send a communications pod through the barrier to let their family’s know what had happened.  The cargo and ship was officially written off by the insurers and ownership transferred to the captain and crew to do with as they pleased.’  She looked up, ‘that is all there is really.  Their long range sensors found this planet and they just partied on down until they died.’

‘Looked like dey all died de same time Miss Komoru.’

Komoru spoke to Ico and he quickly found a plausible reason.  ‘You might be right Lewis, according to Ico the time of their deaths coincides with a large solar flare.’

Lewis mulled it over for a few moments, ‘hard to believe dat our sun can be so lethal to these people.’

One of her soldiers turned to Lewis, ‘Just as well Lewis.  I think our sun is the only thing that has protected us from annihilation.’

‘Yeah you're right Akio.  Still I don’t think every race out there is bad.’

‘No race is ever bad to you if you are strong Lewis.  These other races have been fighting over territory in their universe in much the same way we have been fighting over resources on Earth for many generations.  Our planet is a jewel and our universe untouched.  As far as they are concerned we are little more than bugs to be crushed under their heel.  If more than one race knew about us then their whole universe would be fighting to claim it for their own, in much the same way as the white man once cut up Africa and claimed it for their own use.’

‘Yeah,’ mused Lewis, ‘and America.’

Akio nodded, ‘yes my big friend.  They respect strength and technology.  We are primitives compared to these races.’

Komoru had been listening to the conversation, ‘it’s time to go check out the cargo hold.’

The hold was filled with air so they didn’t need their suits.  They entered through a hatch high up on the level of the bridge.  As the lights came on they simply stood and stared.  It was filled to capacity with large bales of hay.

‘How the hell do we get rid of all this?’  Komoru whispered.

‘Good thing is Miss Komoru; der must be more than a hundred tons of de stuff.’

‘Good point Lewis, but how do we dump it?’

Lewis pointed to a back wall, ‘looks like some sort of ram Miss Komoru.  Push de right switch and away it goes.’

‘I think you are right Lewis, but where is the switch.  We need to open the cargo doors first; there must be a station on board that deals with this.  Ico can you go through the ships schematics and find that station please.’

‘Yes my heart.’

‘Let’s go explore everyone.’

They found a lift and soon figured it out.  They were lowered into the hull of the freighter.  Seventy percent of the cargo hold was filled with bales of grass.  Thirty percent was made up of more domestic products.  One locked cage seemed to hold mail.

‘This is fascinating,’ Komoru decided and cut into a strangely marked box.  She took out a highly decorated piece of cloth.  Lewis helped her and they stretched it out.  It was a puzzling garment.  ‘It looks like some kind of dress Lewis.’

‘Yeah fo de cow Miss Komoru.’

Komoru suddenly saw it and burst out laughing, ‘oh I think you are right Lewis.’

Lewis took out his pistol and changed the settings on it.  A green light lanced out and cut through the lock on the cage.  Komoru dived in and grabbed a smaller package, ‘in their universe this mail is protected by a universal law Lewis, do you think I should open it?’

‘We ain't in der universe Miss Komoru.’

She smiled, ‘that’s true.’  She opened the package to find a couple of strange twisted decorative objects.  She took them out and sat them on top of a box.  She was mesmerised by the colour and texture.  ‘Aren’t they beautiful Lewis?’

Lewis screwed his face up, ‘like dat modern art Miss Komoru, I ain't got no time for dat stuff.’

She laughed, ‘you are a wit Lewis.  I wonder what they are.’

It was Ico who supplied the answer, ‘they are from a race that lives on a very stormy planet near the barrier, they represent what they call the divine wind.’

‘Oh!  That sounds very Japanese, it’s no wonder I like them.  I bet my mother would love them.’

Lewis couldn’t help but laugh, ‘we going to open them all Miss Komoru?’

‘No Lewis let’s take these but leave everything else until later.  Ico has found out where to activate the cargo bay doors from.  Back to the bridge everybody.’

Komoru sat at a large console and activated it.  Large screens came to life above her head and she took her instructions from Ico as he translated what appeared on the screens straight into her mind.  Large doors opened on the side of the freighter.

‘Atmosphere is being maintained in the cargo hold captain, there must be some sort of force field keeping the air in,’ Andy told her.

‘Thank you,’ she answered almost absentmindedly as she manually chose the bays to empty.  ‘I need thirty percent power from the engines to operate the rams Andy.’

It took him a few seconds and they felt the ship shudder a little, ‘ready to go captain.’

‘Thank you.’

She began to tap the screen and they felt the vibrations as the massive ramps began to work.  Lewis took a stroll back to the cargo bay to watch the operation and stood there with a huge grin on his face as the large machinery dumped all of the grass out onto the surface of the planet.

‘Sweet,’ was the only thing he could find to say before he returned to the bridge.  With her pilot at the helm they began the journey back to the alien base.  It was a tense if un-dramatic flight.  The dumping of the cargo had left them with weight to spare.  Yet all felt a great sigh of relief as it finally touched down.

Komoru swiped away a long strand of glossy black hair from her face, ‘let’s go get something to eat people.’  She put her helmet back on and made for the airlock where Ico was already waiting to lift them off.

Chapter 12

Kelly walked into the room.  Special walls had been constructed and painted to prevent the occupants going blind.  They sat with plastic bottles of water in front of them in silence.  One glanced his way but the man’s eyes were glazed over.  Kelly’s eyes ran over the eight of them in their tight fitting one piece suits that were a lighter colour than the crews.  He tried to sum them up; pretty came to mind, then handsome, beautiful.  They were all that and more; they were perfect specimens of humanity.  Now they were in shock.  They had barely been able to say much since they had been released.  Two of the women had actually fainted when they were told where they actually were.

He moved round to the top of the table and slammed the butt of his tommy gun onto its surface.  He had their attention now.  He turned to the biggest man who was sitting nearest him.  ‘What's your name fellar?’

The mans eyes began to glaze over and he looked away; he didn’t even see Kelly move.  Kelly slammed his head off the table, ‘don’t bloody ignore me boy, what's your bloody name.’  He barely gave the man time to answer before back handing him across the face and tipping him off the chair onto the floor.  ‘What's your fucking name, he screamed and kicked the guy in the guts.  The man began to retch but Kelly picked him up and slammed his head into the table again, ‘so help me god if you don’t answer my bloody question I am going to wring your scrawny neck like a chicken.’

‘Bloody hell,’ the man gasped, ‘Liddell, me names Liddell for god’s sake.’

‘Irish eh, black bog Irish I’ll bet.’

‘OH god!’

Kelly let him go and snapped his head round to the next man, ‘what the hell’s your name boy?’

‘Asher sir.’  The man was trembling as were all of the remainder of the group.

‘First name?’

‘Joe, Joe Asher sir.’

‘American huh.’

‘Milwaukee.’

‘Any English folk here?’  A very beautiful and cultured voice asked.

She was by far the best looking woman Kelly had ever seen in his life, he grinned, ‘what's your name kitten?’

She looked away as if trying to ignore him but Kelly was one of those people you just didn’t ignore.  Her eyes swung back.  ‘Lady Jane Montgomery Royce.’

‘A real lady huh?’

‘I most certainly am.’  She stuck her nose in the air in an autocratic manner that left him speechless.

Just then the doctor appeared, ‘what the hell do you think you are doing man?  I was told you were trying to kill someone.’  She saw the injured man and rushed over, ‘these people are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, they need peace and quiet, not a mad man yelling at them.’

‘Bollocks, they need a good kick up the arse is all.  I've seen this; whatever the hell you call it many times Doc, I know what I am doing.’

‘Really!’

‘Yup, you ever seen it before?’

‘Ah no actually!’

‘We called it shellshock, hell I've suffered from it a time or two myself.  A good hard kicking always sorts it out.’

She stood straight with her hands on her hips staring him right in the eyes, ‘you don’t say!  Well it doesn’t seem to be working very well does it now sergeant.’

‘Worked on me,’ growled the Irishman touching the inside of his mouth with his tongue.

Amanda jumped a little in surprise, ‘oh!’  Suddenly she noticed all of them were watching her carefully their eyes alert.

‘Excuse me dear, is that a British accent?’  Asked one of the women.

‘Uh, yes it is, Scottish.’

‘How nice,’ she smiled, ‘could you possibly fetch me a cup of tea dear?’

Amanda was shocked for a moment, ‘it’s not what I do here.’

‘Really, you're not a maid, how strange.  Never mind what is it you do?’

Amanda turned to face the woman, ‘I am a doctor, a surgeon.’

The woman looked shock, ‘you jest surely?’

Amanda found herself getting annoyed, ‘no I don’t jest.’  She turned her attention back to Kelly, ‘actually you seem to be doing quite a good job here sergeant, why don’t I just leave you to it.’

Kelly grinned, ‘sure thing Doc.’

One of the men began asking questions in a strange accent while one of the women began asking questions in French.  ‘What are they saying?’  Amanda asked.

The Sarge shrugged, ‘hell if I know.’

Lady Jane said something in fluent French and sent a scathing look at the pair of them, ‘she wants to know where her family is?’

Amanda turned her attention back to Kelly, ‘give me five minutes will you sergeant, I will go fetch some translators.’

‘Sure thing Doc,’ as she left he turned his attention back to the French woman, ‘tell her we have no idea.  If they were with her at the time there is a chance they may be here somewhere in one of those sleeping pods.’

‘Cup of tea sounds right nice about now,’ mused the Irish man.

Kelly sighed, ‘follow me then.’  They watched as he went to a bright hole in the wall.  ‘Coffee sweet and black please.’

He stuck his hand in the hole and it came away with a steaming hot cup of coffee.  ‘You seen how it’s done, go help yourself.’

Lady Jane tried next, ‘tea please, earl grey, one lump of sugar and a dash of milk please.’

She was delighted by her cup of tea until she tasted it, ‘oh uch! I don’t think they warmed the pot.’

‘It’s hot and sweet lady, be thankful,’ growled the Irishman.

‘Un chocolate.’  Cried the French girl and seemed to enjoy hers.  Eventually they were all sitting down with a hot beverage.

Amanda arrived with a bag of silver earpieces.  She fitted them for everyone and activated them.  ‘Can every one understand me?’  There was an explosion of noise as those who couldn’t understand English all began talking at once.  She laughed, ‘I will take that as a yes.  I will leave you all to it.’  She nodded at Kelly and he returned it.

Of course now the questions began to come thick and fast.  Kelly answered them as best he could, ‘hey I don’t understand it all OK!  I am in the same damn boat as you all are.  I was fighting on a hill in Korea, then I'm up here with you lot.’

Lady Jane cleared her throat, ‘excuse me Sergeant Kelly, but if we were the cream of humanity being sent to a far flung distant world, then why on earth were you there?’

He found himself grinning, ‘I never said you were the cream of humanity only perfect specimens of it.’

She smiled in that infuriating way of hers, ‘same question.’

He laughed, ‘I woke up after they kidnapped us and broke free.  I managed to kill a few of them before they knocked me out again.  I was being sent to their home world as some form of punishment.  To be experimented on by their military.’

‘I see, so you are in fact a criminal.’

He laughed again, ‘no kitten, I'm a soldier and as these people are our mortal enemies I was simply doing my job.’

‘My name isn’t Kitten sergeant it’s Lady Jane, please try and remember that.’

‘What were they going to do with us?’  Asked a Finnish guy.

‘From what I can gather they were either going to breed you or mush you up into a paste to extract some kind of enzyme from you to make a serum so that they can survive in our universe.’

He shuddered, ‘sounds awful.’

‘So what now?’  Asked the Irishman.

‘Glad you asked bud.  These people who have rescued us are in desperate need of help and I told them we would pitch in.  It’s the least we can do to thank them for saving out lives.  They are working their asses off to save the rest of the people in those sleep chambers.  These people are pulling thirty hour shifts, having a few hours sleep and doing it all again.’

‘How the hell can we help Sarge? Their technology is well beyond us, Lady Jane there had never even seen a bloody vending machine before,’ snorted the Irishman.

‘We won’t be doing anything sophisticated, but tell me what year you all from?’

‘1976,’ the Irishman told him.

‘1923,’ cried out Lady Jane in alarm.

‘67’

‘99’

‘86’

‘63’

‘2010’

‘72’

‘And I'm from 1950,’ admitted Kelly, ‘the year is now 2023.’

‘Oh my god I'm over a hundred years old,’ squeaked Lady Jane.

They all had a good laugh at her expense, it was a lot for all of them to take in and someone suggested another hot drink.  The Irishman wanted a whisky but that was out so they settled for another cuppa.  When they had time to think it over Kelly decided it was maybe time to move on.

‘For you guys who have been kidnapped in the past ten to twenty years I doubt if the transition will be all that hard,  for some of us it’s going to be a lot harder.  I have been awake a day longer than all of you and have found out that I still have family at home that know of me.  I suspect you all might be the same.  I'm sure the captain will do his best to find out.  For now though we have a job to do.’

‘Really, I hope it isn’t manual labour,’ Lady Jane raised an eyebrow.

Kelly grinned, ‘listen kitten, we weren’t the only people who were kidnapped.’

‘Abducted,’ interrupted a very pretty Greek girl from the 70’s.

‘What!’ growled Kelly.

‘Aliens abduct people, not kidnap them,’ she shrugged.

‘Let’s not get technical,’ Kelly growled, ‘there are a thousand others like us and over a thousand dead.  The crew are bagging up the dead and preparing the living for transport back to Earth in their sleeping units.  However there is evidence that there were a lot more than that once.  There is a room where prisoners were stripped before being stuck in a sleeper.  Off that room there is a deep hole where their clothes and personal belongings were thrown, and your own of course.  To find out how many people were actually taken we need to get into that pile of clothing and sort it all out.  We will be looking for people’s identities that kind of thing.  Everything will be bagged.  I have been told the clothes will be recycled.  There will also be items like this.’  He slapped the Tommy gun, ‘you find something like this you call me over and I will deal with it.  Be careful, anything at all you are unfamiliar with give me a shout.’

‘Wait a moment,’ Lady Jane hesitated, ‘what did you mean by our clothes?’

‘Exactly what I said; you went into those sleeping units naked.’

‘I was naked,’ she squeaked.

‘Oh yeah!’ he grinned.

‘Oh no, you did not look!’

‘I most certainly did kitten.’

She was shocked and furious, the French girl giggling didn’t help her temper either.’

‘You are a beast and I am going to report you to the British consulate.’

‘You are a long, long way from a British consulate Lady, now let’s move our asses, we got a lot of work to do.’

They followed him off the ship to the room which had already been prepared for their arrival.  The nanobots had rearranged the room so that the there was only two long tables.  A large machine stood down one end at the centre of the room.

Kelly hesitated, ‘OK, this is different.’

‘Then let me explain.’  A feminine voice spoke in their ears.  More than one of the jumped in surprise.

‘Who the hell is this?’  Kelly demanded.

The voice was soothing, ‘please do not be alarmed, I am the ship you were on but a moment ago.’

Kelly frowned, ‘I heard you could talk but I thought you had to be plugged in or something.’

‘That is true however as everyone is very busy I had a small transmitter implanted into the ear pieces that you now wear so that I can guide you in your efforts and explain what needs to be done.  I will transport large piles of clothing into the middle of the room.  There are small black boxes on the table.  If you put any items you find into the small box they will be sealed and labelled with any identification you find.  Simply read out the name of the person if you can or lay any identity against the end of the box and it will read it.  Sergeant Kelly will deal with any arms and munitions that you find.  Please lay any such weapon on the top table sergeant and tell me what you wish done with them.  Once the clothes have been searched for any personal items and have been removed please slide them along to the end and simply push them into the machine at the end.  I will do the rest from there.’

‘Don’t you want us to try and piece the clothes together to see how many people there were?’  Asked the Greek girl.

‘That will not be necessary.’

‘Then how will you know how many people have passed through here?’

‘I will simply count all the shoes and divide them by two.  That should give me a rough estimate of the amount of people who have been processed.’

Kelly grinned, ‘yeah that’s smart.’

‘I also realise that many of you have been out of touch with the happenings on Earth since your abduction.  I have substantial files on Earths history; please feel free to ask any question of me you wish.’  A large pile of clothing appeared in the centre of the room.  ‘Gloves have been provided for the handling of the clothes.’

‘Let’s get to it folks.’  Kelly grabbed a pair of gloves and slid them on, grabbed a pile of clothing and placed them on the table; he began to rummage through them.

‘Oh I think I'm going to be sick,’ moaned Lady Jane picking up the tiniest of piles.  A few minutes later she held up a skimpy garment, ‘what on earth are these?’

‘Ladies underwear,’ supplied the grinning Finn.

With a squeal she tossed them away and they began to laugh.

Chapter 13

They stepped out of the airlock onto the thick black dust.  Colonel Howe and Cookie held a long pole in front of them.  Buzz looked up and the colossal battle cruiser, ‘this things bigger than the empire state building.’

For an hour they had flown above it but none of their scanners had penetrated its shields.  Despite Babes protests that they were on a fool’s errand, they had decided to try and penetrate the ships shields on foot.  Colonel Howe pushed the pole towards the invisible shield.  A buzzer sounded and the two men began to put a bit of effort into it.  The whole exercise was futile; even trying to push the long pole through the black dust and penetrating the shield from below was a waste of time.

Steven looked up at the ship with a sense of disappointment, ‘ach well it was worth a try I suppose.’

Cookie tapped him on his shoulder, ‘maybe not sir, look!’

A light had appeared in the darkness about a hundred meters away.  ‘I am detecting a break in the force field my heart.’

‘OK everyone back on board and Babes, take us down to that light.’

‘Yes my heart.’

‘Is this wise?’ Cautioned Colonel Howe.

‘Looks like a clear cut invitation to me old boy.  Who knows how they may react if we are rude and just fly away.’  Tapper grinned in the manner that normally infuriated the colonel but Steven could see the doubt in his Howe’s eyes.

He made his decision, ‘I have to agree with Tapper.  Obviously there is someone alive on board that ship and that has to be an invitation.  They may require assistance.’

Howe nodded, ‘yes sir but I'm quite sure they aren’t expecting us.’

‘That is true colonel, however I believe we are now committed.’  He turned to the others, ‘I now want military only on this mission.  Buzz do you want to come?’

‘You couldn’t hold me back man.’  He laughed, ‘a chance to meet a real alien.’

Steven felt his spirits rise, ‘in that case Mr Meyers you have the bridge.  If anything goes wrong get the hell out of here.’

‘I understand captain but I doubt if you will have communications from inside that shield.’

‘If they start charging weapons Mr Meyers.’

‘Yes of course captain.’

‘Do not try and fight.’

‘I won’t sir.’

Babes sat down and they stepped off again.  Cookie was in front with a hand held device, ‘there is a small corridor through the shields sir.’

Steven tried to quell his excitement and fear, ‘gentlemen, everything we have achieved so far pales into insignificance with this moment.  We are about to make history in a manner only dreamed up by fiction writers.  Please don’t shoot anyone unless you really have to.’  The chuckled at his humour.

‘Aye well my arsehole is already beginning to pucker at a rapid rate of knots,’ Cookie added to a howl of nervous laughter.

‘I bet dey leave Cookies comment out of de film,’ Lewis added to more laughter.

‘Stop pissing around and get your heads wired on straight,’ Howe growled.  ‘Move out Cookie.’

‘Yes sir.  One giant step for man, one giant leap for Scotland,’ Cookie laughed as he stepped through the shield.  Steven couldn’t help himself grinning while Howe could only shake his head.  They moved through the shield and the moment they were through it closed.  Steven felt the connection lost with Babes.  His heart began to beat faster.  A large airlock opened in front of them.  Cookie never hesitated he simply walked inside.  The rest followed.

There was no joking now, ‘keep your weapons slung low and your fingers off the trigger,’ Howe warned.

The outer-door closed and after a minute the interior door opened.  They entered and a flashing light like the ones Babes had, beckoned them in the right direction.  Cookie was monitoring the atmosphere as they followed the pulsating light.  ‘No one remove your helmets, this corridor is filled with a noxious gas.’

‘Do you know the type of the gas Cookie?’  Steven asked.

‘Looks like corpse gas captain.’

The reason for the gas soon became evident.  Black swollen bags began to appear in their hundreds.  ‘Looks like they are using this tier as a graveyard,’ Howe mused.  The ever-faithful Beaver who marched at his side like a taught bowstring only grunted in agreement.  Huge doors appeared that they would speculate on later but the pulsing light drew them on.  It ended at what was obviously an elevator and they entered it.  The door closed and it began to move.  Steven was sure that he felt it move sideways as well as up and down.  He struggled to increase the saliva flow in his mouth as it had dried up.  He knew he was perilously close to panic.  They had all seen pictures of this race and knew their reputation.

He took a step into the unknown and walked onto the bridge.  There were creatures at consoles and Steven immediately noticed that they were unarmed and sighed with relief.  One barked a warning and a huge seat that had its back to them spun round.  A big ugly giant of a creature called out in alarm and stood, as he did so his arm dropped to a pistol and tried to draw it.  The men backing Steven whipped their weapons up.  The creature froze.

‘Hold your fire,’ Steven warned them.  The creatures at the consoles rushed forward but they never attacked they simply placed themselves between their captain and kicked up a din.  Their captain barked a command and they shut up.

‘You aren’t of the builder’s race.’

‘No we aren’t, we are from a planet called Earth.’

‘How did you come to be in possession of those ships?’

‘They came to us and offered their service after they lost their crews.’

‘Then they must be young ships.’

‘They are; first generation.’

The creature nodded, ‘I have heard of such things happening but never seen it until now.  That will explain why the ships carry decent weaponry.  I was curious, I thought a crew of builders had finally grown a pair of helois.  I am captain Gairloch of the Modloch battle cruiser Burning Wind, who are you?’

‘I am Captain Steven Gordon of the Planet Earth.’

‘Take your helmets off and reveal yourselves properly.’  He barked a command and his men slinked back to their posts.  With a nod Steven and his men lowered their weapons and removed their helmets.  Gairloch grunted, ‘you are a very small and ugly race.’

Steven studied the face of the creature before him; it was huge, dressed in a black uniform with strange badge like decorations on it.  His face was brutal with tusks and two wicked looking horns where its nose should be.  The skin was multi-coloured going from grey to a brown colour up the middle of the face.  ‘To our eyes you aren’t exactly pretty either.’

It grunted and the pistol slid home, ‘what is it you wish of this ship?’

‘We were going to try and salvage it for the defence of our home world.’

It nodded in a very human manner, ‘it is a very desirable ship but it would do you no good, you could not cross the barrier, every race would hunt you down and kill you.’

‘We are not from your universe, we are from this one.’

He roared something then calmed down again, ‘your people can survive the death from this sun.’

‘Yes of course.’

‘How many inhabited planets are there?’

‘Just the one in this solar system.’

It grunted again, ‘then who do you need to defend yourselves from?’

‘From a race from your universe.  They have been travelling to our world and abducting our people to try and develop a serum to protect themselves from our sun.  Now they have succeeded they intend to invade.  We do not have a space fleet capable of defending our planet.’

The captain nodded, ‘you have no fleet because there are no other inhabitable planets you need to defend yourselves from.’

‘That is correct captain.’

‘I understand your wish to have this vessel, you thought us dead?’

‘Yes we did.’

‘What will you do now, attack us?’

‘No we will leave you in peace.’

‘When the last of us dies the ship is rigged to self-destruct.’

‘Thank you for that warning.  Before we leave is there anything you or you crew require that may make your time pass a little more comfortably.’

‘No, we have supplies enough.’

‘Then we will leave you in peace sir, thank you for this opportunity to talk.’  The beast barked something and sat down.  ‘Let’s get out of here gentlemen,’ Steven ordered.

‘They don’t have any blue grass or blade wine do they?’  Came a shot from somewhere in the room to a roar of what the humans thought may be laughter.  Even the captain thought the remark funny.

Steven saw an opportunity and seized it, ‘we have continents covered in it,’ he shouted back.

The captain’s laughter turned to a snarl, ‘it is illegal to sell blue grass.’

Steven turned on him, ‘what you call blue grass we call savannah grass.  It grows wild on the great plains of Africa and feeds the wildlife there.  It is a native species of grass to our planet.  Seeds were stolen from our planet and sent to your universe.  The proceeds from which are being used to build a fleet to invade our planet.  A little ironic I know but those are the facts.  As for it being illegal; well not here, not on our planet and not in our universe.  Our species are not part of any formal treaty or organisation and recognise no authority on this side of the barrier other than our own.’

He had all their attention now and he could see the captain frowning with concentration.  ‘If indeed the blue grass is native to your planet then of course it would not be illegal, even by our own treaties and laws, but why would a species let such a commodity grow wild?’

‘It is only a commodity if it is of any use to a species.  Our species only have one stomach, there is no commodity in grass, we cannot eat it.’

The captain slid forward on his seat, ‘that would explain why your race is so small.  Do you have a lot of grass on your planet growing wild?’

Steven shrugged, ‘thousands of different varieties. ‘

‘No wonder a species from our universe wishes to invade.  Can you provide proof of what you have been saying?’

‘Exactly what kind of proof would you like?’

‘Proof that there is indeed wild grass and of the species that wishes to invade.’

‘Of course, if you wish.  Can you open a communications channel to my ship?’

He nodded and all of a sudden Steven could here Babes.  He sent her some orders and she complied, ‘my ship is going to send you what we call a documentary on the African plains.  She will also send you our files on what we have discovered here.’

‘I will study this evidence.’

‘Before I go may I ask what it is you are doing in our universe?’

The captain thought it over for a moment, ‘as we are in your universe I suppose we may owe you an explanation.  We were fighting a species called the Droning.  They are a breakaway race from my own species.  They decided they no longer wished to be ruled by our emperor and one even had the audacity to call himself emperor.  This false emperor became enamoured of himself and decided he should like to rule both kingdoms.  He was once one of our greatest generals and fought a long and bloody war.  We finally had him cornered in a decisive battle.  To escape he crossed the barrier, believing we would not follow.  He was just mad enough to try and re-cross it and my emperor asked for volunteers to pursue him and destroy him once and for all.  I volunteered this ship and its crew.  We caught him the moment we crossed; he had stopped to make repairs and we destroyed his ship and the remainder of his fleet as they sat defenceless.  Ten years of war finished.’

‘I congratulate you on your victory and your sacrifice.’

The captain nodded his acceptance of the compliment, ‘we may well meet again Captain Gordon.’

Chapter 14

It took a few weeks more for them to be ready to depart for Earth.  By then all were nearing exhaustion.  The freighter was ready to take off.  Earth was screaming for them to return as quickly as possible.  Babes and Ico were laden with nanobots from the two ships that had died and were twice their normal size.  Every corpse now lay within the hull of both ships ready for their return to Earth.  Steven considered leaving booby traps within the complex should they fail to be able to return before their Enemy.  His eyes swept over the huge battleship that had been poised as if waiting for a week now.  If they wanted to enter the complex then he could not leave a booby trap.  The last thing he wanted was that thing on his tail all the way to Earth.  He was going to let everyone get a goodnights sleep and start the homeward journey in the morning.

There had been little communication with the aliens.  A few strange requests; some for information and another for more documentaries.  He sent some of David Attenborough’s making sure that Babes removed any references to men being meat eaters.  Now he wondered if he had done the right thing.  Colonel Howe had hit the roof when he had told him and had chastened him for his lack of thought.  Could they now have even more enemies out there?  Steven shook it off, he could only hope that his forthrightness would bring dividends in the future.  He had one more thing to deal with before he turned in.

He returned to the complex and sought out Kelly.  He was in what had become a make shift canteen.  Steven knew he was alone; the sergeant had his feet up on a table and he was cleaning a strange looking weapon.  The barrel was bent out of shape.  Steven smiled, ‘Sergeant Kelly, why on earth are you cleaning a broken rifle?’

Kelly laughed, ‘it isn’t broken sir.  It is actually designed this way to shoot round corners.  German ingenuity sir, you just can’t beat it.’

‘You jest!’

‘Nope, it’s what it was designed for.  Your men told me there were very few of them left back home.  I am glad you arranged external storage for them on the freighter sir.’

‘After you and the rest of the soldiers kicked up a stink about them I thought it wise, rather than face a mutiny.  What the hell do you want them for anyway?’

‘According to the guys sir most are museum pieces now and can fetch a fair price back home.  A little nest egg if you will.’

Steven grinned, ‘after the work you have put in over the past few weeks Sarge I won’t begrudge you that.  You have a talent for organisation and motivating people even if your methods are a little unorthodox to say the least.’

Kelly laughed, ‘well I have had my ass kicked by some of the best sir.  If you don’t mind me saying sir you have far too much grey matter and not enough muscle on board these ships.’

Steven laughed, ‘I know, but none of them signed up for this Sarge.  You will be glad to know that we have initialised a new space academy back on Earth.  The youngest brightest minds along with a fair bit of military training thrown in.’

‘Glad to hear it sir.’

‘Don’t be too hard on them Sarge, they did their best.’

‘They did really well sir if you don’t mind me saying.  A lot of what they were doing was also way over my head.  I think I have a lot of catching up to do when I get back to Earth.  Can’t say I'm very fond of the music though.’

Steven laughed, ‘yeah, I’ll bet it’s really strange to your ears.’

Kelly joined him in his laughter, ‘so what is it you really want to see me about sir?’

‘Am I really that transparent Sarge?’

‘Seen that look in a man’s eyes before sir; right before they gave you the butcher’s bill for an operation.  I take it you got the figures back.’

Steven head dropped, ‘yeah, she made a rough estimate, have you any idea?’

‘I gave up trying to keep track when it reached about five hundred sir, I would say roughly ten times that number.’

‘You’re way off Sarge,’ Steven took a deep breath, ‘Babe’s estimates about fifteen thousand.’

Kelly let out a long breath and stood up, ‘coffee sir?’

‘Yes please.’

‘Ain’t no milk left sir.’

‘Black and sweet will do fine.’

Kelly poured them both a coffee and sat it down in front of Stevie.  They sat in quiet contemplation sipping on their hot drink.  ‘May I ask how many were women and children sir?’

‘Half we think.’

Kelly shook his head in disgust, ‘bastards.’  Steven raised an eyebrow at the language but let it slip.  Kelly was deep in thought and took another sip of his coffee before slinging his boots back up onto the table.  ‘You didn’t find any kids amongst the sleepers did you sir?’

Steven shook his head, ‘no, nor amongst the dead Sarge.  Why the hell did they take all those women and children and then kill them?’

Kelly was shaking his head, ‘don’t think that was why they took them sir?’

Steven looked up from his mug, ‘you have formed some kind of hypothesis Sarge?’

‘Yeah recon I have sir.’

‘Want to share it?’

‘I been told they were sending some of those captured home sir.  Breeding them too.’

Steven shrugged, ‘we know they certainly sent some home, we haven’t found the exact records yet.’

‘I would take a bet on it sir and I'm not a betting man.’

Steven shook his head, ‘OK you’re going to have to help me out here Sarge.  We know women who have had children were unsuitable for the serum.  Having a child takes something out of them.’

‘Yeah I’ll say, but there is one thing a woman who has had a child is good for sir and that is having more children.  Why use up a good specimen for the serum when you have a woman who has already had a child.’

‘You think you sent the women and children home as part of a breeding program.’

‘I think that would depend on the age of the child sir.  Teenagers close to breeding age maybe, the very young I doubt very much.’

Steven shook his head, ‘if the reason is to breed why get rid of perfectly good children.’

‘Something the doc said to me sir; she said those units could only hold one body; no more, not even two small children.  A pregnant woman yeah but not a woman and her child, not even if it was a baby.’

Steven shook his head, ‘still not getting you Sarge.’

‘You got to stop thinking with your heart sir and start thinking with your head.  That means you got to stop thinking rationally sir.  Way I see it is this, you got a pod that can hold nine people, why nine.  Could it be that they send eight women and a man.  One man can service eight women without any bother sir.’

‘You mean like a breeding unit Sarge?’

‘Yes sir.’

Steven nodded, ‘yeah OK, I can see that.’

‘If you sent one man, four women and four babies, the babies would have to be female.  Then the man would have to wait between fourteen and sixteen years for them to mature enough for them to have children.  In the meantime the four women could have a child a year up until the babies are old enough.  So that’s 64 babies to four women before the babies they took with them are old enough to breed.  But if you took eight women sir.’

Steven held up a hand, ‘I get you Sarge; that would mean in that fifteen years they could produce one hundred and twenty eight children in that sixteen years.’

Kelly sat back and drained his coffee, ‘yup, of course they won’t all be female babies but they wouldn’t care would they.  They could use the females for breeding and the males to experiment on.’

Steven was struggling to comprehend, ‘but there was a mixture in your pod.’

‘That’s right sir but they had perfected the serum, no need to send breeders.’

‘I can’t see it Sarge.’

‘You don’t want to see it sir.  In the nineteen thirty’s and forty’s they gave women in Germany medals if they produced over a certain amount of children.’

‘Did they?’

‘Yup they sure did.’

‘I didn’t know that.’

‘Families were big back in my day sir, I hear today most folk have two or three kids at most.  It was nothing unusual to have families with ten or more kids when I was growing up.’

Steven stood, ‘you have given me a lot of food for thought Sarge.  I can’t say I like what you're saying but damn it man it makes a lot of sense.’

‘I know you don’t like it sir,’ the Kelly shook his head sadly, ‘I think one of the reasons I stayed in the army was because of the things I saw during the war.  I didn’t feel I was capable of living a normal life again.  I know a lot of good men who left and just never made it in civilian life.  I just didn’t feel clean enough if you can understand that sentiment sir.’

Steven smiled, ‘I get where you are coming from Sarge.  You have been a great help these past few weeks but I think I said that already didn’t I.’

Kelly grinned, ‘it is always nice to hear sir.’

‘If you ever get stuck for a job when you get home Sarge I could always use a good motivator.’

They both burst out laughing, ‘I will bear that in mind sir.’

‘What are you planning on doing?’

‘I got a thing called an email from my great nephew.  They still stay on the old homestead where I was brought up.  They have a spare room above the garage and the old family rocking chair.  I think I will give that a try to start with sir.  It’s kinda hard to believe that my wars were so long ago there ain't anyone still alive from them, apart from me so far that is.’  He shook his head slowly, ‘I have never been able to distance myself from them until now.’

Steven nodded, ‘you feel you can now?’

‘Yeah I do sir; I already feel a great distance from those wars.  I feel different.  Didn’t at first of course but I do now.  Maybe it was helping all those people.  Maybe it is knowing that there is something out there that is far more dangerous and even more evil that the people I once fought.’

Steven smiled, ‘you mean even more evil than man himself.’

Kelly grinned, ‘that’s a bit deep for an old soldier like me sir, but I hear yah.  You look beat you should turn in.’

‘I am just going too and so should you.’

‘Babes gave me a nice grease to protect these weapons with sir.  I'm just going to finish them up, then she is going to beam them into those pods on the side of the freighter.’

‘How do you think your pod mates are coping Sarge?’

‘Some are coping just fine sir but those who have been asleep longer are finding it harder to adjust.  I have kept them busy and the crew have been really nice to them.’

‘Glad to hear it; right I'm turning in.’ Steven stood.

‘Night sir.’

‘Good night sergeant Kelly.’

Chapter 15

Steven felt like he had only been asleep for minutes before Buzz shook him awake.  ‘Wake up bud, duty calls.’

Steven groaned, ‘what the hell.  How long have I been sleeping?’

‘You got six hours solid.’

‘It feels like two.’

‘Know the feeling.  The freighter is ready for lift off and as soon as it reaches orbit the pilots are going to start loading those scout craft.’

‘Yeah let’s hope those brackets we welded to her hull will hold.’

Buzz agreed, ‘I think they will, but you have bigger fish to fry?’

‘Oh!  Like what?’

‘The captain of the battle cruiser has requested your presence.’

Steven came alert at once.  ‘Oh yeah!  Is that it?’

‘Yup sure is.’

‘Nothing more since they requested our laws on salvage?’

‘Nope, do you think they realise that we just reworked the maritime laws from Earth.’

Steven frowned, ‘do you think they are going to try and stop us Buzz?’

‘Get your arse over there and find out bud.’

Steven slid out of bed, ‘I’ll need you here to oversee everything Buzz.’

‘Yeah OK, at least take Howe.’

‘Will do, you want breakfast?’

‘Nah, I have little appetite for those little green bars.’

Buzz shrugged, ‘well you were the one who wanted to wake up all those people a few days away from the moon and they will need to be fed.’

Steven pulled on his uniform, ‘I think we need to do that Buzz.  Rather find out if they are going to be a problem before they hit Moonbase and start kicking up shit there.’

‘Not saying you're wrong Stevie, just saying don’t moan about the food and don’t turn your nose up at it.  You need to eat.’

‘Yeah OK stop going on like my mother and get back to it; tell Howe to be ready will you?’

Buzz laughed, ‘on my way.’

Babes was directed to an air lock high up on the battle cruiser and they docked.  Steven was told he wouldn’t need his suit so they went as they were.  Both carried a pistol and Howe carried his weapon slung in a casual manner.  When the cruisers airlock door slid open it was to reveal a line of heavily armed Modloch.  As the Steven stepped in there was a growl and the soldiers came to attention.  Captain Gairloch appeared and did something strange with his hand.

Howe gave Steven a nudge, ‘he is saluting you.  Salute back.’

Steven panicked for a moment and tried to remember how he had seen Howe and his men do it.  He saluted back and Gairloch growled in a fierce manner which seemed to mean acceptance.  He then produced a strange looking scroll that was clear to the naked eye, then words seemed to appear on it.  The captain was obviously dressed in his best uniform and it seemed emblazoned with colour.

‘I have a communiqué here from our beloved lord and Emperor,’ the name was little more than a long drawn out snarl to the human’s ears.  ‘Greetings to the people of the planet called Earth from myself and all my subjects.  This past few weeks the royal court has been entertained greatly by the pictorial records your people call documentaries.  We find your planet a rare beauty, a jewel in any universe.  To find a species that has preserved its wild animals and their environments depicts a people of great heart and understanding.  As your people are unaffected by the effects your sun has on all species from this side of the great barrier, our best scientists and doctors believe that your people will also be immune to the great plague.  With this in mind we will welcome a delegation from your planet to visit us.

We would be honoured to begin trading with your planet and taste your many wondrous wild grasses.  So as a gesture of our good will I make a gift to you of the battle cruiser Burning Wind, to help defend yourselves against your gathering enemy.  I sincerely hope that this gift is accepted by the people of Earth as it is a measure of the high regard we already hold your race in.’

Gairloch closed the scroll, ‘would you join me in some light refreshments Captain Gordon.  There are a number of small issues I would like to discuss with you in private if I may.  Of course you may take your man.’

‘Certainly captain.’

The captains private quarters were quite spacious but Spartan.  He did however have his own dining area.  The seats were more like large benches and Steven felt punitive sitting at it.  Gairloch was polite enough not to mention it.  They were served water in a pint glass.  In the humans hands it looked big but in the captains and his first mates hands they looked like tumblers.

‘There was a number of things captain Gordon that my Emperor wanted to ask off the record.  The first are simple requests and will in no way prevent the handing over of The Burning Wind.’

‘Please feel free to ask captain Gairloch.’

‘We noticed how carefully you have handled the bodies of your dead over this past week.  We assume you are returning them to Earth.’

‘Yes we are.’

‘What will you do with them then captain?’

‘For those that can be identified, they will be returned to their families.  For those that cannot be identified they will be buried or cremated.  The names of the people we have discovered will most likely be put on a monument.  That way whomever wishes may come to visit and pay their respects to the deceased.  Also relations of people who have loved ones disappear in mysterious circumstances may also come and visit; to check and see if indeed a missing loved one is on the list.’

The big head nodded, ‘you treat your dead with respect; that is good.  We do much the same thing.  This is the request that our emperor asks.  That the remains of the crew of The Burning Wind be interred in the wild lands your people call Africa and that a monument be built and their names be recorded on it.’

‘I cannot see that being a problem Captain.’

He grunted his pleasure.  ‘Also that those who make it to your planet be allowed to run free upon those grass lands for as long as they may live.  I know that is a lot to ask captain; many species have rules and fear of contamination.  However it is also a fact that those who may survive will not do so for long.  Being so close to your sun will kill us like flies.  I doubt if many will survive one revolution of your planet.’

Steven thought it over, ‘you are right of course, however I presume an area could be prepared for all of you and that area could be quarantined.  What you bring to us is worth the risk in my estimate and I am sure the authorities on Earth will see it the same way.’

His number two suddenly cried out in pain.  He snarled and shook his head.  Steven could feel his fear factors rise until the being lifted his head again.  A large bruise began to appear along the side of its face.  Gairloch grabbed his chin and burst out laughing, ‘that was close Jorge.  He laughed again and turned to Steven, ‘do you see the damage your sun does to my people captain.’

Steven nodded, ‘I do, that is remarkable, we had no idea that was the damage the neutrons from our sun could do to other races.’

‘Are your people not affected at all?’

‘Some believe that they have some contribution to the aging process of my race.  Nothing has ever been proven.  Physically they do tear tissue on the way through however you can only see it under the most powerful of microscopes.  We don’t even feel it.  We thought all suns had them.’

He shook his massive head, ‘no, we call your sun the death sun.  It is the only one we know of in existence.’

‘May I ask why you Emperor wishes to trade with us.  I thought our grass illegal in your universe.’

He barked what Steven presumed was a laugh, ‘not illegal if you are trading with the legitimate producers of the grass Earthman.  The grass from your world is being sold on the black market at extremely high prices.  A product needs to have a planet of origin on it before it can be sold as a legitimate commodity and confirmed by an official of the planets trading in it.  That would be one from yours and one from mine.  Anyone left alive when we reach your planet will be promoted to such a position so he can sign the agreement.’

‘Which would make your planet the sole legal distributors of any Earth grasses.’

He barked another laugh, ‘you catch on quickly captain but do not be upset by this.  As the legal distributors it becomes our responsibility to stop any black-market sales of the product.  As we now know who is responsible for the illegal import and distribution of the grasses from your home world, it gives us powers of investigation and pursuit.  Do you understand what I am saying captain?’

‘I understand perfectly captain Gairloch.’

‘However we cannot pursue the matter until the treaties are signed and the first delivery made.’

Steven grinned, ‘and on that day the Albany are in for a big shock.’

Gairloch laughed, ‘trust me captain if you wish for a friend in our universe you want my people and my emperor.  We have actually done a little investigation since you told us what has been happening here.  The Albany are a race that doesn't mix well with other races and seems to keep itself to itself, rarely getting involved in any conflict.’

‘I have heard that.’

Gairloch nodded that massive head of his again, ‘they have strict codes on mixing their blood with other races as well.  It would seem they had ulterior motives for staying out of other people conflicts for so long.’  He pushed a button in front of him and the walls lit up.  The scene of a planet with three moons appeared on the wall.  ‘This is their home planet; we sent a stealth probe to investigate.  We didn’t think we would find anything but we were wrong.’  The scene zoomed in on the inner moon and then the screen split.  The differences in the same moon were apparent.  ‘A hundred years ago that was the inner moon on the left, the scene on the right is the inner moon; literally a few hours ago.’  The scene changed and zoomed in on the latest picture.  The surface of the moon seemed to be covered in craft and on the dark side came the biggest shock.  The probe had been able to sneak inside a large cavern.

‘What the hell is that?’  Steven asked.

‘That is a city ship.  It is capable of supporting millions.  Factories, spaceports, everything you need to support a massive invasion fleet.  They have been illegal to build in our universe for over a hundred and fifty of your years.’

Stevens mind raced, ‘why has this never been seen before?’

‘The inner planet is serviced by a ring of outer planets; no ship is allowed to approach the home world of the Albany.  They aren’t the only race that does this.’

Steven nodded, ‘I understand.’

‘We will make this footage available to you and your forces.  We will also supply you with the number of ships, their types and armaments, also an approximation of the amount of your enemy you will be facing.  A gift from the emperor.  However we will not be able to intervene for you earthman, the first battle will be yours and yours alone.  The best we can do is escort their battle fleet out of our galaxy.  You will at least know they are coming.’

‘Any information would be welcome.’

‘Before the builders ships arrived on your world what level of technology did you have?’

‘We had reached our own moon but stopped there; we never explored farther.  We used rocket fuel.’

‘Very primitive.’

‘I am afraid so.’

Gairloch shook his head, ‘then you have a very hard fight ahead of you Earthman.  I will need as many of your people as you can spare on board my ship before you leave.’

‘Is that wise sir?’  Howe asked.

Gairloch growled, ‘are you his military advisor?’

‘I am sir.’

‘By the time we reach your planet most of my people will be dead.  We will need every minute of that time to teach your people.’

‘Captain Gairloch is right colonel.’

Gairloch grunted in satisfaction, ‘do your people have hand held recording devices?’

‘Yes we do.’  Steven confirmed.

‘You will need them to record what is being taught.  Our ship is faster than the freighter.  You can leave before us and we will join you before you reach Earth.  That may give some of us longer.’

Steven nodded, ‘I will send you a detailed plan of our intentions captain.’

‘Good, there is one more thing.  The emperor requests to meet the narrator of those documentaries if at all possible.’

‘I am afraid that will not be possible, Sir David Attenborough died many years ago.’

‘That is a shame; I will convey that news to my Emperor.  In the mean time I would transfer as much of your crew as possible along with what supplies they need if your people cannot eat grass.  We have plenty water.’

‘As soon as we have finished preparations I will send the crews across with their supplies.’

Chapter 16

Buzz had overseen the lift-off of the transporter.  When Steven arrived back the first two scout craft had already been locked down and the second two were on their way.  He listened to Steven intently and paled considerably as he was shown pictures of the invading fleet.  Now the freighter was in space Steven had the engineers do a complete diagnostic on the ship.  He was worried something might go wrong on the homeward journey.  He need all his engineering staff on The Burning Wind and was worried something would go wrong on the journey back to Earth.  The diagnostics however helped reassure him.  Babes created food packs with a strict daily intake guide for everyone.  If they disobeyed it then they would be in trouble.  Gairloch requested more documentaries for his emperor and Steven chose them carefully.  He had any programs with primitive humans in them edited carefully to take out any scenes of humans killing animals or eating flesh.  He knew the herbivores hated flesh eaters and didn’t want a knee jerk back lash.  He also sent a few of Cookies personal videos on vegetarian cooking to help elevate any doubts or fears their new friends might have.

The crew almost rebelled when they discovered where they were going to spend the next few weeks.  Steven realised he was becoming tired of the attitude of many of them.  Despite being told how important this mission was many of them shirked form the task.  In the end it was Sergeant Kelly who resolved the situation.  He told them how ashamed he was of them.  To think that so many of his friends had died to produce such a ‘yellow livered bunch of selfish assholes.’

Steven had cringed from the tirade as Kelly turned the air blue with profanities.  It had the desired effect though.  Most picked up their bags and marched over to The Burning Wind without so much as a backward glance.  Howe had wanted to stay with Steven but he bit his tongue.  He knew the weapons systems on the battleship would take some getting used to.  He left with all of the military personal.  They also took their personal weapons with them to compare them to the weapons their hosts had and the weapons their enemy would have.

Steven was left with himself and Buzz on-board.  Komoru was also alone apart from Lewis.  On the freighter were the two pilots, Hailey and Ico’s navigator; all the medical staff from both vessels and the nine people already rescued.  Amanda was in charge of the vessel and seemed to get a kick out of playing captain.  They had a lot to do.  Once the freighter was up Babes and Ico filled up a portion of the freighter with black sand from the planet.  With this they were going to build the cots and amenities that their passengers would require once awake.  There was now plenty cloth to provide clothing and blankets for everyone when they awoke.

The freighter was slower that the builder ships and slower than the battle cruiser.  The journey home would take months instead of the weeks the outward journey had taken.  Back home the world began to panic as news leaked out about the forthcoming invasion.  Steven began making plans for the construction of a fleet based round the information he had been given by Captain Gairloch.

The three vessels began the long journey home side by side.  Steven felt the tension ease a little knowing that they were on their way home.  Even if the enemy arrived now they were months behind them.  Only the smallest scout craft could make Earth in a few weeks from the barrier but there had been little sign of them amongst the fleet.  Steven suspected that they would stick close to the huge city ship which was a lot slower than even the freighter.  He knew every day was a gift and prayed there would be enough days.

Chapter 17

The medics went down the first row and the units began to open with a faint hiss.  Nerves were stretched taught as the first figures appeared.  All were in a daze and many collapsed to the floor.  Kelly stepped forward, ‘common get on your bloody feet, this isn’t a Sunday school picnic.  There is a towel in front of you if you are shy.  Get it on and follow the white line.’  His sudden roar shocked many out of their stupor.  Fifty people began to cry out and shout at once.

‘Keep the bloody noise down and follow that bloody line.  Collect some clothing and get yourselves dressed, move your arses there are hundreds more of you buggers so get a move on.  This a bloody rescue mission not a bloody Sunday school outing.’

Enough understood and obeyed for the rest to follow.  Amanda was trying not to grin.  Many of them had been on the sharp end of Kelly's tongue over that past couple of months but she was glad he was here now.

‘What the hell is going on?’  Squeaked a young woman who appeared in front of her.

Amanda handed her a light blue uniform, ‘everything will be explained soon.  Move behind the screen and get dressed; then follow the white line.  You will come to a series of tables where you will be supplied with socks and shoes something to eat and drink.  You will be asked your age name and date of birth.  Please follow whatever colour of line you are told to until you come to the accommodation area; pick a bunk and please stay there.  A man appeared next and began jabbering in a language she did not recognise.  She handed him an earpiece and showed him hers.  He put it in his ear and began babbling.  His words were translated to her.  His look of surprise was comical as her words were translated to him.  She repeated the instructions and he moved on.

An extensive runner system had been placed round the units.  As the first units were emptied they were shuttled to the back of the freighter and another row brought forward.  Men went from unit to unit and uncoupled them from the ships power before they could be moved.  With each pod having enough internal power for a couple of months they weren’t worried about the units sitting for a while before being opened.

The day began to wear on and Kelly's voice was becoming hoarse.  The level of noise in the freighter had slowly began to increase.  When the last of them were emptied they began to take down the screens.  Kelly decided he needed a drink of water.  There was a queue of people waiting for water and a lot of folk milling about.  Many sat on their bunks still in shock.

‘It is you isn’t it Sarge?’

Kelly snapped round and a lump of emotion almost prevented him from talking, ‘Roy Brennan, you old son of a bitch.’

The two burst out laughing and shook hands warmly and then on impulse embraced briefly.  They split apart embarrassed by the display of emotion in front of others, ‘looks like we made it again Sarge, but what the fuck is going on?’

Kelly laughed louder, ‘oh man we made it alright Roy.  It’s a long story but try and keep the bad language down bud.  The captain is a bit of a hard ass about that.’

‘Yeah sorry Sarge, but what the hell is going on, where the hell are we?’

‘We are on our way back to Earth.’

He could see the confusion on Roy’s face, ‘we’re what!’

Kelly sighed, ‘the year is 2023 Roy.’

The smile slipped, ‘you're shitting me Sarge?’

‘I wish I was Roy.’

Roy's legs gave way and Kelly grabbed him and guided him to a nearby chair.  Roy had been with him since Omaha beach.  He shook his head, ‘I don’t understand Sarge.  We were fighting on a hill in Korea, about to be wiped out for the last time, then I woke up here.  Is this a ship?’

‘I know the feeling Roy.  It is a ship but it’s a spaceship, we aren’t on Earth any more.  We were abducted by aliens and brought to a planet where they were experimenting on us.  We have just been rescued by the first humans to venture that far out into space and are on our way home.  I know it’s hard to take in all at once but I need you to accept that as fact and suck it up bud.’

‘Holy shit you're not jesting are you Sarge?’

‘No Roy I'm not.  Everyone here is in the same boat except the crew.  They are wearing dark uniforms, the rest of us this light blue.’

‘You sound like you been awake a while Sarge.’

‘I have Roy, long story.  You got a bunk yet?’

Roy shook his head, ‘nope.’

‘The bunk area is down the far end.  Look for the American flag hanging from the bulkhead.’

Roy looked behind him, ‘oh yeah I see it.  That’s a lot of flags Sarge.’

It had been Kelly's suggestion to decorate the walls with flags in the hope of attracting people from those countries and quickly identifying any potential trouble spots.  ‘Yup.’

‘A lot of commie fuckers as well.’

‘I see you have found a friend who is as fond of profanities as yourself sergeant.’

Kelly tuned smiling slowly, ‘Roy Brennan, meet Lady Jane Montgomery Royce.’

Roy's mouth had dropped open, and Jane smiled, ‘another soldier.’

Roy found his voice, ‘sergeant ma’am.’

‘You Americans are very fond of your sergeants.’

They both laughed politely, ‘meet any more Brits?’

‘Unfortunately yes.  They were extremely rude and Amanda sent me to the command deck for an hour.’

Kelly's smile slipped, ‘I am sorry to hear that.  Still you received a letter from your King didn’t you?’

‘Ah yes, and electric letter, who would have thought it possible.  I am afraid it brought bad news.  Of course I knew all my immediate family would have passed however I wasn’t as lucky as you sergeant.  Both my brothers were killed in the First World War and my only surviving nephew was killed in the Second World War.  It would seem the war to end all wars didn’t actually end them, but I presume you already know that.  Our titles and land were returned to the crown; it would seem they are now in the possession of a green grocer.  The only good news is that I am being allowed to keep my title and he has invited me to come stay with him as a permanent guest of the royal family.’

‘I am sorry to hear about your family, but staying with the King can’t be bad.’

‘A gilded cage sergeant.’

Kelly shrugged, ‘that’s true but I’ll bet there are some here who will return to nothing.’

‘Yes of course.’

A young woman interrupted them, ‘Lady Jane, is that you?’

She snapped round, ‘Isobel, goodness, how did you get here?’

Tears erupted from the young woman’s eyes, ‘when your horse returned alone your father sent everyone out to look for you.  I was checking the woods up by the mill meadow because I knew it was one of your favourite spot.  I saw something in the woods and thought it was you, but it was a strange looking cow.  Then I woke up here.  What on earth is going on?’

Tears sprang from Lady Jane’s eyes, ‘oh Isobel, you have no idea how good it is to see a friend.’  The two embraced.  ‘Come with me I will tell you everything.’  She turned back to Kelly, ‘excuse me will you sergeant?’

‘Of course, did she work for your family?’

‘Isobel is my personal hand maiden; if you will excuse us gentlemen.’

Roy waited until she was out of earshot, ‘wow that is some dame.’

Kelly grinned, ‘she is a piece of work that’s for sure.  Want to go see if any more of the guys made it Roy.’

‘Sure thing Sarge.’

Kelly smiled, ‘why they hell do you keep calling me Sarge, we are the same rank and not even in the army any more Roy.’

Roy shrugged, ‘you’ve always been Sarge, always will be to me.’

Kelly shook his head with a grin, ‘let’s go see if anyone else from the unit has turned up.’

‘Sounds good to me, you never seen any of them coming out of the pods?’

‘Nope, don’t look for Kowalski though, he didn’t make it.’

‘Last I saw of him he was wounded.’

‘Yeah, these alien assholes picked us up, took us to this black planet.  I woke up strapped to a table.  Kowalski was next to me and they were cutting him up.  I got free and killed a couple of them but Kowalski was a gonner.  I got his tags.’

‘Shit.’

As they approached the bunk area a commotion got up.  They could hear a woman yelp and a man scream in Japanese.  The sound of flesh being struck rang loudly in the freighter.  The two men ran to investigate.  A Japanese man was striking a child on the floor.  Kelly's fist connected with the man’s jaw and he went flying.  His friends who had been standing round him made a move towards Kelly and Roy, but before they could come to blows another Japanese voice rang out.  It was one of the pilots.  At the sight of him the men snapped to attention.

‘What the hell is going on here?’ He screamed.

When Kelly snapped to attention and saluted the Japanese dropped to a knee.  The dazed man also managed to make it to his knee.  The pilot returned Kelly's salute, ‘What is happening here sergeant Kelly?’

‘I heard a ruckus sir and discovered this man hitting this child sir.’

He turned on the luckless man, ‘do you have an explanation for your behaviour?’

‘I was simply obeying orders sir, it is not a child.  I was sent to apprehend her and take her back to base.’

‘What is your rank and name?’

‘Corporal Hiroshi sir.’

‘Who gave you the order?’

‘Commander Kato sir.’

‘Where were you stationed?’

‘Bohol, the Philippines sir.’

‘Take a good look around you corporal.  Where do you think you are?’

‘I don’t know sir.’

‘Do you think you are still in the Philippines?’

‘I don’t know sir.’

‘Not only are you not in the Philippines you are no longer a soldier.  Your war finished almost eighty years ago.  Do you understand me?’

‘No sir.’

‘You will not touch that woman again, do you understand that order?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Very soon the leader of this expedition is going to make an announcement.  Until then you are to do nothing.  Sit on your bunk as you were ordered to, do you understand that order?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Good, but let me make myself quite clear.  Japan is no longer at war.  If you or any of your men attempt to make any kind of trouble you will be stuck back in one of those pods until the authorities at home can deal with you.  There you will be tried as a common criminal if you dare touch anyone aboard this ship again, do you understand that?’

‘Hi.’

‘Good that goes for every man and woman aboard this ship.’

He reached down for the young woman but she shied away from him.  He stood up and bowed slightly, ‘I apologies for the behaviour of one of my fellow countrymen.  Would you like to go with Sergeant Kelly here; he will take you to the doctor to make sure you are all right.  Will you do that for me please sergeant?’

‘Yes of course sir, it will be a pleasure.’

She made to get up and Kelly held out his hand.  Hers disappeared into it.  Kelly was sure she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life, yet she was tiny.  He reflected she could have been a porcelain doll.  Her head dropped but her dark eyes came up.

‘Come with me we will get you looked at.’  She never answered.  Kelly pointed to his ear where he had the translator.  She produced hers from a pocket and put it in her ear.  ‘Talk into it.’  She wasn’t getting it.  Kelly thought hard, he had visited the Philippines once.  ‘Musta ka.’

Her eyes lit up and she began to talk.  Kelly grinned as the translator began to work.  ‘Do you understand me now?’

Her face lit up, ‘yes I do, thank you for saving me.  They were going to kill me.’

‘Why.’

‘One of their officers tried to assault me.  I hurt him, maybe even killed him and ran away.  Those men were chasing me.  They caught me and were going to take me back.  The next thing I know I was here.  What has happened, why did that Japanese officer stop them?’

‘Ah so many questions, but they will soon be answered.  In the mean time I am going to take you to the doctor.  What is your name?’

‘Mya.’

‘Nice to meet you Mya, you should be safe now.  The war is long over.’

‘It is she gasped.’

‘It is.’

He saw a tear come to her eyes.  He took her to the doctor and Amanda wasn’t very pleased.  The pilot turned up and Mya thanked him.  He seemed embarrassed and apologised for his fellow countrymen’s behaviour.  Kelly left her there and made his way towards the bunk area to see if anymore of his men had turned up.

Chapter 18

Steven and Buzz met Amanda on the bridge of the freighter.  ‘How are things?’

She took a deep breath, ‘the sooner you make this address the better.  Sergeant Kelly's unusual short sharp shock, bawl it out of them seems to have worked.  There are a few still in shock, but nowhere near as many as we thought there would be.  We have had one incident of violence so far but with this many men on board I think it could quite easily escalate.  Of course there is mass confusion and we need that address as quickly as possible.’

‘Tell me about the incident.’

‘A Pilipino woman called Mya was being beaten by a Japanese soldier, Kelly saw it and stopped it and our pilot put an end to it.  They seem content to obey him for now.  The woman is a rare beauty but she is tiny, like a little doll.  A Japanese officer was perusing her but her father disapproved so he moved her to her grandparents in a place called the chocolate mountains.  The officer punisher her father and the village.  Of course someone revealed where she was and she was retrieved by his soldiers.  She had heard of what he had done to her father and the rest of her family so when he tried to have his wicked way she stabbed him in the neck with a knife she had concealed under her skirt and jumped out the back window and into the jungle.  He did actually die although she didn’t realise that at the time.  The officer’s commanding officer ordered she be hunted down and dragged back for immediate torture and execution.  They had just caught her when they were abducted.’

Steven didn’t like the story, but he struggled to remember that these people lived in a different time.  ‘Where is she now?’

‘She seems to have put herself under the protection of Kelly and his men.’

‘His men!’

Amada smiled, ‘six of them survived.’

‘Lucky men.  Well I doubt if the girl will have anything to worry about.  How are you and your team Amanda?’

‘It has been really hard, so many people so many questions.  There have been tears, joyous reunions and despair.  Lady Jane has found a friend; her personal maid was taken when she went looking for her.  They were some of the first to be taken.’

‘They were both lucky to survive so long.  OK let’s get this show on the road.’

Buzz accompanied him to the small podium that had been erected.  All of a sudden he found himself feeling nervous.  Buzz must have noticed and placed a hand on his shoulder.  When Steven looked round he smiled and winked.  It made him smile and gave him the courage to take the first steps.

As soon as the noise abated he began, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Captain Steven Gordon,’ he held up a silver ear peace, ‘if you have one of these please place it in your ear now.’  He demonstrated what he meant and watched and waited as many of them placed the earpiece they had been issued with into their ears.  When he detected no more movement he began again.  ‘Can everyone understand me now?’  There was some mumbling and quite a few nodding their heads.

He smiled, ‘then I shall begin again, my name is Captain Steven Gordon of the Earth Defence Corps.  What I am about to tell you will sound extremely farfetched however I beg all of you to remain calm and listen until I am finished.  The time is now nine pm, Earth Standard Time, or Greenwich Mean Time as it used to be known on the seventeenth of April in the year 2023.’  There was a sudden explosion of noise as people cried out their disbelief or quite simply their horror.

Steven stepped back from the blast but Buzz stepped forward.  ‘Calm the hell down and shut up,’ he roared at them.

Steven stepped forward again, ‘Thanks Buzz.’  They became quiet again as he cast his eyes over them.  ‘I know it is hard to comprehend at the moment, but please try and bear with me.  In the last hundred years just over fifteen thousand human beings were abducted by a race of alien beings not of our Earth.’  The nose levels increased again only to be shouted down by people in the audience who wanted to hear more.  Steven carried on, ‘as I said over fifteen thousand people were abducted over the last hundred years.  In this freighter; all of you are the only known survivors and I can assure you that you are the lucky ones.  Our mission was one of discovery and scientific research, however we found you instead on a planet halfway between our universe and the next.  Now it has turned into a rescue mission; that mission is to return all of you to the planet Earth.’

He had all of their attention now, many mouths hung open in shock and he smiled grimly, ‘many of you were taken during times of conflict back on the Earth.  Those wars are long over and are a matter of historical record.  I will not tolerate on form of resumption of hostilities on board this ship.  Punishment for a resumption of hostilities will be sever and dealt with harshly when you return home by your own governments.  There is at present no conflict of arms between any nations back home on Earth.  The Earth Defence Corps is made up of men and women from every nation on Earth.  We are now one race and one people; you would do well to remember that during the remainder of our journey.  All round the walls are terminals that you can use to check on the facts if you wish to do so.  They will also help you discover any living relatives back on Earth and put you in touch with your own governments.  Rehabilitation centres are already being set up by your own governments; they will help you adjust to life back home as it is now.’

He let that sink in for a few moments before continuing, ‘the crew aboard this ship will help you in any way we can.  Whether you wish to be shown how to use the terminals or even the toilets.’  That brought a small ripple of laughter.  ‘We will be transporting you to our facility on the Moon.  From there you will be transported back to Earth.  The amenities there are far more comfortable than they are here.  I apologise for the food.  We were not stocked to cater for an extra thousand bodies.  The bars you will be provided with are fairly tasteless but are full of nutrients and along with the water will sustain you until we reach the Moon.  Please don’t bother complaining because we are all going to be eating the same thing.’  That also brought a few chuckles but not many.

‘Of course we could have kept you in the pods until you reached Earth or even the Moon.  However the decision was taken to wake you seven days prior to our arrival there to get you used to your situation with people who are in the same situation as yourselves.  The adjustment most of you will have to make is huge.  Many if not most will have to bear the burden of loss for loved ones.  Rather than carry that burden alone when you reach Earth we thought it wiser if you shared that burden as a community.  You will receive as much help as we can give you but I implore you to turn to each other and help each other through this difficult phase of your reintegration with humanity as a whole.’

He pointed to the walls, ‘I am sure some of you would like a little proof as to your situation so if you would please observe the cargo bay doors.  You will be protected from space by an invisible force field.  Please do not try and leave the ship; it is minus two hundred and twenty degrees outside the ship and you would die instantly, the big doors began to rise and there was gasps of wonder and some people crowded towards the doors but some of the crew men held them back.  ‘That is close enough,’ Steven warned and they stopped.  Just then Ico slid into view and it brought even more gasps and shouts, ‘ladies and gentlemen the Earth Defence Corps Ship, Ico commanded by Captain Komoru Kaizu.  If you look to your left at the screen behind me I believe she wishes to say a few words.’

The screen leapt to life and the beautiful Komoru appeared, she bowed low and said hello in her native Japanese.  ‘Good evening everyone it is a joy to see you have all woken safely.  I just wished to say hello and reassure you all that you are all now perfectly safe.  You will be escorted all the way to the Moon by both of our ships and also the battle cruiser The Burning Wind which is just coming into sight now.’

Heads were snatched round and the cries became loud as the battle cruiser rolled into view with all of its lights on.  Steven cringed at the amount of profanities that were hurled at the scene.  Buzz was openly laughing.  Komoru flushed as she could hear the people’s reaction.  ‘I will hand you back to Captain Gordon.’

Once the battle cruiser was past the doors came down.  As the reality began to sink in a lot of people seemed to go into shock.  The crowd became subdued as they turned their attention back to Steven.  ‘As you can see you are being well protected.  I know it is going to be very hard for many of you to adjust but please consider the fourteen thousand that didn’t make it home.  The people of the Earth stand ready to welcome you home with open arms.  None of you will be made homeless and all will be catered for.  There are some personal items which we were able to retrieve.  When you gave your names we have been able to match up some of the documents retrieved and will be able to return these items to you.  Anything found within an item of clothing has been bagged with the identity of the person also found within that clothing.  However things like watches and jewellery which was also removed at the same time were found lying loose.  You will need to supply a description of any such item you wish returned.  If we can find it we will return it to you.  No weapon of any description will be returned during this voyage.  Firearms will not be returned at all.  We have discovered a number of ceremonial daggers that have names on them.  These will be returned at a more appropriate time and by that I mean when you arrive home on Earth.

I will stress again that there are no conflicts on Earth at this time and violence will not be tolerated aboard this ship.  As in all conflicts there were winners and losers and as I pointed out earlier they are now a matter of historical record; you will just have to suck it up and live with that.  We have already checked every military id that we found from every conflict that these men were involved in.  There are no outstanding warrants for any man’s arrest to do with war crimes from those wars.  Gentlemen you have served your time; this is now our time.  We are now at war with the race that abducted you from Earth and murdered so many of your companions.  We hope to be able to keep this conflict far from our beloved home world.  You will not be called to serve again in any capacity.  Take this opportunity to unwind, you are officially retired and will receive a pension from your countries of origin.  To find out what you will be entitled to please check the consoles, a crewmember will be available to assist you or show you how to operate them.  As there are so many of you please have a little patience with us, we will get round to helping you all.  Thank you.’  Steven stepped down and left the hold with Buzz hard on his heels.

‘They didn’t even give you a clap Stevie.’

Steven laughed, ‘I wasn’t looking for an applause Buzz, the poor buggers, did you see their faces?’

‘Couldn’t miss it bud.  I hope at least some find their families.’

Chapter 19

Kelly stood in front of his six men with a smile on his face.  He had just told them what the government had promised them and they were all delighted.  They weren’t the only ones celebrating.  Two cruel faced men danced each other round and round.  A tall handsome blond man shouted something at them and the response was instantaneous.  The slimmer of the two turned and kicked him between the legs and he went down like a sack of shit.  The two bellowed with laughter and danced away linked arm in arm.  Kelly moved to intercept them.

‘What the hell was that all about?’  He demanded.

‘What business is it of yours yank?’  The slimmer of the two asked with a cruel smile.  The cunning look in his eye made Kelly back off a little.  He knew the type, they were killers and danger oozed from their very pores.

‘I've been awake for weeks now, I know the captain and he ain't shitting you when he warned you about violence.’

‘Ain’t us you should be worrying about yank, it’s that bastard back there.  We won’t stir up any shit if no one fucks with us.’

‘Who is he?’

The slim man picked his nose with a grin, ‘Waffen SS, officer.  Thinks this is some kind of conspiracy and Hitler was a God who is still alive and kicking.’

‘Who were you with?’

‘Penal battalion,’ grinned the slim man inspecting his finger intently, ‘spent most of our time on the Russian front.’

‘Yeah but we killed yanks to,’ grinned the giant by his side.

Kelly realised the man wasn’t all there, ‘yeah we ran into a bunch of you guys just after Omaha.’

The pair laughed, ‘yeah we gave your asses a swift kicking,’ admitted the slim one.

Kelly felt chills run through him, ‘yeah I remember; I was there.  You boys taught us a few hard lessons.’

‘Yeah well no hard feelings yank, the wars over.’

‘Long time ago.’

‘Yeah and Hitler is dead,’ laughed the giant.  The two began to dance round again.

‘I'm gonna open a brothel on the Reeperbahn,’ laughed the giant.

‘I'm going to open a bakery.’ Admitted the slim one.

‘Hey we could build the brothel on top of the bakery.’

The slim man though it was a great idea, ‘yeah we could eat all day and fuck all night.’  The two walked away arms linked laughing.  ‘Apple strudel and sex.’  That set them both off laughing again.

Kelly could only shake his head, ‘don’t anyone tackle those two, ya’ll hear me.’

‘What about the officer?’ Roy asked.

‘We keep an eye on him.’

Mya watched them from the side-lines.  She didn’t wander far from their protection.  So far she had no response to requests about her family.  What little she learned about her own country she wasn’t happy about either.  It seemed the country had a number of bad rulers and was still considered a third world country.  These rough and ready men seemed almost alien to her.  They were huge by her people’s standards but at least she felt safe in their presence and they didn’t seem to mind having her around.

‘What happened to all our weapons Sarge?’  One of the men asked.

‘They are in canisters welded to the side of this ship.  The captain is letting me take them.  Most are museum pieces now and we will get a fair price for them when we get home.’

‘Feel kinda naked without one Sarge and this bloody freighter is full of commies and Nazis.  Would we be able to reach those containers?’

‘Hell no and there ain’t any ammo for them anyway, I destroyed it all.’

Roy shook his head, ‘we might need those weapons Sarge; that Nazi is going round talking to his own kind.’

Kelly wasn’t amused, ‘jezz Roy you heard the captain, keep your heads down, toe the line and we’ll get home fine.  He don’t want no trouble.’

Roy looked round, ‘I think he is going to get it whether he likes it or not Sarge and by the looks of it he don’t have the crew to handle it.’

‘Most of the crew are on The Burning Wind training.  We will keep our ears to the ground if that makes you happy Roy.’

‘Rather have my Garand.’

Chapter 20

‘Come to port two degrees please Hailey,’ Dr Barnes ordered.

‘Two degrees doctor.’

They followed the track of the meteor on the large screen in front of them.  At thousands of miles per hour it didn’t take long to pass.  ‘OK put us back on course please, two degrees to starboard.’

‘Back on course doctor.’  They put up a recording of the meteor passing and slowed it down.  ‘I love this screen,’ Hailey added.

Barnes smiled, ‘it is pretty neat.  Did you pass the navigation exam?’

Hailey sighed, ‘this time I did, by the skin of my teeth.  Have you taken it yet?’

He shook his head, ‘no I'm doing the advanced mathematics first before I try and tackle that one.’

Hailey was perched precariously in the navigator’s seat.  The seats were more like small couches and she could curl up in one easily.  This was much different from Babes and was more hands on.  She was loving the experience.  ‘I thought the maths was quite simple once you grasped the basic concepts but the navigation is tricky.  What makes me mad is that most of this concept was available from papers the captain wrote when he was fourteen.’

Dr Barnes grunted, ‘Concepts the whole scientific community laughed at.’

‘Why did they do that?’

He shrugged, ‘I suppose it is always easier to discredit something that is difficult to understand.  It has always been the same.  Sometimes it takes hundreds or thousands of years to prove the theories of these geniuses.’

She sighed, ‘yes I suppose that is true.’

Just then they heard a commotion at the door of the bridge and their heads whipped round.  Amanda was shoved through the door and behind her a dozen men pushed on to the bridge.  ‘Stay where you are and don’t move,’ commanded a stern voice.

Hailey sat back in her giant seat and pressed a button on her wrist comm.

Steven had been dozing in his quarters when the alarm went off.  He rubbed his eyes, ‘what's wrong Babes?’

‘The Nazi contingent has taken the bridge of the freighter my heart.  They are demanding to speak to you.’

He gave himself a scratch, ‘where’s Buzz?’

‘In his quarters asleep.’

‘Wake him please and ask him to join me on the bridge.’  He dressed himself fully and went up to the bridge.  Buzz was only a few minutes behind.  Steven was watching the view screen.  Men crowded round the different consoles and Steven was watching the drama unfold.

‘What's up kimosabie?’

‘Herr Goth has finally made his move.’

Buzz yawned, ‘thank god for that.  I was getting a bit tired of waiting.  What are they doing now?’

Steven laughed, ‘his pilot is looking at the navigation console; the man hasn’t a clue.’

‘Yeah it’s pretty hard to understand alien without an implant and there's no stick or rudder for him to play with.’  The two of them laughed at the expression on the pilots face.  Herr Goth wasn’t looking happy.

‘What do you think Buzz, shall we put them out of their misery?’

‘We got time for a coffee first?’

‘Yeah why the hell not.’

Back on board the freighter Herr Goth was becoming more and more anxious, ‘nothing, you recognise nothing.’

His pilot shook his head, ‘I don’t recognise a single thing sir.  I have been over the whole bridge and nothing.’

‘Where is the captain?’  He growled at Dr Barnes.

‘He is up and aware of the situation, he will be with you shortly.’

‘Tell him now,’ Goth screamed, ‘or we will start killing people.’

Stevens face suddenly filled the screen; it was obvious what he was doing by the steaming mug in his hand.  ‘Keep your hair on Herr Goth, now what is it I can do for you?’

‘I have hostages.’

Steven took a sip of coffee, ‘yup, I see that.  Kind of bothers me where you got the homemade weapons from.  You realise of course that ripping pieces of a ship in the depth of space where if something goes seriously wrong it could result in instant death is sheer and utter stupidity.’

‘Nothing went wrong, we are still alive.’

‘Blind luck Herr Goth, little more.  Now what do you want?’

‘I want your ship captain.’

Steven laughed, ‘what the hell for?’

‘Do not mock me or my men will begin killing your crew captain.’

‘Keep your shirt on Herr Goth and just tell me your demands.’

‘I believe your ship is capable of self-navigation correct?’

‘Yes it is.’

‘Then I wish for your ship to be handed over to me and for it to fly us directly to the nearest German base on Earth.’

‘That isn’t a problem; would you like it to take you directly to Berlin Herr Goth?’

Herr Goth was shocked, ‘yes of course.’

‘Good, and you will hand yourself over to the German authorities when you get there of course?’

Herr Goth suddenly wasn’t so sure of himself anymore, ‘yes of course.’

‘Not a problem Herr Goth, of course you realise that the hijacking of any vessel carries a twenty year sentence and in time of war the consequences can be far more serious?’

‘I will take my chances captain.’

‘Then be it upon your own head Herr Goth.  We will dock in approximately ten minutes then.  Please put my navigator back in charge of the ship before you blow yourselves up.  She will need to initialise the docking procedures.’

‘No tricks captain.’

Steven shook his head, ‘there is no need for tricks Herr Goth.  When you reach Germany you will be held accountable for your actions.  It’s no sweat off my nose, just a pain in my arse that I have to leave the freighter with your fellow abductees less well defended.  Of course there is no sign of enemy activity within our universe so I doubt if they will come to any harm it’s just as I said, a pain in the arse that you can’t see the truth that is laid out before you in plain sight.  We will see you in ten minutes.  When docking procedures are complete just come aboard.  I will give you one word of warning though.’  Steven reached forward and pressed a button.  One of their moon ashtrays appeared in front of Herr Goths eyes.  When it had materialised completely it fell to the floor.

The startled German leapt back, ‘my god! What is that?’

‘It is an ashtray Herr Goth don’t panic.’

‘How did you do that?’

‘It is called matter transportation Herr Goth, I have the ability to transport any object or living thing to anywhere I wish within a few thousand miles on my position.  I promise you this; if so much as a single member of my crew is harmed or killed I will transport each and every one of you out into deep space.  Am I making myself understood?’

Herr Goth had paled, ‘perfectly.’

‘Good.’  The screen went blank.

‘Excuse me please,’ Hailey gently prised a hand that was grasping her arm free.  Trying not to smile she made her way back to her post which the German pilot immediately vacated with a small bow.  No one tried to stop her.  All were in shock and most were staring at the ashtray.

Back on board Babes Buzz directed Steven’s attention to the monitor that was watching the occupants of the hold.  ‘We got more trouble Stevie.’

Steven watched for a few seconds, ‘what the hell are those idiots doing now?’

Kelly had been enjoying a doze when he was shaken awake.  He was startled to discover the slim German penal soldier grinning down at him, ‘what do you want?’  He asked to quickly.

‘Your friend Herr Goth has made his move.  He has grabbed the doctor and taken the bridge.’

Kelly sat up rubbing his face.  He spotted the thirty or so men recruited by Herr Goth over the past few days standing around the bottom of the staircase that led to the bridge.  ‘Bloody hell.’  He looked to the German, ‘thanks.’  He and his men had given this man and his friends a wide berth.  There were ten of them altogether.  Kelly knew the type, men breed for war and men who should have died in war.  Ruthless mindless killers who lived life by their own rules.  He had no idea if they had served together or if like had just found like.  They had managed to get hold of a deck of cards from one of the crew and spent their entire day playing cards and cheating openly.  They were always brawling with each other and the language turned the air blue.  People learned very quickly to give them a wide berth, especially the women.  Only four seemed to be safe from their vicious and dirty remarks.  The doctor who frequently waded in fearlessly to break up their brawls and treat the injured.  Lady Jane and her maid also seemed immune.  The fact she was related to royalty seemed to quell their tongues.  The other was the tiny Mya.  Kelly wasn’t sure if it was her obvious innocence and purity that protected her or the fact that she had killed the man who had murdered her family and taken revenge.  The Japanese soldier who had tried to beat her was now in the infirmary beaten to a pulp.  No one knew for sure who did it but Kelly suspected it was some of this mans’ group.

‘You gonna help fellar?’

He stood, ‘I just did yank.’  He began to walk away.

‘Do you remember who kicked him in the nuts a few days ago?  If he takes control of this ship I bet he will.’

The man spun round his blue eyes ice cold.  Then the smile returned and he walked away without saying anything more.

Kelly quickly gathered his men.  All the British servicemen pitched in along with a few French and Italians.  Along with the other American service men they outnumbered the men gathered round the metal stairs.  He noticed as they approached that some of them had homemade weapons and knives.  He wasn’t the only one to notice.  A small Scot who called himself Eck spoke out.  ‘Those bastards have tooled up Sarge.’

‘I see it and we don’t have time to grab any weapons either.  We’re just going to have to do it the hard way.’

‘Heads and feet boys,’ grinned Eck.

One stepped forward, ‘stop where you are yank.’

‘What the hell are you assholes up to?’

‘None of your business yank.’

‘Oh I think it is.’  Kelly moved slamming his fist into the man’s jaw.  The man fell away and Kelly swung at the next one who stepped into his place.  The allies charged and a full on brawl ensued.  The civilians all shrank back but there was a blur of movement from the right as the ten killers crashed into their flank.  Kelly jumped up to deliver a blow and the damnedest thing happened; he didn’t come down again.  His arms began to flail as he tried to regain his balance but the fight was effectively over as men floated out of reach of each other.

‘What the hell’s going on!’  Kelly yelled.

It was a British pilot who provided the answer.  ‘Someone has turned off the artificial gravity old boy.’

There was panic in Kelly’s voice, ‘the what!’

‘Gravity old boy, you know the apple and all that.  There is no gravity in space it is created artificially.  They have turned it off.’

Kelly got a sinking feeling in his gut as he looked round at the helpless floating men.  There was a whoop of joy from the German giant, ‘hey look I'm flying.’  He flapped his arms like a bird and when he came within range of one of their adversaries he lashed out.  The man spun away with a cry and the giant and his friends howled with laughter.

Steven hadn’t noticed the fight begin in the cargo hold until Buzz drew his attention to it.  He sent a silent command to Hailey who jumped when his voice sounded inside her head.  She smiled and reached forward turning off the artificial gravity in the hold.  In the bridge an argument had broken out between Herr Goth and one of his men.

‘They could kill us all now sir,’ he held up the ashtray as evidence.

‘Sergeant Hertz are you disobeying me?’

‘I am not disobeying you sir I am merely trying to point out the obvious.  I have never disobeyed you; I have followed you for years through thick and thin but this is different.  The Germany we knew has gone, the Fuhrer is dead and Germany is at peace.  Why can’t you see that sir?’

The officer went a dark red, ‘because without it we are nothing.  We are the elite, the elite of the elite, the best fighting men in the world, soldiers.’

Hertz shook his head, ‘no sir, we were soldiers, now we are lost.  Lost in space and in time.  We could start anew, get married, have children and raise a family.’

‘Is that enough for you now sergeant?’

‘It’s more sir, much more than I ever expected.’

‘What do you mean!’ Herr Goth exploded.

‘I never expected to see the end of the war sir.  After our first winter in Russia all I expected was a forgotten frozen grave somewhere out on those Russian steppes.  We now have a second chance at life sir, to live to love, for life to mean something other than that endless parade of death.’

‘Are you telling me the Fuhrer meant nothing to you?’

‘When I was a child the Fuhrer was a miracle, he gave us food, work, hope.  He gave us back out pride.  I loved him for that and was prepared to give my life for him.  I never questioned him when he invaded Poland and France.  I believed every word he said.  When he invaded Russia I had my doubts; why did he make a peace treaty with the Russians and then break it?  Why did he murder six million innocent civilians in the death camps?’

‘That is a lie,’ screamed Herr Goth, ‘that is a dirty rotten lie.’

Hertz was beginning to get angry, ‘no it isn’t sir, I saw the pictures and we heard the rumours of massive relocation camps that were being built.  We had a dozen men in our regiment who transferred to us from these camps when they realised what they were being used for.’

‘It is all lies,’ Herr Goth screamed red in the face.

‘No it wasn’t sir.  We were soldiers, men of honour; that was our greatest strength.  Something went wrong sir, something went sour in Germany. The Fuhrer turned into a mad dog and deserved to be put down.’  Something slipped from the sergeant’s hand and clattered on the floor.  ‘I am sorry sir.’

‘You are deserting me,’ he screamed in his face.

‘No sir, I will stand by your side as a friend but not an aggressor.’

‘Traitor,’ Goth screamed and lunged.

Steven had been watching the exchange with growing concern, ‘you may need to get that man out of there Babes, we will be too late.’

‘I cannot endanger a life my heart.’

Steven leaned forward, ‘then you will be responsible for killing him.  Lock on to him now.’  She complied but he felt her reluctance.  When Herr Goth lunged Steven screamed aloud, ‘now for god’s sake.’

On board the freighter Hertz began to shimmer.  Herr Goth cried out in alarm as his hand passed through the sergeant and jumped back.  Sergeant Hertz had vanished.

He appeared in front of Buzz and Steven; both rushed to his aid.  The man cried out and Steven felt a wave of relief wash through him.  ‘Breathe deeply, take deep breaths.’  Steven cried out.  The sergeant had collapsed to his knees and was holding his stomach.  ‘Are you wounded?’  Steven ordered the glare turned right down as far as possible.

‘I, I felt his hand go right through me,’ stuttered the sergeant, ‘what happened, where am I?’

‘We took you on board my ship for your own safety,’ Steven informed him.

The man took a deep gulp of air and began to calm down.  He stood checking his hands for blood, there was none.  He looked round and squinted, ‘it is very bright in here, I can barely see anything.’

‘Long story,’ Steven admitted.  ‘Babes put me on their viewer please.’  She did so, ‘Herr Goth, we are beginning docking procedures now, if you and your men would like to make your way to the airlock.’

‘Where is Hertz?’  He screamed.

‘He is on board this ship, if you want him you had better come and get him.  Screen off.’  Steven took out his pistol and set it to stun.

Hertz shook his head, ‘please try not to kill him captain, the man doesn’t know what he is doing.’

‘He just tried to kill you.’

‘That is true I know, but he just discovered everything he believed in was a lie and his wife and daughter were put in a concentration camp when we disappeared.’

‘I didn’t know that.’  Steven admitted.

‘We were branded traitors and deserters.  His wife died in the camp and his daughter was adopted by a good German family in Berlin.  They were all killed in an air raid.’

‘I will remember that sergeant Hertz but don’t worry our weapons aren’t set to kill only stun.’

He smiled, ‘my name is Manfred Captain.  I am not a sergeant.’ he smiled, ‘not anymore.’

Steven returned his smile, ‘please sit here until this is over.  If you watch the screens it might not hurt your eyes so much.’

Manfred sat and looked up at the screens, ‘my god you can see everything!’

‘And hear everything,’ Steven confessed.

‘What is happening in the cargo hold?’

Buzz laughed, ‘oh they are just hanging about.’

The three men began to laugh.

Herr Goth and his men stormed onto Babes brandishing their weapons only to be struck almost blind by the intense bright light.  Green light flashed through the stumbling men and within seconds all were lying paralyzed or unconscious.  Calmly Steven and Buzz marched on to the bridge and shot the three men left to guard the crew.  Then they went into the cargo hold.  Their magnetic shoes held them firm as they targeted the insurrectionists.  Steven pointed his pistol at a particularly brutal looking man.

‘Not him captain he is one of the good guys,’ Kelly shouted.

Steven glanced over, ‘you sure?  He doesn’t look very good.’

‘I am good captain,’ pleaded the flapping giant to a gale of laughter from his friends.

Steven nodded and walked over to where Kelly was floating above his head, ‘Sergeant Kelly.  Tell me sergeant what do you think you were doing?’

‘Uh, trying to take the ship back for you sir.’

‘I see, and what was it I told you not more than twenty-four hours ago sergeant?’

‘Uh!  That you were aware of what was happening and not to get involved sir.’

Steven nodded, ‘yes I do believe you are right.’  Steven shot up into the hanging figure; Kelly juddered and went limp.

‘Sarge!’  Shouted Roy.

‘Relax,’ Buzz told Roy as he passed underneath, ‘he is only unconscious.’

Chapter 21

Steven finally managed to find some time to himself and was messing about in the freighters navigation room.  ‘Babes do we have room at the academy to recreate this map room in its entirety?’

‘I do believe we have my heart but why would you want so antiquated a system.’

‘It is beautiful Babes.  From this room you can navigate and plot a course by hand if everything else fails you.’

‘That is true my heart but that just doesn’t happen these days.  This freighter is an old design which hasn’t changed in near three hundred earth years.  They only have these rooms built in because no one has bothered to change the design.’

‘Yeah I know that but humanity is coming from way back in the queue Babes, we need to understand the fundamentals before we go jogging into battle.  If the students can understand the basics of this it will go a long way to improving our understanding of the universe, how it is set up and the difficulties in navigating it.’

‘I understand my heart; I will send a signal to begin construction.  Will you be writing the lessons or do you want to use age old methods of teaching?’

Steven laughed, ‘I will go through any material you have first then construct some lesson plans from there to pass on to the lecturers.’

The door slid open and Buzz came in, ‘hi Stevie, you look as happy as a pig in shit.’

Steven had felt a moment’s irritation that his private time had been disturbed but it passed quickly and he laughed, ‘this is an awesome find Buzz.’

‘Buzz shook his head and grinned, ‘well glad you’re happy.  Have you got a couple of minutes?’

‘What for?’

‘Sergeant Kelly insists he wants to talk to you.’

Steven sighed his irritation returning, ‘I'm not in the mood.’

‘We got that thing later remember?’

Steven rubbed the back of his neck, ‘you're right I suppose I had better talk to him.’  Buzz went out and Kelly marched in.  He came to a halt and saluted, he didn’t look happy.  ‘At ease sergeant.’

Kelly relaxed and watched Steven for a moment as his fingers flew over a large star chart in the centre of a room.  Strange lights and figures appeared on the chart.  Steven was writing something on a large pad and seemed to be doing some form of calculation.

‘Just give me a few seconds will you.’  He began typing his calculation into a keypad on the side of the unit.  When he hit enter a line appeared on the screen and Kelly followed it with his eyes.  The line went from one dot to another and something bright flashed at the top of the map table.  Steven laughed and Kelly realised that whatever he was doing he must gave got it correct.  His eyes scanned the note pad and the strange figures on it and an idea of the man’s intellect began to dawn on him.

‘That looks complicated sir.’

‘It is to begin with sergeant but I'm finding it a lot of fun and very gratifying.  Now I'm sure you didn’t want to talk to me about the mysteries of stellar cartography.’

Kelly frowned, suddenly what he wanted to talk about seemed petty.  ‘I shouldn’t have bothered you sir, I'm sorry.’

‘You are still pissed at me for shooting you aren’t you?’

Kelly took a deep breath, ‘now you mention it sir, yes I am.’

‘You disobeyed me sergeant, I told you not to get involved and yet you led a wild charge into the affray, risking the lives of men I have gone to a lot of trouble to save.  Tell me if I had been your subordinate and I had disobeyed you, what would you have done?’

‘Probably taken you for a walk and beat the crap out of you sir.’

Steven grinned, ‘yeah well I did consider that option Sarge but as in height and width you are probably near three times my size and have more combat experience than all of my military personnel put together I decided the simplest punishment would simply be to shoot you instead.’

‘I didn’t think you would be able to handle the situation sir.’  Kelly took a deep breath, ‘I was wrong of course, I didn’t know about the anti-gravity thing.’

‘Effective wasn’t it.’

‘Yes sir, you should have told me goddamn it.’  It was out before he could stop it.

Steven could feel his ire rise and put down his pencil.  He tried to pace off his anger, ‘right now I don’t really have the time to answer to your petty accusations sergeant, but you have been invaluable over the past few weeks and as a mark of respect I will give you an answer and I expect you to listen.  It is my job to get all of these people home safe and sound including you.  Not all were soldiers and not all are coping very well with the situation.  It was bad enough having one group planning sedition without you and your men escalating the conflict.  You and your people should have sat back, watched the show and laughed because you knew better.  It took you the better part of a few days to adjust and accept the situation in its entirety.  Half of that was because you saw men and women going about their assigned tasks and never paying you any particular heed.  They gave the impression of complete normality.  It’s what I told them to do sergeant, not to fuss over any of you or try to persuade any of you this was all real.  That was a dry run if you will.  However you gathered your men together and built an opposition to the aggressors which gave their ideas credence and a focus which helped the German officer build support.’

‘How do you know that sir?’

‘Because I have microphones sown into the buttons of your overalls and cameras everywhere.  My ship has been monitoring everyone and brought to my attention any problems as they arose.  I was well aware of what Herr Goth was up to; he was going to try and acquire my ship.  You have been aboard my ship sergeant, what do you think the outcome of that would have been?’

‘They wouldn’t have been able to fly it sir.’

‘Not this ship nor the freighter either.  Maybe you should have told them that instead of gathering a force.’

‘But sir!’

‘No damn it man.  This is my job my responsibility.  You should have paid heed to me and not made up your own mind, or made your own plans, or jumped into action as soon as you saw something happening.  I trusted you to keep at least half the combatants sitting on their arse, but instead I have two men in the infirmary with stab wounds.  On top of that I also have to guard fifty men round the clock because they can no longer be trusted.’

‘I can help you guard them sir.’

‘No you damn well wont.  I will deal with Herr Goth and his men my way sergeant.  This time tomorrow we won’t need to guard them at all.’

‘How are you going to do that sir?’

‘I really don’t feel like telling you at the moment sergeant.’

Kelly's eyes dropped, ‘I am sorry sir.’

‘Would you like to redeem yourself sergeant?’

‘I would like that opportunity sir.’

‘Good, it would seem that some members of my crew have been shouting their mouths off about a certain sergeant they consider a true hero and the captain of The Burning Wind a decorated hero himself, would like to honour a fellow warrior.  He requests that you join us in his mess tonight.’

Kelly swallowed, ‘on board his ship sir?’

‘Yes.’

Kelly took a deep breath, ‘only if you would like me to sir.’

‘I would.  Don’t worry about it sergeant they don’t bite.  I asked your government to send me details of your full dress uniform and awards.  We have reproduced them in their entirety.  Would you like to go and make sure that what we have produced is correct?’

‘Yes sir.’

Buzz entered, ‘go with Buzz, he will get you sorted then bring you over tonight.  Cheer up sergeant, they have alcohol that is actually supposed to be consumable by humans.’

Chapter 22

Kelly actually found himself trembling as Buzz escorted him across to The Burning Wind, ‘you’re looking smart Sarge.’

‘Thanks Mr Anderson, the ship did a great job.  This is a smart as an officer’s uniform, great material.’

‘Call me Buzz Sarge; I'm not an officer, well not in the way you understand.  You still mad a Stevie for shooting you?’

‘Yeah a little.  I was out for ten minutes then I couldn’t move for the better part of an hour.’

‘Scary huh?’

‘Yeah I thought I was paralysed for life.  I would rather have taken a crack on the jaw.’

Buzz’s eyebrows shot up, ‘not from Stevie you wouldn’t.’

Kelly almost laughed, ‘you’re not trying to tell me he is a tough guy are you?’

‘Oh hell yeah, I wouldn’t mess with Stevie.  We go back a long way Sarge.’

‘So I heard.’

‘The first day I met Stevie he was about nine and kicking the shit out of two football players who were both fourteen.  He made an example of both of them in the hope it would deter others from bugging him.’

‘Did it work?’

‘Oh hell no, there was always some new idiot every year who thought he was just too tempting a target.  Saying that they never came back for seconds.’  He grinned.

‘I find that hard to believe Buzz.’

‘Yeah well Stevie is a proficient martial artist.  Very proficient.  When Stevie was fourteen one of my neighbours burst our football when it landed in his garden; put his garden fork right through it.  Anyway a few weeks later he went on holiday.  We took Stevie round the back where he had a high red-bricked wall and tricked Stevie into demolishing it with his fists and feet.  He might have been a genius but he was a little naive back in those days.  It was two bricks thick and Stevie kicked a hole in it you could walk through.’

‘No shit, you sure it wasn’t rotten?’

‘Dead sure, I know cos it took me the better part of a year to pay the old shit back.  What we didn’t know was that his sister was house sitting and the cops caught us red handed.’

The Sarge laughed, ‘wow, bet that made you popular!’

‘Oh we got hell for that one; but the moral of this story is you don’t want Stevie to punch you out.  In fact his punch is so powerful it could actually kill a man if he hit them full force.  We know because we have measured it and it’s why Stevie will never hit anyone these days.’

‘Wow,’ the Sarge walked on board the battle cruiser and sniffed, ‘that’s a familiar smell.’

‘Yeah over half the crew is dead now.  The smell isn’t as bad as it was thought.  We leant them a machine that made coffins for them out of the black dust from the planet.  Those that had already died are completely sealed now, and there is enough for all of them.’

‘They are all going to die huh!’

‘Yeah they sure are.’

‘So now I got to pull up a sandbag and swap a few war stories.’

‘You are an ambassador of Earth now Sarge.  These guys have been fighting for years, but like you their war is over.  We are trying to find common ground with this race.’

‘Yeah I get it.  Can’t say I'm looking forward to it though.’

‘They are OK, just take a bit of getting used to.’

‘A bit like everything else.  I think I'm more frightened of returning home than what I am here.’

‘Well you will always have a couple of friends here to turn to if you feel lost.’

‘I appreciate that Buzz.’

They were met by an escort; Kelly felt the blood drain from his face and his legs begin to shake.  The smell of corpse gas also wanted to make him puke.  The two armed guards made strange noises as the marched in front of the two humans.  Kelly had recovered somewhat from the shock by the time they reached the officers mess.  The alien officers stood when Kelly entered and saluted him, or at least that’s what he thought they were doing.  They exulted as they saluted and it made him want to bolt.  Instead he cracked to attention and snapped out his name rank and number.

The other officers sat but captain Gairloch remained standing.  ‘It is an honour to have such a dedicated soldier of the human race at our table this evening.  Please join us Sergeant Kelly.’

‘The honour is entirely mine sir.’

There were fruit and vegetables available that the humans on board had found palatable and of course the alcohol.  Again it was palatable if somewhat vile.  It took a while for them all to warm up.  Some of the officers described fighting hand to hand through an enemy war ship and then Kelly began to talk about the house to house fighting in Normandy and across France.  They were particularly interested in the Normandy landings.  Steven sat back and listened to the warriors talk shop and by the end of the evening the atmosphere was warm and friendly and for Stevie very informative.  Toasts were drank to honour the sergeant and the emperor but then the aliens had to get back to their duties, with half the crew dead and more dying daily their workload had doubled and in some cases tripled.

There was only one more thing to do and Steven pulled Kelly to the side.  Five minutes later the battle cruiser pulled up alongside the freighter.  On board the freighter one set of doors opened and everyone watched as the cruiser slid alongside.  A long docking port slid out of the cruiser and onto the deck of the freighter.  The air lock opened and the tramp of marching feet could be heard clearly by the spectators.  The fact that The Burning Wind was an alien ship was a secret that Steven had guarded carefully in case such a situation as this arose.

Alien soldier marched onto the freighter arms held across their chest and provided a vanguard for the captain and his guests.  Men and women cried out in alarm but the noise quickly settled as Steven and Kelly came on-board flanking the huge Captain Gairloch.  They marched straight over to the holding pen the prisoners were kept in.

Gairloch growled something that didn’t translate.  ‘Are these the traitors Captain Gordon?’

Steven sighed, ‘yes that’s them.’

The force field came down and Gairloch walked into the pen.  The men shrank back.  ‘What are you going to do with them Captain Gordon?’

Steven shook his head, ‘I haven’t decided yet.  Mutiny during a time of war is punishable by death.  Of course there is mitigating circumstances.  The shock of their captivity.  The fact that they are misplaced years out of time and when they were abducted they were all fighting one war or another.’

‘I could deal with them for you.’

‘You mean you want to eat them.’

Gairloch shrugged in the manner he had observed humans do, ‘my men haven’t had fresh meat in ages, it would lift their spirits.’

Steven shook his head, ‘I think the authorities on Earth would object.’

‘I could give you a half dozen of those rifles you have been wanting for them.’

Steven seemed to think it over, ‘how about a rifle per man, I'm sure the council on Earth would be understanding.’

‘Why do you need one per man, one would do, just reverse engineer it.’

‘That’s true but the Earth council wouldn’t understand one for all.  It would have to be one per man.’

‘Half the number of weapons, that’s it.’

Steven rubbed his chin, ‘I suppose I could ask.’

Kelly stepped forward, ‘you can’t do that sir, that’s barbaric.’

‘I have the right to execute them Kelly.’

‘Then for god’s sake shoot them sir, not this.’

Steven rubbed his chin, ‘we could still sell the corpses.’

Gairloch snarled, ‘that would bruise the meat.  My butchers would make it quick and painless.’

‘Sir I must insist that these men be returned to Earth for a full trial.’  Steven ignored Kelly’s remark.

‘Could you throw in a few females as well, I could make it worth your while,’ Gairloch suggested.

Steven shook his head, ‘unfortunately no women took part in the mutiny.’

‘What about more men then, didn’t some of them disobey your orders?’

‘Yes actually quite a few.’

‘I could increase the rifles, maybe throw in a cannon.’

‘Sir I protest,’ snapped Kelly.

Steven eyed him warily, ‘they are already planning their next move sergeant.  In fact you and your men are a prime target the moment we feed them tomorrow morning.  They are going to try and escape and attack you and your men before trying to take the bridge again.’

‘They won’t sir.’

‘They are already planning it, ask Herr Goth there.’

Kelly scowled at Herr Goth, ‘are you an idiot?’

Her Goth had gone pure white, ‘we will give you no more trouble.’

‘See sir.’

‘Do you think I am going to take his word for it?’

‘Will you take mine?’

Steven thought it over, ‘I might well but if they cause any more trouble your life is forfeit as well, along with the rest of your compatriots.’

Kelly took a deep breath and turned to Herr Goth, ‘give me your parole now.’

‘You have it sergeant, mine and from all the men present.’

Kelly turned back to Steven, ‘agreed, but if they cause no more trouble then I expect the charges to be dropped.’

Steven grinned, ‘that’s a deal.’  He rubbed his hands, ‘I doubt if they will last the night.’

‘You mean I could have more?’  Gairloch asked.

‘Or maybe another thirty by morning.’ Steven grinned.

‘Sounds good to me,’ Gairloch barked as he turned away.

Halfway back to the airlock he stopped suddenly, ‘is this one of your children?’  He put his hand down to lift the woman’s chin but she slapped it away.  He cried out in surprise and snatched it back; then he burst out laughing.  ‘I like this one she is feisty.’

‘This I believe is Mya she is from the Philippines.  She is a fully grown young woman, her race is rather petite.’

‘I see, I like her spirit.  Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night Mya?’

She lifted her head, ‘I cannot, we have not been properly introduced.’  Her head dropped again.

He growled something and took a step back, ‘a human with proper manners, I am both surprised and delighted.  Captain Gordon would you formally introduce us.’

‘Captain Gairloch this is Mya from the planet Earth.  Mya this is Captain Gairloch, Captain of The Burning Wind.’

She dipped her head and looked up, ‘it is a pleasure to meet you Captain.’

‘It is a pleasure to meet you to Mya.  Would you do me the honour of dining with me tomorrow night?’

‘I am an unmarried woman captain, it would be improper for us to dine alone.’

‘You would be dining with me and some of my fellow officers.’

‘That would be acceptable sir, thank you.’

‘Until tomorrow, I will make arrangements with Captain Gordon.’

She bowed her head and he left with what Steven assumed was a smile on his face.  Steven returned to the bridge and the passengers began to unwind from the surprise visit.  The volume of noise increased dramatic as they discussed the visit.

The Sarge was surrounded by his concerned friends but he sent them packing.  Lady Jane cornered him alone.  ‘That was very noble of you Sergeant Kelly.’

He flashed a grin at her, ‘not really, those people only eat vegetables and grass.’

‘You mean they are herbivores.’

He shook his head, ‘I have no idea what that means, but they don’t eat meat.’

‘That’s what it means sergeant, so it is a ruse to keep them in line.’

‘Yup, not very noble I'm afraid but please keep that to yourself.’

She smiled, ‘I will, don’t worry.’

He undid his tie and unbuttoned his jacket before going over to release the prisoners.  He waved his hand in front of one of the posts.  ‘Just return to your bunks and behave huh.’

Her Goth was the first out.  He stopped in front of Kelly, ‘thank you sergeant, I will not forget.’

Kelly nodded, ‘just keep your men in line please sir.’

He offered his hand, ‘I will.’

Kelly shook it and Herr Goth sought out Sergeant Hertz and made another apology.

Chapter 23

They stood as close to the barrier as they could and watched with mouths agape as the ship passed Saturn.  The freighter had slowed down to a few thousand kilometres an hour to give them the best possible view.  More than one person pointed as the battle cruiser, escorted by the two earth ships slid past them then accelerated out of sight.

Herr Goth felt a presence and wasn’t surprised to find Sergeant Kelly standing beside him and smiled, ‘please do not worry Sergeant Kelly, I will cause no problems with them gone.’

Kelly nodded, ‘they ain't gone for long anyway.’

‘No matter.  Tomorrow we will be on the moon, can you imagine that?’

Kelly smiled, ‘I'm looking forward to it.  I hope it’s not like the Black Planet,’ he shuddered.

‘You were on the surface.’

‘Yeah.’

‘What was it like?’

‘Black.’

Herr Goth waited a moment but nothing more seemed to be forthcoming, ‘Just black?’

Kelly shook his head, ‘no, but I don’t know how else to describe it.  It was just black, so black.’  He shook his head and shrugged.

‘At least you saw it.’

Kelly smiled, ‘let’s just say you weren’t the only one who took a little time adjusting.  Captain Gordon thought it might bring me round quicker.  It worked.’

‘I owe him an apology.  I feel such a fool.’

‘Hard to accept?’

‘Very.  When we were abducted Germany was still winning the war and Herr Hitler was very much alive.  It is hard to believe he brought us so low.’

‘He went mad you know.’

‘So I have read.’

‘He poisoned his new bride and then shot himself in the head.  His people burned his corpse in a shell hole outside the fuehrer bunker before the Russians could get their hands on it.’

‘What I find hard to believe is the atrocities committed, six million innocent people sergeant; how?’

Kelly eyes hardened, ‘Oh believe it.  If you believe nothing else then believe that.’

‘Wait!  You saw it?’

‘Yup sure did.  Huge concentration camps miles long, living skeletons.  Rows of bodies stacked up like cord wood waiting for the ovens.  It was bloody awful.’

‘Why?’  Herr Goth asked.

Kelly shrugged, ‘they called it the final solution.  I don’t know.’

‘Women and children too?’

‘The kept the able-bodied for slave labour.  Women, children the old were all disposed of the moment they arrived.  Some women were kept of course, the pretty ones, you understand?’

‘Yes I do.’

Kelly nodded, ‘the rest were stripped naked and told they were going to be deloused and that they had to take a shower.  A big building with showerheads set along the wall, only there was no water, just a hole in the roof where they poured in the gas pellets.’

Herr goth felt bile rise in his throat.  ‘Gas my god, what happened to my people.  I met Herr Hitler once when I was fifteen years old.  I was already taller than him but he made me feel small. His eyes were mesmerising, he rescued us from poverty and misery.  He was my hero and I would have given my life willingly for him  Now I discover he was a monster.’  He shook his head sadly, ‘I suppose his super weapons were also a lie?’

Kelly took a deep breath, ‘well no they weren’t, by the end of the war he had produced rockets that could bomb London, and Germany developed the first jet aircraft.’

‘May I jump in Gentlemen,’ it was the large Beaver who was taking a turn to baby sit the passengers.  ‘I caught what you were saying as I passed.’

‘Yeah wouldn’t mind the help here Beaver,’ Kelly grinned, ‘five years after the war I was abducted myself and I ain't had the time for a full history lesson.’  Herr Goth simply nodded his permission.

‘A lot of good came from Germany after the end of the war.  In fact there was a race between the allies to scoop up her scientists.  It was these scientists that led the race into space.  After the war ended a cold war began between the east and the west.  America and Russia basically.  Russia put the first man into space and the USA the first men on the Moon.  Now Germany is the leader of the European Union and has the strongest industry in Europe.  You will be proud of them Herr Goth.’

He smiled, ‘you mean they achieved in peace what we couldn’t in war.’

Beaver nodded, ‘yup.’

‘Maybe that is something to be proud off, but what will they make of an ex-Nazi?’

‘We checked your records sir, you committed no war crimes.  You fought your war with honour and valour.  There will be no reprisals carried out against you or your men of any kind.  After a period of readjustment you will be allowed to take up a normal life.’

‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ Herr Goth admitted.

Beaver laughed, ‘a few weeks sheltered accommodation and lessons on how to cope with modern life.  Training programs if you wish, a trade that sort of thing.’

He smiled, ‘that doesn’t sound so bad after all.’

‘It was also the last war in western Europe.’

Herr Goth raised an eyebrow, ‘now that I find hard to believe.’

The three men laughed and Beaver left them with some good advice, ‘if I was you two I would get some rest.  Tomorrow morning we arrive at the Moon.  I can assure you gentlemen it will be a long day.’

Beaver walked of and they watched him go.  ‘Thank you for everything you did Sergeant Kelly.’

‘No problem sir, I wish you luck.’

Her Goth smiled, ‘maybe we could meet up on this Moonbase for a beer and one of your American steaks.’

Kelly laughed, ‘oh you know how to take advantage of a man’s weakness.’  They both laughed and Kelly offered his hand, ‘I will look forward to that.’

They shook and separated.  As they began to accelerate away from Saturn the doors closed and Herr Goth returned to his bunk.

Chapter 24

It seemed the whole world was waiting at the Moonbase for the alien battle craft.  Shuttles took the captain and some of his officers down to the base where a large reception was being held.  Petrified politicians made speeches for about an hour until one of the officers was cut down.  They didn’t realise it was a ruse by them to cut the bullshit short.  Laughing they made their way down to the planet below.  The Burning Wind landed on the vast African plains.  Steven was there before them to witness the spectacle.  Thousands of aliens stepped off The Burning Wind and into the heat soaked plains of the African continent.  It took a few minutes for them to adjust to the heavy gravity but in short order they began to run through the dry grasses.

Steven found Gairloch sitting in the long grass laughing, he was munching on grass heads full of seeds, he called out, ‘Steven, come join me.’

Steven sat down with some trepidation, ‘you need to tell your people to be careful, there are wild animals out here.’

He laughed, ‘we can take care of ourselves.’

‘You would be amazed by how others have voiced the same thing right before they run into their first African lion.’

He thought that was even funnier, ‘everything for miles ran away, don’t worry.  This is heaven Steven.  I never thought such a place ever existed.’

‘It certainly does.’

‘This is the correct place.’

‘Yes it is.’

‘It is so beautiful.  We would not wish to ruin this landscape.’

Steven shook his head, ‘the same machine that made your coffins will inter your people.  It will remove the soil and bury your people at the same time.  The soil will be put on-board a freighter that will arrive within the hour.  There will be no sign of your ever having been here apart from the monument you built and it will stand at the top of the hill here.’

‘Yes and I shall be interred inside it.’

‘That was your request and that is how it shall be done.’

‘Leave us now please.  We will rest this day and frolic in the sun, enjoy the breeze and the scent of this grass.’

The following day Steven arrived to find a very emotional Gairloch.  The party had gone on all night and some of the animals had begun to return.  One group had gotten to close and had fallen foul of a Rhino.  His death had been swift but his comrades had exulted and carried him high to be buried.  It took a full two days to inter those that had already died and those who had died since arriving on Earth.  A solemn ceremony was held by the crew and all details were sent home along with an in-depth report about humanity.  Gairloch and his crew were keen to explore this new world and taste its wonders.  They travelled the world over sampling the grass and in some way became famous connoisseurs at home.

The grass on the Russian steppes was considered an acquired taste.  The buffalo grass on the high plains was a delicacy.  The grass that most farmers used to feed cattle was considered good staple food not unlike what they had at home.  Different types of hay were also considered delicacies.  The crew of The Burning Wind were welcomed in most major countries.  They also tried vegetables and fruits and the seeds from many different types of grass and some suede’s were sent back home in a capsule.  They would be grown in the emperor’s garden for his banquets.  However being so close to the sun was taking its toll and dozens died every day.

Chapter 25

Half an hour before they landed ,the freighter did a quick orbit of the Moon.  The excitement was palatable.  Kelly found himself once more standing beside Herr Goth.  ‘Moring Sergeant Kelly, so what are you going to do first?’

‘Find me the biggest steak I can find and a cold beer.’

‘Herr Goth smiled, ‘I'm just glad it’s not us on the menu.’

Kelly laughed, ‘those aliens are something called herbivores sir, you were safe enough.’  The look on the man’s face made Kelly laugh all the harder.

‘My God!  We were tricked.’

‘I’ll say.  The facts remain the same though, but at least we are all alive to appreciate it.’

Herr Goth was stunned, ‘Those things only eat grass?’

Kelly laughed even harder, ‘the plan was concocted between the captains to try and prevent more violence.  Captain Gordon wanted everyone who survived to make it home.  He understood how difficult it was for some to accept the situation but he knew that the appearance of Captain Gairloch would shock everyone into accepting it.  Or so Buzz said anyway.’

Herr Goth shook his head, ‘it certainly worked on me sergeant.’

He offered his hand and Kelly shook it, ‘we may well get a chance at that steak and a beer later.’

Herr Goth sighed, ‘it would be on you as they say.  I heard that all American soldiers are getting back pay from the day they were abducted.’

‘We sure are.’

‘I'm afraid the German government hasn’t been as generous.’

Komoru’s voice came over the system, ‘ladies and gentlemen please be ready to disembark.  Before you enter the complex completely you will be met by representatives from your countries.  Please be aware that since your abduction many countries have changed their flags.  To help we have placed a console inside the docking bay.  As you pass please place your hand on the glass panel and wait until the light flashes.  A picture of your current flag will be printed out and handed to you.  Please go to the appropriate table displaying your flag and register with your consulate.  If your country is not present then please look for me, I will be sitting at the table with the picture of the Moon on it.  In the mean time we thought you may well like to see the Earth from outer space.’

The dig doors opened and there were gasps of surprise.  Kelly felt a lump rise in his throat, ‘holy shit.’

Herr Goth laughed, ‘it is beautiful is it not?’

‘Ain't any other word for it sir.’

Sergeant Hertz joined them and Herr Goth placed a hand on his shoulder.  The sergeant smiled and just absorbed the scene.  Eventually the freighter began to turn and the doors began to close there was a cry of dismay from the gathered people, but it soon turned to cries of joy as the doors on the opposite side opened to reveal the Moons lunar landscape as it slid by.  They all rushed over.

‘We will soon see our base come into view,’ Komoru informed them.  When it did there was great gasps of surprise.  ‘I am sorry but we are going to have to close the cargo bay doors before docking with the complex.  You may want to sit down until the procedure is complete.’

She and Lewis rushed back to Ico and he separated from the freighter.  Babes was already in her bay and Ico joined her.  Steven had landed half an hour before and had showered.  He was waiting for Komoru as she stepped off Ico.  She threw herself into his arms and as quickly detached herself.  They were both flushing furiously.

‘We got them home safe Steven.’

‘We sure did.’

‘Are you going down to meet them?’

He screwed up his face, ‘not sure if I should.  I'm not exactly flavour of the month am I?’

She took his hand, ‘you did the right thing, never be frightened of that.  Come let us greet them to our home.’

He found himself grinning stupidly, ‘yeah OK.’

He let himself be dragged away and a grinning Lewis followed close behind.  Komoru hated the way the passengers had looked at Steven since the incident with the alien.

Built to otherworld specifications the freighter slid straight into the freighting bay of the complex.  It was the first time the staff saw that part of their complex working as it was intended.  The part of the ship that still carried cargo was unloaded in minutes to the astonishment of everyone present.  It took longer to remove the passengers.

When Steven and Komoru arrived at the unloading bay she discovered her fears were unfounded.  There was a sudden decrease in the noise levels then someone began clapping.  It began to increase in volume until a cockney voice shouted out, three cheers for the Captains for getting us home safe.  The call was taken up until Steven and Komoru found themselves laughing.  Herr Goth walked over still clapping and laughing.  He snapped to attention and clicked his heels giving a bow of his head rather than a salute.

‘Herbivores captain, really!’

Steven laughed, ‘I am sorry Herr Goth; a ruse played to get you all home safely.’

‘It was a ruse well played captain,’ he offered his hand and Steven shook it.  ‘Thank you for everything you did Captain.  It has been very hard for me to accept the situation.  When I was abducted we were winning the war and I utterly and truly believed in the fuehrer’s vision of the future.  I did not realise how low he would stoop to achieve those aims.’

Steven nodded his head, ‘when I saw all the different uniforms dug up out of that hole Herr Goth I quickly realised how hard it was going to be for many of you and made allowances.  It was why I woke you all up a week from home and not when you arrived.  It gave you all time to make that adjustment.’

Herr Goth smiled, ‘thank you again,’ he bowed slightly and walked away to where the German consulate was waiting for them.  An official seemed to be getting a hard time from a couple of tough looking guys.  Steven decided it was their problem now and walked away with Komoru by his side.

‘What's going to happen now Steven?’

Stevie smiled down at her, ‘it’s all out of our hands now Komoru.  The world leaders are bending over backwards to accommodate their lost citizens.  Some have flown family members up to meet them.  Big press conferences, and they have also rented every available space amongst the liners to get them home, so I can’t imagine they will be with us long.  Tonight however the Moonbase is throwing its first official party.  Beer barbecue and steaks all round.’

‘I hope there will be rice.’

‘Of course there will, and vegetables, I've hired a few top chefs and had them imported for the occasion.  People will be able to wander from barbecue to barbecue to taste their wares.’

‘The oxygen generators will be working overtime then.’

He nodded, ‘already taken into account.’

‘Sounds like fun; will you go?’

‘Yeah of course, I'm even going to have a few beers.’

She laughed, ‘you are going to get drunk?’

‘Oh hell no, just a few.  I have been old enough for quite a few years now, I think it’s about time I gave one a try.’

Her tinkling laugh did strange things to him but he just smiled and enjoyed the feeling.  They moved in and around the people until they began to thin out.

‘What comes next Steven?’

He let out a long breath, ‘we have to try and organise the Earths Defence Corps.  Build new bases, new ships with weapons capable of defeating the Albany.’

‘When are we going to start?’

‘I have already started, on the dark side of the Moon and on Mars and on one of Saturn’s Moons.’

‘When did you start all that.’

‘Uh!  The day after we discovered what the Albany were up to.’

‘How!’

‘Probes with nanobots on board.  Not here on the Moon of course.  Mum dropped a couple of tons of them on the dark side of the moon for me.  I'm also having a dozen specialised freighters built.’

Her hands came up onto her hips and Steven became alarmed.  ‘When were you going to tell me?’

‘As soon as it became relevant to do so, which was tomorrow afternoon after the party when I have a big meeting scheduled with everyone.’

‘I would like to have known sooner.’  She tapped a foot.

‘You could have asked Ico, he knew.’

Her brows were pulled together as she concentrated, then they shot up again, then down as she replied.  Steven grinned, he couldn’t hear what was being said without asking permission but by the look on Komoru’s face Ico was getting it tight.  Komoru saw his grin and her scowl became even more fearsome, ‘I do not like being kept out of the loop Steven and it’s not funny.’

He laughed, ‘I'm just going to blame Ico if you start on me.  Feel free to go over the plans if you wish, he has them all and suggest alternatives if you wish.’

She crossed her arms, ‘I still don’t think it is funny.  So what is the Earths Defence Corps saying about all of this and of course the Earths leaders?’

‘Oh! Um, well they haven’t got a clue yet.’

‘Oh Steven, that isn’t good.’

He shrugged, ‘so far everything they have suggested has been complete stupidity.’

She shook her head, ‘you have to listen to them Steven and not steamroller these people.’

‘The die for the first round has already been cast I'm afraid.’

‘Be careful Steven.’

‘Don’t worry Komoru I will.’

‘You are coming across as arrogant,’ she admonished.

He shook his head, ‘that’s not how I wish to appear.’

‘Nerveless, that is how you appear to me.’

His face fell, ‘then I apologise.’

She turned and walked away and Steven sighed with frustration, ‘that did not go well.’

‘She is right my heart, you should have said something sooner.’

‘Maybe Babes but she had her hands full.  I didn’t want to distract her.’

‘She is demanding to know everything you have put in place so far.’

‘Then let her see everything.’

‘Yes my heart.’

Chapter 26

Lady Jane sat with her hands over her ears, ‘what on Earth is that!’  Everyone was laughing out loud at her.  Steven requested some golden oldies and soon a track from the eighties was played.  ‘Is that any better Lady Jane?’

‘I don’t know, is it?’  They all laughed even louder.

‘I hear you are going to be staying with the King when you get home.’

She stuck her nose in the air, ‘it would seem I have little choice in the matter.  When the last of my line passed away all our lands and properties were returned to the crown as well as any monies left.  I was hoping for a few days to explore but unfortunately it would seem I have to leave tomorrow with your father.’

Stevens’s dad laughed, ‘his majesty was very persuasive, and I will warn you Lady Jane our young King is looking for a bride.’

She regarded him coldly, ‘he had better do no more than look.’  It brought forth a gale of laughter.

‘Where has the English embassy put you up?’  Steven asked.

‘At the Sheraton.’

‘I hear it is very nice there.’

She cocked her head slightly, ‘haven’t you stayed there captain?’

‘No I have my own quarters on Base.’

Steven turned to Kelly, ‘what are you going to be doing when you get home Sarge?’

He shook his head, ‘don’t rightly know sir.  We got to get a medal from the president for our defence of that hill.  That’s about it.’

‘I hear it is well deserved.’

‘Hell I got plenty medals sir, they used to come in with the C rations, but I ain’t never met a president before.’

‘It ain't all it’s cracked up to be,’ grunted Howe.  That brought another laugh from the crew.

Kelly grinned, ‘yeah I heard you fellas had a run in with the leader of democracy a while back.’

‘Yeah we sorted his shit out,’ Beaver growled then apologised to the ladies in the company.

‘It’s a long story,’ Steven admitted as he experimentally sipped a beer.  His grimace made Komoru laugh.  It seemed she had forgiven him for the moment.  Her mother and father had arrived with Stevens’s parents and the mothers were deep in conversation.  A figure appeared beside Steven, he looked up to find Herr Goth standing there.

‘Herr Goth, how can I help you?’

He smiled and clicked his heels together, he looked very aristocratic in his new clothes, ‘I was looking for Sergeant Kelly sir, he promised to buy me a beer.’

‘I thought your embassy was holding a reception at the Royal.’

‘It was, however there was somewhat of a disruption and I decided to leave and find the Sergeant.’

‘They ain't paid me yet.’  Kelly laughed.

‘Gentlemen the beers are on me tonight, help yourselves.’  Steven told them.  Just then there was a commotion outside.  They could hear women screaming and men shouting.  Two men ran past naked wearing only boots and scarves laughing their heads off and a bottle of champagne clutched in each hand.

‘And there goes the disruption now,’ Herr Goth growled.

The second time round they stopped outside the restaurant.  The tall one noticed them and gave them a cheery wave, the giant at his side roared with laughter and gave them a wiggle.  Cornered by the security staff they launched themselves over the balcony with a security detail hard on their heels.  Steven had tears streaming down his face as had most of the others.  Only a few of the women were embarrassed by the display.

‘Mum when the security guys catch them and lock them up, can you make sure they get everything they need.’

She wiped away a tear, ‘I will make the call.’

Lady Jane slipped her hands from her face, ‘are you and your mother held in such high esteem here that you can make such a request Captain?’

‘My mother oversees this base and our main spaceport back on Earth.’

She frowned, ‘does this base belong to the British government?’

Steven shook his head, ‘there is no such thing now and no, no government has any say in what happens on this base.’

‘Oh then who does it belong to?’

Steven thought it over, ‘all of us I suppose.’

‘Forgive my ignorance captain, all of whom?’

‘The ships crews I suppose, we built it.’

‘You built it,’ Howe grinned at the blushing Steven.

He shrugged, ‘I just adapted a builders design is all.

‘And the one in Scotland,’ reminded his mother.

‘And Japan,’ Komoru’s mother piped up.

‘Again I just adapted plans is all.’  He turned to Lady Jane, ‘it is all very complicated, really.’

‘Wait!  This is your base, you are in charge of all this?’

He shrugged, ‘sort off.’  They all burst out laughing, ‘we of course rent out most of it to commercial companies.’

‘And all the space going vessels your Mum built,’ Buzz grinned.

It was making him uncomfortable talking about this and Lady Jane noticed it, ‘I am sorry captain I was just trying to figure out the chain of command.’

‘Well, there's Stevie,’ laughed Buzz.

‘And him,’ laughed Howe pointing at Steven.

They all began to join in laughing as Stevens face got redder and redder.  He shrugged helplessly at Lady Jane, ‘did you enjoy your meal?’  He attempted to change the subject.

‘It was rather rustic but agreeable after those awful bars you served on board the freighter.’  She answered to a howl of laughter.

‘They were awful,’ Buzz agreed and it started another conversation much to Steven’s relief.

The party began to break up soon after that.  Kelly and Herr Goth retired to the bar where they talked soldiering all night long until they could barely stand.  Many of the survivors appeared and joined in.  Soon there was singing and dancing.

Steven slipped away with a couple of bottles of champagne and a crate of beer.  He found the two Germans still locked up in the cells below, they were playing cards and cheating openly.  They invited Steven into the cell and entertained him with stories about their war; they also taught him how to cheat at cards.  Despite how much they had to drink they still seemed reasonably sober.  By the early hours of the morning Steven was as drunk as a skunk.  He left the two of them playing cards and singing loudly.  He fell into his bed and the room began to spin.

‘Would you like me to remove the alcohol from your system my heart?’

‘Yes please.’

He knew no more.

Chapter 27

Steven sat outside the council chambers for forty minutes before getting up and leaving.  Half an hour later he was sitting enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee when Buzz called.

‘Hey bud I got some guy on the line screaming at me and demanding your presence immediately, what’s going on?’

‘They are at it again bud.’

‘At what?’

‘Trying to put me in my place, they kept me waiting for forty minutes so I walked out.’

Buzz laughed, ‘so what will I tell this clown?’

‘Tell them I'm a busy man and I may have some time on Friday, so don’t forget to make an appointment.’

Buzz laughed, ‘yeah OK I’ll tell them.’

That afternoon he spent his time crawling around the Battle Cruiser with their chief mechanic.  Then in the evening he began to assign men and women from the academy; much to the displeasure from many governments back on Earth.

On the Friday afternoon he once more found himself in the waiting room but this time they didn’t keep him waiting long.  He was called in and he found himself staring down a dozen sour-faced men.

‘Mr Gordon, I am senator Kennet, in charge of this council, please be seated.  Now shall we get down to business?’

‘Yes please, I am very busy.’

‘Good, to begin with you will hand over all your assets on the moon.  It will become a forward military base.  Then you will report to Andrews Air Force base and hand over both of your ships to the US military.’

‘No.’

‘You refuse Mr Gordon?’

‘It’s Captain Gordon to you, you pompous ass and yes I refuse.’

‘In that case we will have to use force.’

‘I would like to see you try.’

It was the first time the men smiled and as the senators hand reached out to a button Steven gave a silent command.  The men began to shimmer and then disappeared.  He stood up with a smile, ‘Beam me up Babes.’  A few seconds later he appeared in the transport room in the ship.  ‘Always wanted to say that,’ he laughed.

‘Say what my heart?’

Hailey was sitting at her post, ‘you are back early Captain.’

Steven rubbed his hands together gleefully, ‘the game is afoot Hailey.’

‘What game?’

‘The power game Hailey.  Is that bug active Babes?’

‘Yes my heart.’

‘Activate it then.’

A moment later they were sitting watching developments in the White House.  The president was sitting alone when a man burst in.

‘Good God Jeff, where’s the fire?’

‘They have gone sir.’

The president shook his head, ‘who’s gone where?’

‘The committee, Earths Council and we don’t know where.’

‘What the hell is going on Jeff, weren’t they supposed to be talking to Captain Gordon today?’

‘They were sir, they were when they disappeared.’

The president sat back, ‘oh my god, what has he done!  Get him in here now.’

A familiar face appeared about ten minutes later.  The president was fuming, ‘what did you do George?’

The ex-president stuck his nose in the air.  ‘I only did what was in our best interest’s sir.’

‘The committee has disappeared any suggestions?’

‘Bring those ships down sir and bring Gordon to justice.’

The president hid his face in his hands for a moment.  ‘I brought you back onto the political scene because of a favour I owed.  You begged for this assignment and promised that you would not upset Captain Gordon in any way.  That you would prove you had changed your ways and now supported this programme full heartedly.  So what did you actually do and why weren’t you there?’

‘I did not think Mr Gordon would react kindly to my presence so I omitted myself from a seat.’

‘I see, so what did your people ask of him?’

‘We demanded he hand over his base on the Moon and both of his ships.  We were also going to demand the handing over of all his bases to US military control wherever they may be regardless of the country.  However something went wrong.’

‘You were monitoring?’

‘Of course sir.’

‘You have the recording?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Hand it over.’

‘Something went wrong with the video feed the moment Gordon arrived but you can still hear them speak.’

The president listened intently then stood up and called in his aid.  ‘Jeff, I want you to removed George here from Washington and put him under house arrest.’

‘What charge sir?’

‘Treason will do for now.’

‘I protest sir,’ George spluttered.

‘Shut up you fool, you were ordered to ask Captain Gordon if he would lend us his Moonbase for the duration of the crisis and if he would put his ships under American command, not bloody demand it or them.  Get out of here you bloody idiot and never show your face in Washington again during my presidency or so help me god I will have you shot.’  He turned to his aid, ‘as soon as he is gone return.’

‘Is this a soap,’ Steven turned to find Colonel Howe there.

‘Nope, this is live from the Whitehouse.’

‘Is that legal?’

‘Never asked.’

Howe laughed, ‘I can’t believe they brought that guy back.  You wanted to see me sir?’

‘As soon as the show is over.’

Howe grinned and sat down, ‘now this is a show I could get used to.’

Jeff was only gone a few minutes, ‘he is being escorted out sir.’

The president leaned back in his chair, ‘what a bloody mess.  Damage control, get in touch with Captain Gordon and ask him to come and see me personally at his first convenience.  Apologise for what transpired and try and reassure him that it will not happen again.’

‘Yes sir.’

Steven turned to Sid Tulane, ‘Sid when that call comes in please inform me.’  He stood up, ‘this is going to be a superfast briefing Colonel.’

‘Then let’s get started sir.’

A short while later Sid got in touch with Steven but by then Howe knew the role he had to play.  Babes monitored the president’s office until he was alone.  She gave them a quick warning then beamed them down.  He never noticed them until Steven cleared his throat.

The president jumped clean out of his seat.  ‘Where the hell did you two come from?’ He gasped clutching at his chest.

Steven pointed upwards, ‘I got a call you wanted to see me as soon as possible to clear the air.’

‘Shit!  I meant make an appointment.’  He raised a hand, ‘never mind you are here now, would you gentlemen like some refreshments.’  They both declined.  ‘The reason I wanted to talk to you was to do with your base on the Moon.  We wish to borrow it from you for the time being as a forward military base.  I am sure you will see the sense in that.’

‘OK let me stop you right there Mr President, you are not getting our base, neither am I going to put my ships under direct American control.  The simple fact is you still gave no real idea what you are going to do about the situation or even how to deal with it. That you are trying to circumnavigate the Earth Space Corps and dictate to the World why, how and what, is proof of that.  That is not going to happen Mr President, but neither am I going to sit here and dictate to you either.  I am going to show what I have already set in motion and my plans to build a fleet of ships to defeat them.  After that you can make up your own mind whether you want to get on board with us or not.’

The president sat back, ‘OK make you pitch Captain Gordon, but tell me where my committee is first please.’

‘They are safe and sound sir and will be returned soon.  By the end of this week I will have completed fully, one base designed specifically for defence on the Moon.  That is on the dark side of the Moon.  I also have a squadron of advanced space fighters under construction at our facility in Scotland.  I also have forward operating bases being constructed on Mars and one of Saturn’s moons.’

‘OK stop there for a second will you, I need my secretary to take notes.’

‘Certainly.’

He went to his desk, ‘Janet come in will you and cancel all my appointments this afternoon.  Could you also arrange refreshments please for four?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘You will need dictation equipment.’

‘Yes sir.’

She got a shock when she walked in and saw the two men in his office but covered it up.  Steven began to dictate to the president.  Colonel Howe set up a projector like screen that Babes downloaded images too.  Steven gave the president a full briefing which lasted for two hours.  Occasionally Howe would explain certain weapons they had been training on and tactics.

When he was finished the president was dumbfounded, ‘that is quite remarkable Captain Gordon and will be a quite an achievement if you can pull it off.  What do you need?’

‘Materials sir; I only have enough to complete the first base.’

‘That could be costly.’

‘Not if you give me the location of every municipal dump in the USA and permission to fly in your airspace.’

‘You have it but why?’

‘We need things like wood, paper, glass, aluminium, steel, iron, ceramics, rubber, you know basic stuff.  Our equipment can suck it straight out of a dump and turn it into anything we want and in any shape and form. What better place to get that stuff from for free than a dump, especially old ones.  Some ships as I have explained will have to be built in space, which means space docks, accommodation, everything.’

‘Why not just mine fresh materials?’

Steven shrugged, ‘as you have said it is simply cost.  Mining takes time and money.  This type of reclamation costs nothing.’

The president suddenly grinned, ‘I have a few tyre mountains you may want to consider and I believe there's lots of space junk floating about in our atmosphere.’

Steven laughed, ‘that’s just what I wanted to hear, ‘so you are on board?’

‘The United States will give you any help you require Captain Gordon.’

Steven stood and they shook hands, ‘thank you Mr President.’  A second later they simply vanished.

Janet squeaked, ‘where did they go?’

The president pointed upwards, ‘what did you make of Captain Gordon Janet?’

‘A bit creepy sir.’

‘Oh! Why?’

‘He dictated to me for two hours without looking at a single note of any kind.’

‘I see what you mean Janet.  I have met a lot of intelligent people in my time but Captain Gordon makes them look like chimpanzees trying to shove funny shapes into funny holes.’

These was a sudden commotion outside; Jeff knocked and walked in holding his nose, ‘our people have turned up sir.’

The president shook his head, ‘what the hell is that smell?’

‘I think its fish sir.’

Chapter 28

‘That’s the last one captain.’

‘Thanks Hailey.’

The freighter began to break orbit.  Inside its hold there were hundreds of tons of metal salvaged from dead satellites.  It had taken days of sifting through the garbage that circled our planet to complete the task.  A few choice items from the space age had been returned to earth as Museum pieces.  Most were small enough to beam down; they had tried to piggyback the ancient Mir Space Station but it had broken up on re-entry; a loss Steven felt keenly.  A few companies back on Earth did kick up a stink about their satellites being stolen, but as they had been designated space garbage years before they were very quickly silenced.

The Earth Defence Ship the EDF Rodriguez, named after a Spanish entrepreneur who had left a vast fortune to the new Space Corps on his death; lifted up from Scotland.  It was now the third one built and identical to the one they had reclaimed from the Black Planet.  It turned towards Mercury and disappeared into the black.  Steven watched it go and turned his mind back to his task in hand.

‘Satellite relays in position Stevie,’ Buzz told him.

‘The freighters?’

‘Will be by the time we hit that dump.’

‘Right Hailey take us down.’

He spotted the long line of freighters sliding into orbit before they were out of line of sight.  They entered American airspace and hovered over the sight of an old dump outside Washington DC.  ‘Everyone is in position Stevie.’

‘Begin.’

Buzz got up and went over to a monitor that displayed the inside of the freighter.  A beam of light lanced out of Babes and into the dump.  Another light lanced skywards.  ‘Relay stations working captain.’  Hailey reported.

‘Thanks Hailey, what's happening Buzz?’

‘Nothing yet; Wait, here it comes.  It’s working Stevie.’

He sat back with a sigh, ‘thank god for that.’

It took hours to fill every freighter, then hours for them to return to the moon, unload and come back.  Steven knew it was going to take a mountain of materials and by the time the freighters returned to the moon that which they had dumped would probably be used up.  It was a balancing act and Steven knew it.  Trying to get the right materials to the right place at the right time to complete construction.  It would take a week to clean out the huge dump, but all the bases on the moon would be furbished.

Sid Tulane caught his attention, ‘sir, a call coming in from Captain Gairloch.’

Steven rubbed his temples, ‘OK I will take it in my quarters.’  He went below and activated his screen.

‘Steven my friend, where have you been?’

‘On duty I’m afraid, how are you?  You look like you are putting on weight.’

Gairloch laughed, ‘how could I not.  My Emperor has put in a request for more seeds, would that be possible?’

‘I don’t see why not.  I will put the request in.’

‘Keep him happy Steven and you will be able to ask what you will after you have defeated the Albany.

Steven couldn’t help but smile, ‘I will keep that in mind.’

‘I finally visited the country of your birth and drank from a highland spring.  You were right, I have never tasted water so good.  The Heather I think is an acquired taste but I do know a race that would love it.’

Steven laughed, ‘how are the recruits coming along?’

‘It was difficult to begin with but they seem to be getting the hang of it.  We need more men Steven.’

‘They are coming your way in the next few days.’

‘Let me guess, politics.’

‘As always.  They are forming councils, asking for volunteers from their armed forces, tripping over their own feet, standing on one another’s toes; you know?’

‘We don’t really have that problem, the emperor commands and we obey but I have seen it in other planets and cultures.’

‘Well don’t worry.  They have come up with a scheme whereby their personal will be seconded to the Earth Space Corps and they are choosing men right now to meet your requirements.’

‘That’s good to hear Steven.’

‘How is your health?’

‘I have been very lucky so far.  I was hit twice this week.  Once in the arm and again in the leg.  The wounds are healing slowly.  I will let you get back to your duties, visit soon.’

‘I will try my best.’

The following week another dozen freighters came online and Komoru and Ico swung into action on garbage detail.  They hit the outskirts of Moscow where they began to draw a large crowd.  The army rushed to intervene and kept them back.  The atmosphere seemed to take on a picnic like quality.  A special request had been made by the Russians.  When the freighters went to dump their loads Komoru ordered the special project to begin.

‘Lewis is the area clear?’

‘Yes Miss Komoru.’

‘The redirect the stream and tell it to pick up organic material please.’

‘All done.’

The beam began to light up an area cordoned off by the army.  Grey briquettes about the size of a common brick began to appear.  They soon began to stack up.  The government had asked if they could supply them with a smokeless fuel for their old power plants.  The people quickly saw what was happening and a souvenir grab began.  Komoru had to stop the process when a stack of these briquettes collapsed and buried a dozen or so people.  There wasn’t enough soldiers to prevent the grab and they had to dig out the buried people.  Luckily no one was seriously injured.  It wasn’t until the following day that they managed to regain control of the situation.  At the end of the second day there were so many bystanders that she used sonic bombs to settle the dump in case anyone ventured into it.

‘How far has it settled Lewis?’

‘About three millimetres Miss Komoru.’

She was shocked, ‘is that all?’

He shrugged, ‘das all.’

‘Oh we are going to be here forever.’

Chapter 29

Buzz sauntered on to the bridge, ‘so what we doing today Stevie?’

‘Heading for Mercury.’

‘Did you hear from the Rodriguez?’

‘Yup sure did.  The mission has been a complete success.’

Buzz nodded, ‘that’s a weight of our minds then.’

‘Yup, I wasn’t sure if it would have worked.’

‘Has the freighter got everything they need on board?’

‘They sure have.’

Buzz nodded again, ‘how long ago did we send them out?’

‘About six weeks I think, the same day we started garbage detail.’

‘Oh yeah I remember now; bloody garbage detail.’

‘Now now Buzz, I know you all hate it but it is important.’

‘We got mountains of stuff now, literally.’

‘I know but we barely have enough for a tenth of a battle fleet.’

Buzz rubbed the back of his neck, ‘jezz.’

‘Hey we now have ships with atmospheric capabilities, manned with crews and going at it full blast,’ Steven reminded him.

‘Yeah I know we don’t have to do it anymore.  Word is the fighter base on the moon has all its fighters ready.’

‘That’s good, anything for me?’

‘The newly formed council committee, whoever the bloody hell they are, are demanding your presence again.’

Stevens face darkened, ‘oh what the hell for now!’

‘PR, recruiting drive.’

‘Ach away to hell.  We have every member of all the armed forces of every country on Earth already signed up to join us, and that includes their Navy’s.’

‘Yeah this has something to do with appeasing the citizens of Earth Stevie.’

‘Haven’t got time to play the celebrity Buzz.’

‘You already are one, hell we are all celebrities, they have plastic dolls of all of us now.  Don’t get how yours is the same height as me though.’

Steven laughed, ‘yeah I wondered at that as well.  Did you see the Lewis doll?’

They both laughed, ‘I got the whole set,’ Buzz admitted.

‘Yeah well plastic dolls or not I, we don’t have the time for this.  Any word from Komoru?’

‘They should be back by the time you finish breakfast.’

‘That’s good, did they get a good haul?’

Buzz stretched a kink out of his neck, ‘Hundred thousand tons of precious metals, and they are towing it straight to the Space dock.’

‘Good, once we have the haul from Mercury we can go into full production.’

‘Yeah I've seen the skeletons of the two new battle cruisers; is it me Stevie or do they look smaller than The Burning Wind.’

‘Identical, but built to human scale, and they will pack the same punch.’

‘That’s good to know.’

Steven laughed, ‘well we just didn’t need ten feet of head clearance in every corridor.  I reduced it to seven feet which will save us tons of material.’

Buzz nodded thoughtfully, ‘how did the meeting go with all those admirals and generals?’

‘Not good,’ Steven admitted, ‘I ran circles round them last night.  I think only one or two even made an effort to read the materials I sent them.’

‘So you kicked their arses in the simulator.’

‘The most embarrassing thing for them was that Gairloch blasted them as incompetent fools.’

Buzz laughed, ‘he was observing right.’

‘Yup.  I slaughtered them, then he slaughtered them and then he beat me.’

‘Beat not slaughtered!’

Steven grinned, ‘at the end of the battle he only had ten percent of his forces remaining.’

‘That wouldn’t have pleased him,’ Buzz grinned back.

‘He praised me to the high heavens; he has had a lifetime to study tactics and has been a soldier all his life.  He is also considered one of the best in his own galaxy.  He admitted that if the situation had been real he would have backed off due to the high casualty rate.’  Steven laughed, ‘he told me that if it all went pear shaped the emperor would give me a job.’

‘Sounds good to me,’ Buzz grinned.

‘You're pussyfooting around something Buzz, out with it.’

The smile disappeared, ‘I'm worried we got all our eggs in one basket, you are making the Moon a big target.’

‘I know but we just don’t have the resources to do anything else at the moment Buzz.  Plus keeping this stuff away from the Earth will prevent a thousand different possible disasters happening there.  Don’t worry as our strength grows I will begin to disperse our assets.’

Buzz stood, ‘breakfast time then.’

When they returned Komoru was waiting for them.  Steven couldn’t help the smile that split his face when she appeared on screen.  ‘Good morning, have a good trip?’

She smiled back at him, ‘I could do with a day off.’

‘Oops.’

She laughed, ‘it’s OK, I'm going to take a day when we get back from this trip.’

‘You ready?’

‘Yes let’s go get it done.’

The two ships disappeared into the black.  An hour later they were approaching mercury.

‘Captain!’

‘Yes Hailey.’

‘Why is this metal only found on Mercury?’

‘You know how the solar system was formed right.’

‘Big bang.’

‘Everything was thrown out away from the sun.  How far it was thrown depended on the density of the material.’

‘You mean like blood in a centrifuge.’

‘Exactly.  It coalesced in bands and began to collide eventually forming the planets.’

‘I get that but why is it some alien planets have this material on them and we don’t, that I don’t get, shouldn’t they all be the same?’

‘There will be solar systems out there exactly like ours, some have more than one sun, maybe more than one explosion from different quarters, you know.’

She blinked, ‘oh hell I should have thought of that.  We are coming up on Mercury now sir.’

Come to stop twenty miles from the freighter and put her on screen please.’

The freighter leapt to life on the forward screen.  Buzz burst out laughing, ‘what the hell is that?’

‘That’s what we are here to pick up.’

Chapter 30

This was their first real space mission and it had lasted over six weeks.  All the men selected were Astronauts.  Commander John Logan’s heart beat faster as they manoeuvred onto the cobalt blue slab of metal.  It was three hundred meters deep, five hundred meters wide by five miles long.  The surface of Mercury shimmered far below.  This was the last slab and they would be heading back today.  They skimmed across the surface of the slab.  Below them green arrows pointed the way.  When they began to flash he slowed the platform down.  He had to make a small lateral adjustment.

‘OK that’s us bang on boys, deploy.’

The platform had been towing a large box.  His operator flicked a switch that lowered it onto the surface of the slab.  Two got out and checked that there was contact with the metal on all four corners.  They confirmed contact and explosive bolts secured the large box to the slab of metal.

‘All secure.’  The two men reported.

‘Unwrap her,’ John ordered and the cover was removed to reveal a gleaming engine.  ‘How you doing at the other end Mark?’

‘That’s it now John, all secure.’

‘OK everyone evacuate.’

The two platforms lifted off the massive slab to a safe distance and the engines ignited.  Under computer control they manoeuvred the slab to where the others were waiting.  John thought from the end that it looked like a weird rubix cube.  As soon as the last great slab of metal was in place they sprang into action again.  The freighter moved over the mass and opened the loading bay doors.  The two teams shot inside and collected the braces that would attach this last piece to the whole; and the race was on.  The two crews shot out of the bay with two braces apiece and raced for either end on the slab.  The Astronauts laughed and whooped.  Unsavoury remarks were exchanged as each raced to complete the task first.  The braces were extended fully and joined in the centre of the new slab.  They were then extended to the braces in the adjacent slabs.  Bolts were fired into secure them then all of the men worked on a massive hand crank to pull the slab tight into the pile.  Johns team won by ten seconds, which gave them the overall highest score.  Despite the moaning from Marks team John realised they had taken the whole task from a couple of hours to just under thirty minutes.  They recovered the small engines and flew back to the freighter.

When the engines were stowed safely Mark cornered John.  He pointed to the big silver wall that was in fact one of four giant engines.  ‘I know we were supposed to do it later but we are well ahead of schedule and got plenty air.’

He thought it over, ‘yeah why the hell not.  Reid do you here me.’  He called his main man on the bridge.

‘Yeah what is it John.’

‘Let’s go straight to deploying the big engines.’

‘Sure thing boss.’

Mark and John were joined at the doors by another full bird colonel Alfie Lloyd.  He watched in wonder as the ship took off and flew across the massive field of metal.  With Mercury as a backdrop each of them was in awe of the beauty of the moment.

‘Guys this is the life,’ Alfie sighed.  They merely nodded their heads in response.  The other cargo bay doors slid open and they were joined by the rest of their companions.  No words were said as each lived the moment.  The freighter came to rest on top of the mass and giant rams shoved the first engine out.  It took all of them to manoeuvre it into its exact place and then massive self-tapping bolts began to drill themselves into the mass.  Long slivers of metal were ejected by the drills.

‘Be careful with that stuff,’ he warned one of his men as he got too close to it, ‘it’s probably razor sharp.’  The man backed off.  The four engines were deployed round the four corners of the butt end of the huge block of metal pointing towards the planet.

‘Why don’t we just toss this thing at their bloody city ship?  I'm sure it would cause major damage.’  Alfie mused.

John grinned, ‘I will make the suggestion.’

Mike patted him on the shoulder and pointed, ‘you won’t have long to wait to ask here they come.’

They watched the Teardrop shaped ships glide towards them, ‘beauties aren’t they?’  Alfie sighed.

John had to agree, ‘they sure are.’

‘Do you think we will get to meet the man himself?’

‘I don’t know Alfie.’

One of the ships broke formation and glided towards them.  It set down close and a ramp was extended.

‘If you guys fancy a late breakfast and hot coffee come aboard.’  A strange voice greeted them.  They didn’t need asked twice.  Each man felt a little pressure as they passed through an invisible barrier.  Inside a woman was waiting to greet them.

Her smile was returned by all, ‘hi I'm Hailey, if you come with me I will take you to the dining hall.  I am sorry about the glare it is an internal security measure.  The dining hall has false wall so there is no glare in there.  We have hot coffee, fresh rolls and believe Cookie has fresh sausage bacon and egg, or if you prefer a sandwich of your choice, just follow me.’

The men were disappointed to find there was only a small Scotsman waiting for them.  Hailey excused herself and went back to her duties.  ‘Help yourself lads.  Coffee is in the machine by the back wall there or if you want you can have tea or hot chocolate.  There's freshly baked bread and rolls with butter as well.’

‘This is great,’ Alfie stated with a mouth full of roll and sausage.

Logan washed down a mouthful with hot coffee and had to agree, ‘makes a change for the crap we have been eating.’

Mike nudged him, ‘is that Gordon there?’

He had spotted a small man walk in with a tablet stuck in front of his face.  He made his way to the coffee machine without looking down from the tablet and poured himself a coffee; stirred in some sugar and was half way back out the door when he suddenly realised his way was blocked.  It took a moment for his eyes to focus and another to realise he was surrounded.

‘Uh!  Can I help you gentlemen?’

The tall handsome square-jawed blond six-footer in front of him offered his hand, ‘Captain Gordon I am Commander John Logan, I would like to thank you on behalf of myself and my men for the opportunity you gave us by selecting us for this mission.’

Steven seemed surprised, ‘ah, no problem gentlemen, a pleasure, I take you have enjoyed the mission then.’  They were all nodding and murmuring.

‘It was a blast sir,’ Logan confirmed.  ‘May I ask why you never chose an astronaut to join your crew?’

Steven shrugged, ‘none ever applied.’

‘Oh!’  The answer seemed to catch Logan flat footed.

Alfie stepped into the silence left by John.  ‘Can I ask what's going to happen now sir?’

Steven took a deep breath, ‘yeah sure.  You guys are all becoming part of the first fighter wing aren’t you?’

‘Yes sir,’ Alfie confirmed.

‘You will be glad to know that your fighters are ready and waiting for you.  You will begin full training a couple of days after you return; they are giving you the weekend off.’  The men laughed.  ‘This metal will provide us with enough for a dozen battle cruisers and I think its thirty destroyers.  If we have time we will come back again.  Of course there is an enormous amount of training to be done for every single member of the corps; if the Albany come now, we are completely stuffed.  The only safeguard humanity has is the fact that our enemy has no idea we are now a space-going world; so they seem to be in no hurry.  Our friend the emperor has been supplying us with information.  Word is slowly coming in about the battle readiness of the Albany.  It would seem they are a fair bit away from being able to launch an attack, but we cannot become complacent.  They already have a huge attack fleet and know how to use it.  We on the other hand don’t have a clue.’

‘Well we would all like to thank you for this opportunity sir.’  Alfie insisted.

Steven shook his head, ‘you may not be saying that when an Albany attack fleet come screaming down your necks.’

Alfie shrugged, ‘at least we can met them head on sir, if it wasn’t for you most of us would probably have ended up dying in our beds.’

‘I am glad some see it like that, it makes a change from the anti-Christ perspective I seem to get a lot of.’

The men laughed, ‘just a few million crazy’s sir, they will change their mind rapidly if the Albany ever gets their hands on them and toss them into a blender.’

Steven laughed and held up his tablet, ‘this will interest all of you; I am in the process of rewriting space fighter tactics into a form that you will all understand.  Many of the concepts and ideas need to be simplified, given names that humans will understand.’

Alfie interrupted him, ‘excuse me sir but are you a pilot?’

‘Uh!  Nope.’

‘Do you think you are actually qualified to rewrite those notes?’

‘I believe so yes.’

Alfie grinned, ‘sir I am a top-gun pilot, like every man here I came out on top of my class.  We are the best fighter pilots on Earth; don’t you think one of us would be more qualified?’

Steven took a sip of his coffee, ‘no I don’t.’

Alfie was stuck speechless but Logan jumped back in.  ‘Sir have you ever even sat in a fighter or handled the controls of an aircraft.’

‘No.’

Logan laughed, ‘then I must submit that you are certainly not qualified to dictate to us how to fly and fight these new craft.’

‘Oh you think so do you?’

Logan grinned, ‘yes I do; do I feel a wager coming on here sir.’

Steven shrugged, ‘if you want.  We have a spare fighter, I suppose you could give me half an hour to familiarise myself with it.’

‘One on one sir.’

‘Actually commander I was thinking more like myself against the whole squadron.’  They roared with laughter.  ‘In fact I will even paint my craft white to give you all more of a chance.’

Alfie almost fell over and had to cling to Logan for support.  When Logan managed to talk again he took a deep breath and wiped away a tear.  ‘What would the wager be sir?’

Steven shrugged, ‘I have no idea, this is the first bet I've ever made in my life.’  That made them laugh even harder but Steven wasn’t finished.  ‘To make it a bit fairer I will give you a week to train in your craft and will send the manuals along as well.’

‘We don’t need the manuals sir.’  Logan boasted.

Steven shrugged, ‘as you please.  I will see you in a weeks’ time gentlemen.’

Their laughter followed him out of the canteen.  There was only one man not laughing and that was Cookie.  He was clearing up the cups and plates when Alfie spotted him and didn’t like the wry smile spread across the man’s face.  ‘What you grinning at Scotty?’

Cookies laughter seemed to have a dampening effect on the astronauts, ‘cos I love it when a bunch of smug bastards like yourselves, get you arse’s handed to you on a plate.’

Chapter 31

Commander Logan spoke into his microphone, ‘OK men gentlemen we are now in the combat zone.  Double check your weapon controls are set to simulation.’  He glanced at his radar it was clear.  ‘I believe we are looking for a white ship.’

Their laughter was cut short by a streak of green.  ‘What the hell was that!’  Cried one man as his ship fell out of formation under computer control, ‘hell I’m out.’

Logan cut across the chatter, ‘what's going on Joe?’

The exasperated pilot released his controls with a sigh, ‘I've just been taken out, that’s what's going on.’  Before Logan could reply there was another flash of green and two more ships slid out of the formation.

‘We are under attack,’ Logan growled.  ‘Tighten the formation.’  Thirty-seconds later when they had completed the manoeuvre he realised he had made a mistake when three ships suddenly fell out of formation.  The airwaves turned blue quickly.

‘Can that shit, if you are out of the game then shut up.  Break up into pairs and take evasive action.’  It delayed the inevitable.  Only once did he catch a glimpse of the white ship as it took out the two ships to his left.  By the time he began to react the ship was gone.

‘Holy shit did you see that!’  Alfie shouted.

‘Just,’ Logan admitted.

‘Hey I got something on this fancy radar, about a hundred clicks.’

‘I see it, let’s get him.’

They rushed in having to slow down to get the white ship in their sights.  Green light shot from the noses of their craft and hit the white ship dead centre; only the craft shimmered and the light passed clean through.  Alfie cried out in alarm as his ship was hit and Logan was alone.  He realised the shimmering ship was a decoy.  He tried a few manoeuvres swinging back towards the decoy.  As he passed the nose of it, green light shot out and hit his fighter.

‘What the hell!’ He screamed.

The white fighter began to move towards him.  Steven waved at the infuriated pilot as he passed then disappeared.  Their commander’s voice sounded in his ears.  OK Eagle squadron, control of your ships is being returned to you.  Form up and return to base.’  He sounded pissed.  Logan knew he had lost a packet in a wager with Gordon’s second in command Buzz Anderson.  Their commander had been as sure as his pilots that it would be over quickly and Buzz had taken advantage of that.  Now they all had egg on their faces.  He never encouraged any chatter on the way back, not that many really wanted to talk about the beating they had just received.

Their commanding officer was waiting for them in the debriefing room and took the podium as they sat down.  His eyes swept over the unhappy pilots.  ‘Ya’ll just taken a sound whipping boys.  I know you ain't happy, but if I hear one derogatory remark against Captain Gordon you ass is on the next shuttle home.’  He turned to the flag behind him.  He thought it was beautiful, black and gold with a fierce golden Eagle in the centre.  They had only had it a week.  He took it down and began to fold it.  The men remained silent.  That morning when Steven had arrived Logan had pushed him into naming his wager.  He had spotted the new squadron flag and it had been agreed upon.

They were still silent when Steven, Buzz and Cookie arrived.  All three were pushing trolleys laden with manuals.  Cookie had specifically asked for the job and was well satisfied by the morose looks on the pilot’s faces.  Steven stepped up to the podium and accepted the flag presented to him by the commanding officer.

‘Thank you.’  He laid it on the podium and regarded the sullen faces.  ‘Morning again gentlemen.  I won’t keep you long as you all have a lot of work to do.  I sincerely hope you are all beginning to understand where you all went wrong.  It must be obvious by now that you cannot fly and fight in space the way you would back home in air.  You all used your own radar while I used telemetry from my ship which has long range scanners; as will your mother ships when you go into battle.  Your ships are sub-light yet none of you flew more than a thousand miles per hour.  I used telemetry from my ship to predict where one of your ships was going to be.  Came in at about ten thousand miles per hour faster than you were flying at.  Fired on the spot I calculated your ship was going to be in and moved off again at a ninety-degree angle.  Jump in, fire jump out.  That is space fighter tactics one O one.  You are thinking in two dimensions you need to be able to think in five.  Just because your machines can bank and roll as they do on Earth it doesn’t mean that is the way you fly them.’

He turned to the large white board behind him and began to draw, ‘I will explain some of the basics.  Fighters in space aren’t there to dogfight.  They are there to support their mother-ships in battle.’  He drew a sausage shape then a dotted line all around it.  ‘This is the force field around an enemy battle cruiser.’  He drew another sausage ship and changed to a green pen.  ‘This is your mother ship.  Each ship carries ten squadrons.  When a battle cruiser engages another battle cruiser they fire at each other.  This causes the force field generators to react in a predicted way.  They will reinforce the area that is being attacked, tracking the enemy’s fire, and reinforcing that part of the shield just before the beam of the enemy’s weapons hit it.  They do not have an unlimited supply of power however.  Much depends on the tactics their enemy are using.  I have been assured that a modern battle cruiser can with stand the power from a vessel of the same size for months, if they are doing nothing else, but just sitting there on minimal power and just feeding their shields and weapons.’

He began drawing arrows that were attacking the first sausage, ‘if you hit the enemy battle cruiser with your ten squadrons at the same time in a precision attack then you can overload the shield generators; or weaken the shields as it tries to divert power from one point to another.  The idea is to weaken the shields enough so the heavy guns of your cruiser can penetrate your enemy’s shields.  Each attack has to be carried out with precision.  Every squadron arriving and firing at the same time, and each squadron firing at their appointed target.  Attacks are synchronised with the cruiser with pinpoint timing.  Each fighter must arrive at his firing point on his own vector.  Your ship will fire for one hundredths of a second and then you will bomb-burst away on a different vector.  The enemy ships can track you from thousands of miles away; as you arrive at your firing point they will be firing at you with their secondary armament, and if they have dealt with your battle cruiser their main armament; which you won’t survive.  The tactics I used against you were the most simplistic and basic taught.’  He held up the flag, ‘I will be keeping this until you can take me out.  I will see you all in six weeks’ time.  Any questions?’

‘Yes sir I have one,’ Logan sat forward, ‘was that a decoy you used?’

‘Yes it was and as you were blundering about looking for me I switched it off and took its place until you wandered across my nose.  Decoys are always used as part of an attack strategy.  Instead of ten squadrons, the enemy have to select between twenty, which ones to target.’

Logan nodded, ‘I understand now sir, thank you.’

He left them to it and Buzz and Cookie to hand out the manuals.  Cookie handed Alfie his one personally, ‘you still laughing yank?’

‘Smart arse,’ Alfie growled.

‘I slipped a few recipes into the back of yours in case you want to change jobs yank.’

Alfie wanted to take a poke at him but the whole world knew who Cookie was; his doll had three uniforms, a chefs, the blue of the Space Corps and the camouflage one with the SAS beret.  He knew because his eight-year-old son had one.  Instead he took the offered manuals and kept his mouth wisely shut.

Chapter 32

Dawn was beginning to rise above the savannah grasslands.  In the hollows a fine mist hung lazily in the early morning air.  As the sun broke the horizon a fine breeze announced the coming of the heat and the mist began to move across the great savannah.  It was these things that greeted Gairloch as he limped out into the open grass using Steven as support.  He indicated for Steven to stop and he lowered himself onto a dense patch of grass.  Almost idly his tongue grabbed a mouthful of grass heavy with seeds and he munched on them contentedly.  He was dying and knew it but refused to die in bed.  Steven sat beside him and kept his peace.

Gairloch’s eyes scanned the grasslands, ‘what a beautiful place to die.  Your world is a jewel Steven my friend, it is no wonder the Albany have sacrificed and risked so much to possess it.  There isn’t a race on our side of the barrier who wouldn’t fight to the death to possess it.  Do you know what we would do then Steven, we would wipe out every living thing on the planet and plant grass for profit.  Your way is much better.  Who knew a race of meat eaters could care so much as to preserve all this.’

Steven laughed, ‘are meat eaters rare in your universe?’

‘Yes, quite rare, simply because we wiped them out and stole their planets.  Meat eaters like to fight each other; that holds back invention and innovation.  When your race doesn’t kill each other and faces hunger from over population then you tend to reach for the stars quicker.’  He took another mouthful of grass and munched away thoughtfully.  ‘The emperor has received those seeds we sent and they are now growing in his garden.  Do you know they are worth a bucket of fire diamonds?’

‘Or a battle cruiser.’

Gairloch laughed, ‘cheap at half the price as you humans would say.’

‘I just hope he likes his new grass.’

‘He will, we have similar tastes.’

Steven frowned, ‘you know him so well?’

‘I should do he is my brother.’

Steven was shocked, ‘you're kidding!’

‘No Steven I'm not really a ship’s captain, I am a grand admiral and third in line to the throne.’

‘Why didn’t you say?’

‘You don’t tell a potential enemy, especially a race of meat eaters that you are third in line to the throne and the emperor’s favourite brother.’

‘In case we tried to use you as a hostage you mean.  My god why?’

‘Why did he send his favourite brother to certain death?’

‘Yes.’

‘None of us are indispensable Steven, not even the emperors own brothers.  I volunteered and he chose me because he knew I would get the job done.  It proved to him my love and devotion.  By choosing me he proved his trust in me.  Do not fret over me my friend, I am content.  I am a hero and my brother will weep openly at my passing.  It has to be said that humanity has treated my crew and I like visiting dignitaries and not just common soldiers.  The emperor knows all of this and it has pleased him.  Your people have treated us with great dignity.  You may have few manners but I am sure we will get used to it,’ he laughed.  ‘What you have to offer will give you great bargaining power with the emperor.’

Steven sighed, ‘but we have to survive the Albany first.’

Gairloch nodded in a very human manner, ‘yes, the emperor will not be able to make a treaty with a species that does not exist.  Nor will we interfere with their invasion fleet.  We are recovering from a very long war.  The emperor is trying to get the economy for dozens of planets back on track and feed the masses.  We could intervene and probably defeat the Albany, however the cost would be great and of course the loss of even more of our forces could leave the empire weak and open to attack from other enemies.  We need to regain our strength, so you are on your own my friend.’

‘Yup and hopelessly out numbered and out gunned.’

‘You have builder technology and maybe over an Earth year to prepare Steven, it will have to be enough.  You also have unlimited resources at your disposal, few have that.  The metal you have used for the skin of your battle ships is capable of withstanding a direct hit from all weapons.  In our grand fleet only the emperor’s personal ship has such a skin.  It is far too expensive to build a whole fleet of such ships and yet that is exactly what you are doing.  I can assure you none of the Albany ships will be made of this metal.  It is an advantage, a slim one yes but a true warrior can exploit such an advantage.  Your solar system is so rich in untapped resources.’  He lay back and closed his eyes for a while Steven sat and contemplated what he had said.

‘Tell me of your planet Gairloch?’

His eyes fluttered open, ‘I once thought it beautiful Steven.  Land is so precious we build upwards.  Our air is slightly thicker at higher levels so we can build them until they soar above the clouds.  Truly yours are puny by comparison.  Every other piece of land is covered in fields.  All the same regulation size and every other planet is the same.  Different grasses of course grow at different latitudes and climates so you often get different colours.  I once thought they were the most beautiful in the universe until I came here.  No other planet I know has so much water, it is truly a jewel and yet so deadly.’

His eyes fluttered closed again and this time they never reopened his breathing slowed over time and an hour later he passed away peacefully.  Steven sat for a long time trying to deal with the grief he felt for his lost friend.  Eventually he called the ship.  Half a dozen crewmembers appeared with a stretcher led by the diminutive chief engineer.  They took the body away.  The following day a grand funeral was held and he was interred inside the monument built for them.  Many human dignitaries turned up for it and the savannah was ablaze with military uniforms.  The whole thing was recorded and sent to the emperor.  News came back that he was pleased with the send-off the humans had given his brother.

Chapter 33

Kelly walked slowly through the field of crosses.  Dawn was upon him and the fine ground mist played around his feet.  He held a map in one hand and holdall that clanked in the other.  It took him half an hour to find the cross he was looking for in the Normandy field.  His fingertips kissed the white marble.

‘Hey Johnny Reb, sorry I'm a bit late buddy but I got here.’  From the holdall he took a strange folding chair and sat on it.  Then he took a bottle of Kentucky Bourbon and a couple of shot glasses.  He cracked the bottle and filled them both.  One was tipped onto the grass and he downed the other.  ‘I’m eighty years late but we got the job done.  I owe you an apology, on the landing craft I said a hundred years from now no one would remember us.  It’s almost a hundred years now Johnny and I was wrong, dead wrong.  They still remember us, they still celebrate D-Day.  Here they tend the graves of the fallen and it’s right pretty.  Families still come here to visit their grandfathers Johnny.  I suppose you know five years ago your family made a voyage here and put flowers on your grave.  You would be proud of them Johnny.  I spent a couple of days with them, I tracked them down.  They are a fine strong hard working family Johnny, you did well buddy.’

He poured another drink and downed it.  Johnny’s went into the grass, ‘been a lot of shit happened to me since D-Day.  I didn’t leave the army, I felt I still had a duty to do.  So many young men and so bloody clueless.  We had another war in a place called Korea.  Man you should have seen that war.  Hordes of the little bastards.  They would just keep on coming until you ran out of ammunition, then they would slaughter you if you hung around.’

Kelly growled as a small rotund French man approached with a disapproving look on his face.  ‘Je excuse, it is forbidden to drink in the grounds of the cemetery.’

Kelly stood to his full height and growled, ‘I fought alongside these men, many of them died at my side.  If I want to have a drink with them I will.’

The Frenchman’s eyes few wide in alarm then even wider in recognition, ‘mon due, you are the American sergeant that returned from space.  Sergeant it is an honour to ave you here.  Please drink with your friends as long as you wish.  I ave looked after these men for many years, I never once dreamed I would meet a man that helped liberate my country.  I will make sure that no one disturbs you.’

Kelly’s eyes softened, ‘I am sorry I was rude.’

‘It is understandable.  Excuse me I must attend to my duties.’

He marched away and Kelly watched him go and felt his anger subside.  He sat down and filled the glasses.  ‘Where the hell was I Reb? Oh yeah!  America has been in a lot of wars since then Johnny.  I missed most of them.  I was abducted by aliens, can you believe that shit?  An alien species from outer space Johnny Reb.  I woke up and killed a couple of them; it made me real famous, the first human being to kill an alien.  I finally met a president; presented me with a medal.  After that he stopped to chat, we had sandwiches and coffee.  He was real swell.

The government was real good; back paid me every penny from the day I was taken until the day they discharged me, and at present day rates.  Then I made a shit load of money selling all the guns from that planet and even more from some TV guys.  I did a few adverts, a lot of interviews.  Here I am talking about something you have never heard of Johnny, you want to see this world now Johnny.  It ain't perfect but hell it’s unbelievable the shit they have now.

Remember how we talked about getting a rocking chair and sitting on the porch sipping whiskey watching the grand kids getting dirty playing in the dust.  Well I bought myself a small house with a bit of land.  Not much just a few acres.  Well I managed to put up with it for a few weeks but I had no one to share it with Johnny.’  He shook his head.  ‘This retirement thing ain't so hot.  I don’t feel ready to be put out to stud.  They don’t want me back; I did talk to them.  Said I was too old and to out of touch with modern technology.  Then I tried living in a city for a few weeks, which drove me mad so I came over to visit you and the guys.  A promise kept Johnny Reb.’  He took another shot and poured one onto the grass.

‘I'm feeling lost Johnny, don’t know what to do.  I ain't ever found a woman, well you know, not a decent one I’d like to settle down with.’  He suddenly grinned, ‘met a real swell dame in space, a real English Lady to boot.  She is staying with the King of England now.  Hell she’s older than all of us and a stuck up bitch, but I liked her, she had, something, I don’t know can’t put it into words buddy.  So what now?  I'm thinking about going to see Captain Gordon. You would like this guy Johnny Reb, some say he is the smartest guy on the planet.  A lot of folk don’t like him though; especially them damn politicians.  This guy sees a job that needs to be done and just goes and does it.  He offered me a job before I left but I think he was just being polite.  Don’t know what the hell he could use me for.  Saying that though, they say he ain't never gone back on his word and he can see things in folks that most cant.  Have to admit that the idea of shooting aliens instead of humans kinda appeals to me as well.  What they did to some of my boys from the hill was worse than what Even the Nazis did.  He was the guy that rescued us from that Black Planet and took us back to Earth.’

He put the bottle of bourbon away and dug out another bottle, ‘well it was great to catch up with you Johnny Reb, gonna go have a drink with Angelo now.  Got a bottle of that crap he used to drink.’

He picked up his chair and his map and made his way to the next grave.  At closing time the staff helped bundle him into a taxi.  It took Kelly a fortnight to get round all of them.  When he was done he left a large food basket for the caretaker and his staff thanking them for their understanding and the continued care of his friends.  Then he took a trip to Germany and spent a few days with Herr Goth; after that he spent a week in Hamburg with the two troublemakers.  The apple strudel and sex went down very well.

Chapter 34

Mya stood surrounded by the lush jungle vegetation with tears streaming down her face.  There was nothing left of the village where she had grown up.  No relatives had come forward to greet her when she stepped off the boat from Manila.  A taxi driver had picked her up and dropped her here on orders from the man she thought was going to protect her and the man who had promised to care for her.  Things had gone well to start with.  The politician had paraded her around like a hero.  Although shy she had been persuaded to talk about her experiences.  She had been put up in a small hotel in Manila and every day the politician or one of his staff would come round to discuss the day’s itinerary.  A few times he had gotten fresh with her and it shocked her as he was a married man.

She didn’t know that Steven had supplied her with funds and that the politician had stolen it along with all the money he made from her appearances.  As her popularity waned she was put into a dingy flat and forgotten about.  It wasn’t until she banged on his office door and threatened to go to the papers about his abuse that he had shipped her onto a boat for her native island of Bohol.  The taxi driver had been pre-paid and she was bundled inside and literally tossed out at this destination

Mya sank to her knees.  Only a few broken shards of pottery remained of the once happy village.  Their faces went through her mind like it was yesterday.  The laughter the joy and the singing.  The man she hoped she would one day marry.  Now there was nothing left.  Maybe it would have been better if the Japanese had killed her too.  At that moment she felt there was nothing left for her to do but die and a strange calm descended upon her.

‘Mya.’  It was a familiar voice that jolted her out of her reverie.

She got up and turned, ‘Captain Gordon.’

He handed her a translator, ‘please call me Steven Mya.’  He took a handkerchief from a pocket and wiped the tears from her face.  ‘You are a very hard lady to track down.’

She managed a small smile and took the offered handkerchief, ‘I was not hiding.’

‘I know but while trying to track you down we ran into a very unsavoury politician who blocked every effort we made to find you.’

‘He is not a nice man.’

‘Yes I know we attached a bug to his clothing in order to try and track you down and discovered he was having an affair.  A few cameras beamed into his hotel room and the threat of exposing him made him squeal like a little pig.’

‘That does not surprise me at all.  He even tried to seduce me the pig.’

Steven grinned, ‘now that we have found you we are going to release the video on the internet.  That should put an end to his shabby political career.’

‘Serves him right.  What can I do for you Steven?’

‘I have a request from the emperor to present you to him at our earliest convenience.  It would seem you made rather an impression on Captain Gairloch as you knew him.’

‘I heard he was related to the emperor, was that correct?’

‘It most certainly was.  Gairloch was never married but as part of the royal family he inherited quite a sizable estate.  He bequeathed that estate to you.’

Her legs went and he had to help her up, ‘but why?’

‘I have no idea but I believe his race are rather big on courage.  We would like you to become an ambassador of Earth to the Royal House.’

‘I cannot do that!’

‘Why not Mya.  What have you to live for here?  You would not be an official ambassador with duties just a friend to the Royal House an ambassador of the people.’

She looked round and took it all in.  Her decision made she held out her hand to Steven.  A moment later they vanished leaving the jungle to the ghosts of the past.

Chapter 35

Steven was in a strange mood.  They had finally devised a portable power pack that would keep the nanobots in the crews body’s powered indefinitely.  The moment they had announced it most of the scientists on board had quit.  All of the soldiers from both crews had stayed on but they had been farmed out to the space corps for the moment.  Mya had settled in and was helping Cookie up in the dining hall, not that they had much to do at the moment.

He had spent a long morning in the American Space Corps headquarters and decided to go out for lunch.  He was used to getting stared at but all of a sudden he got a strange feeling and snapped round.

‘Morning sir, sorry to startle you.’

Steven relaxed and smiled, ‘Sergeant Kelly, what can I do for you?’

His smile was returned, ‘I would like a word with you if possible sir.’

‘I'm heading for something to eat and a coffee, join me if you will.’

‘Be a pleasure to sir.’

‘My names Steven or Stevie if you prefer, I'm not your commanding officer.’

Kelly grinned, ‘I'm Jeb.’

They reached the small restaurant and they ordered lunch.  ‘So what can I do you for Jeb?’

‘You once promised me a job, is the offer still open?’

‘Why what's gone wrong?’

‘Ain't nothing gone wrong Stevie, in fact everything’s gone right.  I got more money than I can shake a stick at.  I got my own piece of land, a small house with a porch and hell I even got the rocking chair.’  He shook his head, ‘but it just ain't me sir.  I have always been a soldier and never really wanted to be anything else.’

‘Did you try joining up again?’

‘Yeah they said they didn’t want me.  I think I got plenty to offer but they consider me a relic.’

Steven nodded thoughtfully, ‘I hear you did well at that weapons auction.’

‘Hell yeah, we made a couple of million.’

‘I also heard you donated most of it to the survivor’s fund.’

‘Hell I didn’t really need it sir.  There were those who needed it a lot more.  Heard you also put a lot in?’

‘I just tried to make sure everyone who we took off that planet had enough to start again.  You really didn’t need to donate all that money Jeb, I had it taken care of.’

Kelly shook his head, ‘yeah well figured with all those ships you are building you would be strapped for cash.’

Steven laughed, ‘I heard that rifle that fired round corners went for almost a million itself.’

Kelly grinned, ‘yup it’s in a museum now I hear.  Best place for it.  So do you have a job for me?’

‘I'm not gonna beat about the bush Jeb,’ Kelly felt his guts slide.  ‘We need your expertise badly.  Colonel Howe has set up a simulator on the moon.  It is a very large building that is meant to represent the inside of the city ship.  Now Colonel Howe and his men are Special Forces and are used to taking out houses and things like that.  Working from room to room, but nothing on the scale we are dealing with now.  You however have fought through whole villages, towns and cities.  When we meet the enemy we will be assaulting his big city ship and it is exactly that kind of experience we need.  There will be thousands of men to train, thousands of instructors to train.  We need large-scale tactics, a man who understands them and a man who can train them.  When battle is joined we will be going in first to clear the way for the major assault and you would be right by my side.  What do you say?’

Kelly felt himself growing inside and held out his hand, ‘I would be honoured to serve you sir.’

Steven laughed and shook his hand, ‘you haven’t asked about the pay yet.’

‘Yeah I already heard its shit.’

They roared with laughter, ‘I will pick you up tomorrow just give me your address or meet me here at five.’

‘I will be here at five sir.’

‘Excellent, we will be returning to the moon where you will be given an apartment.  Once you are settled in you will report directly to Colonel Howe and help him plan a training strategy then you will have to implement it.  Of course you will also become a full member of my crew.  That means you will have to learn a lot of new shit.’

Kelly laughed, ‘hell I'm an infantry man sir, I will adapt.’

Chapter 36

Lady Jane lay across her bed half dressed.  In front of her a couple of encyclopaedias.  She flicked through the pages and sighed when she came to a picture of Saturn.

Isobel came blasting through the door, ‘oh Lady Jane aren’t you ready yet?’

She rolled onto her back arms wide, ‘oh Isobel don’t you miss it all?’

Isobel was alarmed, ‘miss what?’

‘The excitement of being in space.’

Isobel shuddered, ‘no I don’t, every time they opened one of those doors I thought I was going to be sucked out.’

‘I miss Saturn, it was so beautiful.’  She rolled over and flicked a page, ‘this is called the horse head nebula, wouldn’t you like to see it Isobel?’

Isobel snapped the books closed, ‘no I wouldn’t.  I like it here, it feels safe here Miss Jane.  Besides I think the King is going to propose soon.’

It was Jane’s turn to shudder, ‘oh god I hope not.’

Isobel was shocked, ‘he is a wonderful man.’

‘He is a little to refined for my tastes.  Besides I'm sick of Harrods, the dinner parties and being displayed like a prize Ewe.  I want to be out there exploring the universe with Captain Gordon and his merry crew.’

Isobel was shocked, ‘Lady Jane those are not the things a Lady does.’

‘Why not Isobel, what is to stop us.  Women are free now to make their own choices, as we now are.’

‘But Lady Jane the King has been so nice to us.  Please remember that we are destitute.  It is your duty as a Lady to make yourself available to him, to marry him and bear his children.’

‘I most certainly will not.  I would far rather face a lifetime of fighting with that ignorant American sergeant that submit myself to the king’s arms.  At least that would be honest.’

Isobel was getting angry, ‘he is a wonderful man, he is a gentleman, handsome polished, you should be honoured to marry him and bear his children.’

‘You marry him, you bear his damn children, after all it’s your dream not mine.’

Isobel’s hands flew to her mouth, ‘that is so improper Miss Jane, how could you even suggest it.  It is a lady he requires, pure like you, a woman of refinement, I am just a maid.’

‘You are pure aren’t you?’

Isobel flushed, ‘you know I am, but I am a commoner.’

‘So you deny the blood that flows through your veins Isobel Munro, the same blood that flows through mine, we are sisters after all.  Being born on the wrong side of the sheets seems to have very little stigma attached to it these days.  Or so I am led to believe.’

The blood-drained form Isobel’s face, ‘oh my god you know!’

Jane got up and went over to the dresser; she sat down and picked up a brush, ‘of course I know, do you think me a fool?  Why do you think I asked for you to be my maid?’

‘I have no idea.’

‘It was to torture my dear father of course, make him pay for his indiscretion.’

The colour returned, ‘I swear you are evil at times Miss Jane.’

Jane contemplated herself in the mirror for a moment, ‘actually I also wanted to meet my sister.  I overheard mother and father arguing over you one day and I was curious.  Of course papa knew what I was doing and not long before we were abducted he confessed all to me.  Your mother used to work at the manor, Papa fell in love with her when they were very young.  Of course they tried to hide it but it became obvious and your mother was sent away.  Father of course did his duty and married mother unfortunately he never forgot his love for your mother.  Your mother was sent to another house but one-year father stayed over there during the shooting season.  Mother was sick at home, she was carrying me.  That was when you were conceived.’  She paused for a moment as she brushed out a tangle.  ‘He admitted it was stupid but neither of them could help themselves.  I think if he could have he would have left my mother for yours.’

She put the brush down and turned to face Isobel, ‘I met your mother once, she was very beautiful just as you are Isobel.  I hated her and wanted to punish her, you and father.  Your mother was of course dismissed and disgraced.  Father tried to give her money but she refused.  Somewhere somehow I came to admire your mother Isobel for her strength and determination, I came to love you as my secret sister not just my maid and I even forgave my father.’

Isobel was sceptical, ‘That doesn’t sound like you Miss Jane.’

‘No I don’t suppose it does.  Do you remember mother wanted me to marry Edward Teach?’

‘Yes but father said no,’ Isobel flushed brightly as she admitted to her parentage for the first time in her life.

Jane noticed and smiled, ‘yes he did and do you know why?’

‘No I don’t, no one does, he just seemed to dismiss the man out of hand.  He was very suitable.’

‘Yes he was suitable, but he was also ugly and stupid.  He used to drool all over me at parties, I detested him.’

‘Yes well that wasn’t obvious,’ Isobel was being sarcastic and Jane cut her off with a withering look.

‘Father asked me in private if I wanted to marry him or not and I said no.  He said that was fine with him.’

‘That’s was it!’

‘I was as surprised as you Isobel and asked him why?’

‘He said he could not, would not condemn his daughter to live a life without love.’

‘Was that when he told you about my mother?’

‘No that was the following year when I pressed him.  He said love is the most wonderful feeling in the world, it transcends all other feelings.  It can make the most honest and honourable men do things they are ashamed of.  Duty should be to one’s King and one’s country, not to one’s heart.’

She stood up and walked over to Isobel, ‘duty made a miserly of our parent’s life, our father and our mothers.  He said he would never give up that week of happiness that he shared with your mother.  Let us not make the same mistakes Isobel.  I will not marry the King, share his bed or bare his children.  Now we are running late help me dress.’

Lady Jane was half an hour late.  She sat beside the King as they were driven to Harrods where they stayed for an hour.  As usual she refused any attempt by the king to purchase her a gift.  On the way home she studied him from the corner of her eye.  He was handsome and polished, genuine and kind.  The people of Britain adored him but for all of that Jane felt nothing for the man.

‘Do I have a pimple?’  He asked with that wry smile of his.

She looked away, ‘no, why do you ask?’

‘You stare so.’

‘I apologise, that was rude of me.’

‘What's wrong Jane you have been quieter than usual.’

‘Nothing at all.’

‘Really, the palace gossip mongers have led me to believe you have been quarrelling with your maid.’

‘My maid!’

The king smiled, ‘yes the pretty Isobel.’

There was a triumphant smile in Jane’s eyes but it never reached her mouth.  ‘Yes we had a small spat, but really she isn’t my maid, Isobel is my younger sister.’

The shock knocked him back against the fine leather seats, ‘your sister.’

‘Oh I'm sorry didn’t the gossip mongers hear that part of our conversation?’

He was lost for words for a moment, ‘no I don’t believe so.  I didn’t know.’

Jane looked out the window, ‘no one knew, daddy must have done a really good job of hiding that particular skeleton.  Of course Isobel was born on the wrong side of the sheets, not that it seems to matter to people these days.’

The King caught his breath, ‘no not terribly I suppose.  I sincerely hope your spat with your sister wasn’t too serious.’

Jane looked him straight in the eyes, ‘it was about you actually.  Isobel seems to think you are close to proposing to me.  She firmly believes I should exercise my stiff upper lip and do my duty for King and country.  Marry you and bear your squalling children.  Of course I told her I would far rather shoot myself in the head than submit myself to the ministrations of a man I wasn’t in love with.’

‘No of course not,’ the King blustered, ‘that would be unthinkable.’

Jane looked away, ‘that’s exactly what I told her.  Of course Isobel doesn’t quite see it like that.  She believes as the legitimate sister and of course the oldest then it is my place to submit myself to you if you should so desire it.’

‘No of course not, that’s silly, it just doesn’t happen like that these days Jane.’

‘Of course Isobel herself has no knowledge of the world, she is an innocent who believes you are the most handsome man on the planet.  In fact I do believe she is in love with you.  She cannot conceive how any woman could be immune to your charms.’

The King cleared his throat, ‘I wasn’t aware of that.’

‘Yes well now you are do not try and take advantage of her, I will not tolerate you playing with the affections of my little sister.  She has no desire other than to meet a nice man fall in love and bear his children.  She is not stupid; however she is naïve.  I am not.’

‘No of course not,’ he hesitated.  ‘Truly we have done Isobel a disservice treating her simply as a maid.’

‘She is a maid, my maid, she has sworn her service to me as long as I see fit and I see fit to keep her close and protect her from sophisticated charmers like you.’

‘Excuse me,’ he spluttered.

‘I have read about your affairs of the heart online.  That wonderful world of information right at your fingertip.  It would seem you are a person who thinks with his little man brain more than he does his big man brain.’

The driver suddenly burst out laughing and with an angry frown the King leaned forward and pushed a button.  A screen slid up between them.  ‘I most certainly do not,’ he retorted.

‘That’s not how it seems to me.  Few women expect a man to be pure as she is on her wedding night, indeed some hope their man has a certain level of competence when it comes to consummating the marriage, however your escapades are legend.  You are certainly not the kind of man I would wish to put my sister heart into the hands of.’

‘Thing aren’t the same as they were in your day Jane.’

‘Yes that is true and I accept that but we aren’t and neither shall we ever be.  Despite Isobel’s birth status she is still a young innocent lady as am I.  If my father had married for love and not duty Isobel would be sitting next to you right now.  That is the simple truth of the matter.’

‘I wasn’t aware.’

‘Of course you weren’t, no one was meant to be.’  She sighed, ‘everything is so different now.  What was considered a great shame in my day is barely blinked at these days.  So I suppose there is no reason to conceal it any longer.’

‘What are you going to do about it Jane?’

‘I suppose I shall just have to accept the fact that it is no longer fitting that she remain as my maid and instead be treated as my equal.’

The Kings mind was racing, ‘Lady Isobel Munro Royce.’  He hadn’t realised he had spoken aloud.

‘That is very kind of you sire.  I am sure Isobel will appreciate your kindness.’

‘Uh! Yes, yes of course think nothing of it.’

They lapsed into silence for the rest of the journey.  The king had a feeling that he had somehow been manipulated.  When they arrived back he stopped her for a moment, ‘Excuse me Jane.  This is rather delicate so forgive me.  Isobel’s parentage shall have to be verified.  They can do that these days you know.  It would involve taking a blood sample from both of you of course.’

‘Ah yes, DNA testing, is that what it is called?’

‘Yes that’s right.’

‘That will of course not be a problem, however it might be easier to simply check her birth records, I do believe my father put his name on the certificate, if it is still available.’

The King was surprised, ‘yes it could well be.  Isn’t that unusual for the father of a love child to put his name on the birth certificate.’

She came close and lowered her voice, ‘you used the right words your royal Highness, love child.  Isobel is a child born through the love my father bore her mother over many years.  Despite the risks and the embarrassment he insisted that he himself register the child.  Although Isobel’s mother refused to take anything from my father towards her keep, he had the idea to leave Isobel a small cottage on the estate.  It would be her dowry as it were.  His name on her birth certificate guaranteed she would receive it without too much internal strife within the family should he pass before he could give it to her.’

The king smiled, ‘of course, no one would want to make it public.  To contest the will would cause everyone much embarrassment.’

‘Exactly.’  She began to turn away.

‘He must have loved her very much.’

She hesitated, ‘he loved both of them very much.  He also loved my brothers and myself.  I am also sure that in some ways he also loved my mother.’  She left a very thoughtful King in her wake.

Isobel was mortified to begin with.  However she soon began to bloom under Jane’s watchful eye.  Elocution lessons were given to the young Lady Isobel.  The newspapers loved the rags to riches story and had a certain soft spot for Isobel.  Where Jane kept her beautiful features stern Isobel was always laughing and smiling and forever being rebuked by Jane.  By the time her birth certificate was procured, DNA had already proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were sisters.

The Kings attention slowly slid from Lady Jane to Isobel.  One day he found himself under Jane’s cool stare and he had never felt so nervous in his life.  He had read quite a bit on protocol as it was back in the twenties.  He called her into his office and sat her down on the chaise lounge.  He sat in an armchair opposite.

‘Lady Jane I asked you here on a personnel matter today.  As the older of the two siblings I am requesting your permission to call upon your sister Isobel.’

She regarded him coldly for what seemed an age.  When he began to sweat profusely she answered, ‘I will consider the matter and talk with my sister.  If she agrees then I will insist that you are both fully chaperoned at all times.  If I discover at any time that you are being less than faithful in your affections then I will end the relationship immediately.’

‘Agreed.’

She stood and bowed her head a little, ‘your royal highness.’  She left him alone.

The king let out a long sigh of relief, ‘oh thank god for that.’  He had no idea Jane had the biggest smile on her face as she went to inform Isobel.  Now that was taken care of she could concentrate on her plans for her own future.

Chapter 37

Kelly was sitting at the breakfast table regarding the thick expensive card in his hands as though it was a poisonous snake.  Steven had just grabbed his breakfast and noticed the look on Kelly's face.

‘Is everything OK Sarge?’

Kelly's eyes flicked up, ‘oh sorry sir I never noticed you.  I have received an invitation.’

Steven decided to sit with him, he shrugged, ‘I get a thousand a week, you’ll get used to it.’

‘From Buckingham palace sir!’

‘Ah!  Actually no.  Is it from the king?’

‘From the King at the behest of Lady Jane.’  He showed Steven.  ‘What the hell is elevenses?’

Steven shook his head and regarded the card with as much distain as Kelly, ‘I have no idea.  I was brought up in the States Sarge, same as you; that’s curious.’

‘What is sir?’

‘It is dated next Tuesday and we are due in London for a meeting that day.’  He grinned, ‘we could drop you off.’

Kelly felt alarm bells begin to ring; he took the card back, ‘why do I get the feeling I am being bushwhacked.’

Steven laughed, ‘you can refuse.’

Kelly frowned, ‘no, I couldn’t do that sir.’

The following Tuesday a car picked him up at Westminster.  His journey through the streets of London was in sharp contrast to the last time he had been here.  It had been in a Willy’s jeep, open to the cold bitter rain of an English spring.  They had to drive through the rubble of a city ravaged by war.  It was completely different now.  It was a beautiful summer’s day.  The roads were choked with traffic and people went about their business in summer clothing.  It made him smile.  Even Buckingham palace seemed much brighter than he remembered.

A footman opened up the door for him and then bid him follow.  Lady Jane was waiting just inside the door.  She was stunning in a yellow flora summer dress with a white hat.

‘Sergeant Kelly, a pleasure to see you again.  It is sergeant isn’t it?’

He grinned in the way that he knew irritated her, ‘it’s sort of an honorary title these days Lady Jane, as I am officially no longer a soldier.’

They were interrupted by the sound of laughter, Jane turned an eye towards the interruption and the volume of laughter decreased sharply.  It was the King and Isobel; Kelly hid a smile at their reaction to this woman.

‘Ah Lady Jane, I see your guest has arrived.’

She nodded her head, ‘your royal highness may I present Sergeant Kelly formally of the US army.’

The king offered his hand, ‘a pleasure to meet you at last Sergeant Kelly, Isobel has told me a lot about you.’

Kelly took the offered hand, ‘and you your royal highness.’

‘I would love for you to come and stay as my guest one day, please let me know the next time you are in town.’  He glanced at Lady Jane’s cold eyes, ‘today however I am a little busy, but I hope to see you again soon.  Isobel are you coming dear?’

‘Yes of course.’  She hesitated for a moment and kissed Kelly on the cheek, ‘it’s wonderful to see you again.’

‘Pleasure seeing you to Isobel.’  Kelly grinned.

With a final glance at Jane they beat a hasty retreat with their chaperone hot on their tail.

‘It would seem we have the place to ourselves Sergeant, shall we.’

He could do little but follow her through to a small dining room.  The opulence of the place made Kelly feel uncomfortable.  A maid turned up with tea and small rectangular sandwiches, ‘tea sergeant?’

‘I would rather have a coffee.’

‘Not at elevenses sergeant.’

He smiled loving the way she got under his skin, ‘then I will have to put up with tea.’

He held the tiny cup in his large hands with some trepidation.  ‘This is some joint you live in.’

‘It is a palace sergeant not a joint.’

He grinned, ‘it’s something else.  I would be freighted to live here in case I bumped into something.’

‘I imagine the feeling would be mutual Sergeant.  Some of the objects that surround you are hundreds of years old and very expensive.  They are to be admired and looked at not touched.  So how have you been keeping Sergeant?’

‘Very well.’

‘I hear you hit the bottle pretty hard when they let you go.’

He didn’t like it, ‘no not really.  I let off a little steam is all.’

‘After what you went through Sergeant I don’t believe anyone could blame you.  What about your men?’

‘They are all happy.  Most had some family to return to and are living life to the full.  Most already have girlfriends.’

‘Not you though.’

‘Nope, I don’t suppose I do.’

‘A little bird told me you spent a few weeks in Germany with those naked thugs.’

He flushed a little, ‘ah yeah, those two.  We had quite a time.’

‘So I believe.’

‘You seem, to know an awful lot?’

‘The internet sergeant, you have heard of it?’

‘Yeah, I kinda struggle a little with that kind of stuff.’

‘I actually enjoy the world of computers, the King leant me a private tutor for a while.  I am quite proficient with them now.’

‘It’s good to hear you have been keeping busy Lady Jane.’

‘Idle hands and all that sergeant, I see Mya has joined the crew.’

He nodded, ‘yup she is working with Cookie.’

‘I tried to get in touch with her.’

‘Oh what for?’

I was going to give the money I received from the survivors fund to her.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find her.  Some greasy politician got in touch with me and insisted I sent the money to him.  I didn’t of course, I think he had her hidden away somewhere and was stealing her money.’

‘Yeah he was.  The captain found her though.’

‘Was the captain responsible for the sex scandal as well?’

‘I am not allowed to say.’

‘Yes, I thought as much, serves the man right, he didn’t molest poor Mya did he?’

‘No not at all.  When she didn’t submit to his desires he had her dumped back home, that’s where the captain found her.’

‘I see, I also hear that captain Gairloch bequeathed some land to her in his will.’

‘He did.  It surprised us all; it would seem he was rather taken with her.’

‘I am sure he admired her courage and spirit as we all do.’

Kelly smiled and finished his tea, ‘OK let’s stop beating about the bush, what the hell do you want?’

‘Really sergeant, you have no decorum.’

He laughed, ‘I don’t suppose I do.’

‘Very well, I wish to join the crew.’

He went still for a moment the smile melting from his face, ‘you are joking right!’

‘I most certainly am not.  I have been studying hard, learning the ropes as it were.  I have been studying everything I can on space and am extremely proficient with a computer.’

‘That might not cut it.  Why the hell do you want to go into outer space?  Look where you are staying, weren’t you dating the King or something, word was he was going to marry you.’

‘I most certainly have not been romantically involved with the King.’

‘Yeah, but why the hell don’t you just go ask the captain yourself.’

‘You really have no sense of protocol sergeant Kelly do you.  It simply isn’t done, I wish you to sponsor me for a position on board.’

‘Why me for god’s sake?’

‘No need to use profanities sergeant, simply because you are on board, a member of the crew, because you know me as well as anyone else and because we were companions in peril together.’

He stood, ‘I damn well wont.’

‘Oh you will,’ she smiled.

‘What the hell makes you so sure?’

‘Because underneath all the masculine bravado you are a man of integrity, and I believe a man of honour.’

He grunted, ‘why?’

‘Why do I want to go with you?’

‘Yeah.’

‘There are many reasons sergeant Kelly, since I first saw the rings of Saturn slide by I have been able to think of nothing else.  This world we have returned to, it isn’t my world sergeant.  I neither like it nor fit into it.  I would far rather spend another couple of weeks sorting out that filthy clothing than I would another day in this gilded cage.  I am completely and utterly miserable.  I was far happier on that freighter than I have been since.  At least there I felt useful.’

The retort he had planned stuck in his throat, ‘I had better go the captain is calling me.’

She stood, ‘I will see you to the door.’

They walked in silence.  Kelly took one last look at her and got into the car.

Chapter 38

Steven choked on his coffee, ‘you have to be bloody kidding me right!’

‘Steven,’ Komoru admonished gently.’

‘I'm sorry, the sergeant took me by surprise.’  He turned his attention back to Kelly, ‘You are serious?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Well that’s a definite no.’

‘Why what is wrong with her?’  Komoru asked.

The two men started at her like she was stupid, ‘the woman is insufferable.’  Steven informed her.

‘Yeah you should see the way she has everyone at that palace jumping at the sight of her.’  Kelly tried to reinforce the argument.

Steven tried a different tack, ‘you can’t say you liked her Komoru.’  It was more of a statement than a question.

‘I thought she was a wonderful person.’ Komoru looked Steven straight in the eye.

The two men passed a glance, ‘you can’t be serious?’  Steven insisted.

Komoru began to get annoyed with them, ‘there is nothing wrong with Lady Jane.’

Steven sat back, ‘well I can’t stand her.’

‘Then I will take her as a member of my crew.’

‘You are serious?’

‘Yes I am,’ she turned to Kelly, ‘please inform Lady Jane from me that I would be delighted to make her a part of my crew.’  Then she turned her attention back to Steven, ‘I am surprised at you Steven.’

‘Why!’

‘Lady Jane would have made a very considerable contribution to your crew and you can’t even see it.’

He shook his head, ‘you're right I don’t see it.’

‘Lady Jane was the first western person I have met who actually took the time to greet me properly and formally.’

‘I must have missed that,’ Steven hid his face behind his coffee mug.

‘Yes of course you missed it Steven, that’s what's wrong with you and your crew.  Don’t you remember when Gairloch met Mya he actually said she was the first person she had met with manners.’

Suddenly Steven didn’t feel so comfortable, ‘yes I remember, I told you about it.’

‘Mya is Asian, she understand manners and protocol instinctively as we Japanese do.  You westerners have simply no concept of it.  What you consider good manners, others can consider quite rude.  We are always making allowances for it.  Lady Jane is from an era in western society where they actually understood good manners and protocol.  If you take into consideration all of the different cultures we will meet if we cross the great barrier then Lady Jane will be nothing but an asset to you and your crew.’

Steven closed his eyes for a moment; he now understood what Komoru was talking about and knew she was right.  He looked at Kelly, ‘Sergeant Kelly, would you please convey a message to Lady Jane.  Ask her if she would like a position on the crew.  It would be to study alien protocol and guide us in these matters.’  He dropped his eyes.

Kelly hesitated for only a moment, ‘of course sir.’

Chapter 39

Commander John Logan slipped out of interplanetary drive and closed with the Black Planet at Mach six.  A dozen squadrons appeared at his side.  A simple order saw them split up.  He slowed right down and fired flares; cameras recorded the scene below.

Within a few minutes their mission was complete and they went to interplanetary drive.  They rendezvoused with the battle cruiser well out of range of any possible enemy craft.

Teams of analysts were waiting for the pictures.  Steven was at the briefing.  He sat with Admiral Baxter from Scotland’s own Navy.  It may have been tiny compared to many fleets however Admiral Baxter had constantly shown abilities above that of many of his peers from other Navy’s around the Globe.  He admitted to being a compulsive sci-fi fan and seemed to be able to adapt his thinking easier.

He and  Steven had laid out a broad plan of action, and were about to brief the other commanders of the fleet.

Steven finished flicking through the photographs.  ‘Do you see anything amiss Steven, according to our analysts there is no change.’

‘The only thing that is missing is The Burning Wind, the freighter and of course the ships we removed from around the Albany command post.  There doesn’t seem to be anymore new arrivals.’

Baxter nodded to himself, ‘I would love to get my hands on all those ships.’

‘Me to Andrew but it just isn’t possible.  I have no doubt our enemy will have a detailed plan of the planet and everything on it.  Even if they don’t have pictures of the freighter I'm damn sure they will know about it and will expect to see it.’

‘You are right Steven, if it was us we would want to know about anything going through the barrier.  I have little doubt they even have the location of it.’

‘Very easily, a full report was sent to the owners of the vessel along with its location.  The owners handed over ownership of it to the crew before they expired; obviously it was headline news around those worlds so the Albany obviously know about it.’

Baxter got up and began to gather his papers, ‘are we going to get started?’

‘Why not.’

Chairs scrapped as men stood to attention.  Steven stood to the side as Baxter made the introductions.  ‘Ladies and gentlemen I am Admiral Baxter and this gentleman at my side is Captain Steven Gordon.  If you don’t actually know who we are then you shouldn’t bloody be here.’  There was a polite ripple of laughter.

‘In a moment I am going to hand you over to Captain Gordon.  He may not be a military man but you had damn well better listen to him.  He is the foremost expert on Albany military tactics, we do have our own people working on it but they are still years behind Captain Gordon.  If it wasn’t for this man our race would be facing extinction.  Everyone here knows that and at this moment in time he is still our best hope of survival.’  He stepped back, ‘Captain Gordon.’

He received some light applause, ‘Thank you admiral Baxter, nothing like a healthy dose of stress first thing in the morning to go with your cornflakes.’  That brought forth a louder ripple of laughter.

‘Our aim here today is to give all of you a heads up on the tactics we are going to use against the Albany.  As we have absolutely no idea how the enemy are going to advance we are devising a number of set piece battle plans.  You may well find that strange, however the Albany are not a great military race.  Even though their competence and experience in space battles still far outweighs ours at the moment.’  Steven put up a slide and there were gasps of surprise and in some cases horror.

‘This is a standard planetary invasion fleet.  It isn’t Albany but it’s about what we expect.’  He put up another slide and now there were cries of alarm.  ‘This is a city ship.  As you can see by the size of the battle cruisers that surround it that it is huge.  They are banned from use by a huge alliance of worlds across the great barrier.  If they try and take it anywhere else other than here it will be attacked and they know it.  Our allies believe that if the Albany are discovered they will simply state their intentions.  If they do then they will be allowed to proceed unmolested, but shadowed by an alliance fleet until they cross the barrier.  There is nothing else they can do but escort them and report their numbers to us.  Now this city chip is ten miles in circumference, a medium City ship, the biggest recorded one is forty five miles in circumference.  Our allies believe the one they are building may well be much bigger, simply because of the distance they have to travel and how thin their supply lines will be.  I have come to believe that they will simply bring everything they need with them.

It is almost impossible to destroy one of these ships.  Their shields are huge and extremely powerful.  We hope because they aren’t expecting to be attacked they will skimp a bit on defences; if not we won’t stand a chance against it as things stand at the moment.  These things have to be taken with troops on the ground, however there is another problem.  These ships can shed whole sections.  If you overrun one section then they can simply detach it into space.  That means you have to rescue all your troops and then begin the assault again.  In short, we will have to identify every section of the ship before we assault and assault all sections at the same time.  But we will talk more about that later, this is a heads up to get your heads round the problem we face and the battle ahead.

As I have said we don’t know what size this city ship will be as it is being constructed inside a moon; suffice to say our allies will let us know the moment it emerges.  When it does we will be able to calculate more accurately the forces we will need to fight and beat them.

The enemy himself.  Our enemy is a highly evolved species with advanced technology.  Our technology is now of the same level, however they actually know and understand it, we are pretty much still running along the lines of monkey see monkey do.  The average height of an Albany ranges from between eight and ten feet.  They are taller than us stronger than us and can run a damn sight faster than us.  Do we have any advantages?’  He shrugged, ‘not many.  Our gravity is heavier than theirs so pound for pound we are stronger, our muscles are far denser, but if you're fighting something that’s ten foot tall it isn’t much of an advantage.

They are herbivores, we are on the other hand natural hunters, but I don’t think that gives us much of an advantage.  Just go to Africa and pull the tail of a water buffalo if you don’t believe me.’  That brought forth a polite ripple of laughter.  ‘You have to remember that they can also shoot back.  So try pulling the tail of a water buffalo that’s packing an Uzi and see what happens to you.’  That brought a gale of laughter and Steven had to pause to take a drink of water.

‘They are dangerous in a manner no human has ever seen before, yet one man managed to kill two of them with a battle knife.  I am sure you have all read about the incident.  Despite their speed and strength their bodies are softer than ours.  As I said they are herbivores.  Their species eliminated any form of meat eater or hunter thousands of years ago but like all herbivores they have a strong herding instinct when in danger.

You will never catch one ship on its own.  The smallest number they travel in is a dozen.  Like pioneers in the old days they will form a circle and shoot out of it; or at least a formation that represents a circle in their minds.  If they are at risk of being overwhelmed they will withdraw until they have gained sufficient numbers and then charge.  There are very few worlds inhabited by meat eating species across the barrier.  Those few that haven’t been wiped out by one race or the other are hated.

‘You may wonder why our species has been able to forge a loose alliance with one of the most powerful on the other side of the universe.  Quite simply we have the late sir David Attenborough to thank for that.  His old documentaries, the way we have reserves for many of the grass eating species on the planet has won to some point their respect.  On top of that we have thousands of unknown species of grass that they are going crazy for.  It is a huge market.  Those on the other side of the barrier are also motivated by riches and power.  If we survive we can begin trading with our allies which gives them the legal right to grow and sell any seeds we supply them with.  Which means they will make a killing and after a protracted war their emperor is desperate for funds to set his kingdom back on its feet.  Almost all species on the other side of the border are hierarchal.  There is one emperor, like one bull in a herd.

Wars are more often fought over territory and grass rights by different races.  On a rare occasion there will be an internal struggle for power, but these are very rare.  Before they reached for the stars there was no such thing as inter-tribal wars.  They are one species one people.  They eventually eradicated any species on their home worlds that they competed with for food.  With no internal wars and huge population problems they reached for the stars far quicker than any meat eating species would have.  They consider any other race after the same reserves as competition.  When they find a planet like ours they normally eradicate every living thing on it and convert it to food production.

It wasn’t unusual for an emperor to place his own sons in charge of a planet.  The eldest would stay at home and take over the empire.  Of course sibling rivalry eventually lead to global wars where a species would end up fighting itself.  Something before never heard of.  This has only happened amongst the more aggressive of species; not however with the Albany.  Through documentation we have discovered that they prefer people of O negative blood to make their serum from.  It is the oldest blood group on Earth.  It is not out with the realms of possibility that they can and will have plans to eradicate any humans on Earth without that particular blood group.  They have the will and the means to do so.  It is how they usually take over a planet, only normally they simply eradicate everything and then terraform it to their own needs.  They have done this before, a number of times, and know exactly what they are doing.

Our biggest advantage must be obvious by now, and that is surprise.  They have no clue as to our new capabilities.  All the way to the barrier we believe that they will stick together.  There will be no advance party.  Once they cross the barrier and believe they are no longer in any danger of attack it would make sense for them to split into two groups.  The city ship is much slower than the battle group.  It will take weeks for the battle group to reach the Dark Planet at top speed and months for the city ship to reach it.

We know they have a large amount of serum, we believe that they will use most of that serum for their top people and the rest for the population of the city ship.  Of course they might not; however if you take into account the length of time it will take the city ship to arrive at the planet and the casualties they might sustain during that time period it makes far more tactical sense to split into two groups.

The faster would forge ahead and retrieve the humans they have stored to make serum with.  Once there they would be able to produce the serum they need to inoculate the remaining members of their forces.

Of course we don’t know how they are going to do it.  It would be impractical for them to do it aboard their own ships.  I imagine they will have some kind of medical ship and that it will attach itself to the main building and they will then shuttle the inoculations to the battle fleet, but I am only guessing.  All we know for sure is that someone will have to retrieve the bodies that are supposed to be at the base.  As we all know there are no bodies there to be collected.  It would hardly be fitting not to compound the surprise they are going to get with a few nukes.’  There was spontaneous outburst of laughter.

Steven smiled, ‘I thought you would like that.  It would seem our enemy has no concept of the booby-trap, so we are going to introduce them to it in a rather large way.’  That brought forth more laughter and Steven took another drink of water.  When it died down he carried on, ‘the races from across the barrier fight their battles in space.  They are normally set piece.  They fight until one side surrenders, withdraws or is utterly defeated.

Before they went into space they never even had armed forces.  Rarely do they fight any kind of protracted ground war.  If another race defeats your forces in space then you hand over the world you are fighting over and walk away.  Either that or you are bombarded or annihilated from space.

Their infantry weapons are not designed to breach walls.  Grenades are more of the stun type.  There are rules and treaties that you will be happy to hear do not count on our side of the barrier.’  That brought more laughter.

‘The term ambush is not unknown but is rarely used in any military text.  You will more likely find the term surprised the enemy or came across them unexpectedly.  Often two sides will retreat to a safe distance, gather their forces and then attack.’  Steven paused, ‘ladies and gentlemen we are going to introduce them to a level of violence and a type of warfare they have never experienced before.’  There were a few shouts of support and Steven smiled.

‘There are a number of plans for different scenarios and you will play them out again and again and again until you and the men and women under your command can do them backwards.  Until our people not only begin to understand the technology at their fingertips but can begin to improve on it.  We have one chance of getting this right ladies and gentlemen.  If the Albany reach Earth they will show no mercy whatsoever.  We will cease to exist as a species and every living thing on Earth with us.  Now before I hand you back to Admiral Baxter is there any questions?’

‘Why not hit them as they cross the Barrier, wont our allies provide us with that probable location?’

‘Good question, we actually have a very good idea where they will cross.  It is at an area called the great rift.  The barrier as you know somehow stops the neutrons from our star.  In some places on the barrier those neutrons are very dense and if a ship goes through it at speed they can kill the crew.  The rift is a region of space where the barrier is very thin and very few particles are recorded.  It is close to the Albany’s region of space.  It is the obvious place to cross the barrier however it stretches for thousands of kilometres in every direction.  The chances are that when they reach the rift they will split into smaller groups and cross at these places.  They could be spread out all over the place.  We want them concentrated in one so we can deliver one massive blow.’

Admiral Baxter stood up and Steven stepped back out of his way.  ‘Ladies and gentlemen Captain Gordon is very busy, I would just like to thank him for taking the time to talk to us here today.’

Steven walked out while they were still clapping and cheering him.

Chapter 40

Steven had never learned to drive so he howled with laughter when his mother and father revealed the bright red sports car.  For two days he had done little but sleep.  They were at the small cottage in the highlands his parents had bought for their retirement many years ago.  He had literally worked until he dropped.  Things had begun to fall into place.  The correct people were now in the right jobs doing the right thing.  It began to ease Stevens’s workload and that was when Babes declared it was time for them all to take a holiday.  Steven had gathered everyone together and discovered they were all exhausted and declared a two-week holiday for everyone.  Babes insisted that they return to Earth.  Realising he had nowhere to stay he had found himself at his parents cottage.  There was a spare room and waking up each day to home cooked food very quickly lifted Stevens spirits.

It only took him a day to learn to drive the car and another to pass his test; so for the rest of the week he explored his native highlands and fell in love.  There was one feature of the car that Steven loved over any other and that was the antigravity drive.  On consultation with members of government they restricted him to a couple of hundred feet above ground level and he had to have a special device installed.  His mother would pack him a lunch and he spent the day flying around some of the most inaccessible places, setting down and having lunch.

He felt his energy levels begin to rise, but it wasn’t the only levels that were rising.  It was Cookie that had taken up the matter with him a week before.  It was rare for Cookie to request a private audience so Steven had granted the request as soon as it had been made.  Cookie had joined him in his private quarters and Steven had sat him down immediately, worried by the look on the small man’s face.

‘What is it Cookie?’

‘I have a problem sir, in fact I think we all have a problem.’

Steven shook his head, ‘we have hundreds of problems Cookie, you'll have to be a wee bit more specific,’ Steven tried to smile.

‘I mean the whole crew sir, I've been going round the lads asking the same question I'm going to ask you now.’

Steven sat back, ‘go ahead.’

‘When was the last time you felt horny?’

It caught Steven flatfooted and he flushed brightly, ‘I ah, I ah don’t know.’

Cookie leaned forward, ‘exactly, the last time I felt that was when we were on leave before we began our first big mission.’

‘Uh, did you talk to the doctor about it?’

‘Don’t be daft man, this isn’t a medical problem, ask Buzz, I did.  He said he can’t remember the last time either and he is married.  In fact since we became members of this crew and the longer we are on board the inclination becomes less and less.  I work with Mya, I think she is stunning, beautiful, sexy and yet I don’t even have the inclination to kiss her.  That ain't right, that ain't normal, not for me and not for the rest of the people in this crew.  You are in love with Komoru, yet when have you ever felt the desire to consummate the relationship, or her for that matter.’

Steven was blushing bright red and cleared his throat, ‘ah, well, we respect one another.’

‘Bullshit, we tried to have a word with Babes about it and she refuses to answer our questions.  I have no desire to spend the rest of my life neutered so get it sorted sir.’  An angry Cookie got up and left.

He had been right though, Babes was evasive in her answers and it had taken Steven to get angry before she admitted they had been suppressing the crew’s hormone levels.  They were used to an ordered race that only really mated once a year.  By comparison their new hosts breeding habits were chaotic by comparison and in a bid to control it they had suppressed everyone’s hormone levels.  As the months had gone by and no one seemed to complain about it they had conveniently forgotten to un-supress them.  Now Steven was beginning to experience feelings he hadn’t felt since he was fifteen and for some reason it made him smile.

On Saturday morning he drove to Tappers estate in his bright red Ferrari.  It was a beautiful day and Steven was looking forward to it.  That night Tapper was holding a ball for all the members of the crew.  Both ships were already there and the crews were helping decorate the ballroom for the night’s ceilidh.  Steven was disappointed to see the only ones missing were the scientists.  In fact between the two crews there was only a dozen of them present.

The two ships sat side by side on Tappers massive lawns joined together and glowing in an eerie almost ghostly way.  Steven followed the signs that had been erected into a courtyard.  He parked his car beside some others, switched off the engine and got out.  A wolf whistle attracted his attention and he turned to find Buzz standing at the top of a set of stairs beside an ancient studded door.

‘That’s a beauty Stevie, have you been stealing the ships funds?’

Steven laughed, ‘hey bud, it’s a birthday present from mum and dad.’

Buzz came down and slapped him on the shoulder, ‘man it’s a beauty.  Better than the old banger my parents got me for my first car.’

Steven laughed, ‘yeah I remember that, you had it a week and swapped it for that old bike.’

Buzz was smiling at the memory, ‘still doesn’t beat a Ferrari though.’

‘It has a few special features.’

‘Oh yeah, what?’

‘Anti-gravity drive.’

‘You have to be shitting me, how high can it fly.’

‘About six hundred feet above ground level but I am restricted to two hundred.’

‘Neat, tapper has a room for you, let’s dump your gear.’

Buzz’s wife appeared from somewhere, ‘hi Stevie.’

‘Hi Jan.’

She gave him a brief hug, ‘nice ride where’s mine?’

The men laughed, ‘mum got it for me, it’s a new prototype, I think they are going to go for a half mill each.’

Her face fell, ‘oh wow.’

‘You don’t need one on the moon any way hun.’

Jan scowled at him, ‘I don’t spend all my time on the moon while you are away gallivanting all over the galaxy Buzz Anderson.’

He flushed, ‘yeah sorry.’

She shook her head, ‘don’t you dare be sorry.  I'm the talk of the town, wife of the famous Buzz Anderson.  Still we need a new car,’ she sighed.

Steven looked from one to the other, ‘you have your cards don’t you?’

Buzz shrugged, ‘yeah so.’

‘There isn’t a limit on them Buzz, you want a car go buy one.  Hell if you want a dozen go buy them.  We are worth something in the region of a two hundred and thirty billion Buzz go spend some cash for god’s sake.’

‘That’s your money Stevie,’ Buzz protested, ‘I've been taking a wage the same as I had at the institute.’

‘Thought you sold the business?’

‘Yeah to my cousin, actually I didn’t so much sell it as hand over the family business.’

Steven shook his head, ‘I keep telling you Buzz it’s our money man.’

‘I know bud but it don’t feel right.’

Steven took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds.  ‘That’s it done,’ he blinked.

‘What's done?’

‘Your annual bonus.’

‘Oh hell I get a bonus now.’  His face fell, ‘what did you do Stevie?’

‘I put a billion dollars into your account.’

Jen squealed, ‘you're kidding!’

Buzz was still rocking, ‘Jezz,’ was all that he could manage.

‘Nope no kidding, have fun, now where’s my room?’

Buzz was in a daze while Jan laughed all the way up to Steven’s room.

Buzz hesitated on the way out.  What about the rest of the guy’s Stevie?  I know most are living on their army wages still and only using their cards if they are desperate.’

‘I have taken care of them as well.  I will tell them later. Now where is this room?’

Chapter 41

Buzz almost fell over laughing, ‘nice Skirt Steven.’

Steven flushed, ‘it’s a Kilt you moron.’ That had just made Buzz laugh all the harder.  The ballroom was awash with colour and Steven wasn’t the only man wearing a kilt.  He was wearing the dress Gordon Tartan with the black Jacobite shirt.  Pre-dinner drinks were being served and Steven refused the alcohol this early in the evening.  Komoru arrived dressed in a traditional pink kimono.  Steven felt his face heat up and his pulse begin to race as she approached.

‘Wow,’ was about as much as he could manage.

She laughed and her eyes twinkled, ‘you look extremely handsome tonight Steven.’

The compliment didn’t help his complexion any, ‘you look absolutely stunning Komoru.’

She bowed slightly, ‘thank you.’

‘Are your parents here?’

Her eyes seemed to twinkle, ‘yes are yours?’

He shook his head, ‘no, sorry, they had some off world trip planned for this weekend.’

‘They will be sorry to miss them but a little envious I think.’

Steven laughed, ‘yeah I suppose it’s not everyone’s parents that can jump into their own space craft and go gallivanting round the solar system for the weekend.’

She laughed, ‘I think my parents would be more comfortable with somewhere closer to home.  Have you enjoyed your holiday?’

His smile lit up her world, ‘very much.  I spent a lot of it sleeping though, the rest of the time I spent getting to know my own country.’

‘Of course you grew up in America, you don’t really know Scotland do you?’

‘No not really, trips home were few and far between.’

‘So what do you think of it?’  She asked.

‘I love it, the best bit is how most people just ignore me as though I was a normal person.’

She frowned, ‘I don’t understand.’

‘If we go anywhere else in the world we are hounded by press or crowds of people.  Here people just smile, nod, or take a discrete photo.  Now and then I have to pose for a selfie from the bolder, but on the whole people seem to respect my privacy and leave me alone.’

She sighed, ‘that must be refreshing.’

‘It is.’

Cookie appeared and bashed a big gong, it brought lots of laughs from his crew mates.  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is served.’

Neither Steven nor Komoru had eaten a seven course dinner before.  Cookies was split between the kitchen and the dinner table.  He was of course invited to the dinner but it made it awkward for him as he had never actually attended one of his own dinners before.  Steven managed to corner him and asked him what he was doing.  Why was he working during his holiday?  Cookie had just laughed, what he did on board the ships he considered as working, these special dinners were his passion.  He loved the planning and the preparation and of course coming up with something special for his guests.  He had planned this one with the Japanese guests in mind.  Komoru was very impressed.  The meal took hours to get through.  When it was over Cookie left the rest to the estate staff and joined everyone in the ball room.

A ceilidh band struck up and the heavier drink was produced.  Tappers piper introduced the dances but very few knew the steps.  The night turned to hilarity as the few that knew tried to teach the many that didn’t.  Komoru wasn’t dressed for the more energetic dances but Steven took her up for every waltz.  Lady Jane however stole the show.  She and Tapper were well matched as they out did everyone on the dance floor.  Steven had thought her dress at dinner was out of place, but here on the ballroom floor she seemed to float, obviously a woman in her element.  Komoru felt a pang of jealousy as she caught Steven staring at her.

‘She is very beautiful, isn’t she?’

Steven frowned, ‘sorry who?’

‘Lady Jane.’

‘Oh right, I suppose she is.’

Komoru had caught the deep look of concern in his eyes as he had looked at her and relaxed, ‘are you worried about her.’

He nodded, ‘I still don’t know if I did the right thing taking her on-board.’

‘I could still take her.’

Steven sighed, ‘the simple fact is Komoru I just don’t like her.’

‘You know what they say about love and hate Steven.’

He looked shocked, ‘I don’t hate her, I just don’t like her or her manner.’

‘Is she not working hard?’

‘Very, we now have cards on protocols for meeting different races and she seems to have taken to her role very well,’ he shrugged, ‘I just don’t like her.  She is just so stuck up.’

‘She seems to be enjoying herself tonight.’

Steven laughed, ‘well Tapper is a Lord after all and she certainly seems to be in her own element.’

‘What about Sergeant Kelly, how is he coping?’

‘He seems to have found his purpose.  Lady Jane certainly has the edge on him when it comes to using the new technology, but I heard she hired a tutor.  Kelly is in great demand, his Second World War mentality goes down well with the troops and has adapted his house to house fighting techniques to suit the modern era.   Our plant in America for the new rifles is now in full production and it easily cuts through bulkheads, so everything is going well from that perspective.’

She squeezed his hand and he realised she didn’t want to talk about the upcoming war any more so changed the subject.

Later in the evening he felt the drink begin to take effect and got to his feet, ‘I need some fresh air.’

She laughed, ‘I think I will join you; I am not used to the alcohol either.’

Together they walked over the pristine lawn in front of Tappers castle like home.  The two ships floated gently side by side, still glowing eerily and unearthly in the moonlight.  They stood transfixed, somehow they were holding hands.

Komoru sighed, ‘they are so beautiful.’

‘And we are their hearts,’ Steven agreed.

‘We have been blessed Steven.’

He nodded and led her to a bench, Steven gave it a wipe, ‘it’s dry, would you like to sit for a while?’

‘Yes I would, it is so beautiful here, we did a small tour round Scotland before landing, your country is amazing.’

He laughed, ‘and I’m still finding that out myself. What about Japan, I hear it is beautiful.’

‘It is a very beautiful country Steven.  I was hoping you would visit, I was going to ask but I didn’t think you would come.’

‘I wouldn’t have, I think I needed this time with my parents.  Things have been a little strange since my change, if you know what I mean.’

Her answering smile lit up his world, ‘I understand.  My parents are finding it a little hard to cope with the change in me.  Your parents must be finding it extremely difficult.’

Steven smiled his mind drifting, ‘I think they are OK with it now.  I would love to see Japan though, you know just in case.’

She squeezed his arm, ‘please don’t say that.’

‘It needs to be said, we have to deal with the fact Komoru.’

‘I know.’ Her head dropped, ‘have they decided what they want us to do yet?’

He shook his head, ‘word is fast reconnaissance.  With our stealth capability’s we can get closer than anyone else.’

‘Do you no longer have any say?’

‘No not really, the momentum has finally overtaken me.  Our fighting men now have a good grasp on the situation and are making the right decisions, the politicians are a little slower but also heading in the right direction.  Humanity is beginning to wake up to a new dawn.  Those nutcases who denied the presence of aliens have finally shut up.’

‘I suppose they really didn’t have much of a choice,’ she giggled.

The pictures of The Burning Wind and the sighting of it by millions as it crisscrossed the planet had finally silenced even the most biased of voices.

Steven smiled, ‘yeah.  We still have a lot to do though.’

‘I know, this is why this week was so precious.’  She agreed.

‘What about us Komoru?’

She flushed, ‘you mean become boyfriend and girlfriend.’

‘Yeah, you do know I am in love with you?’

‘Yes I know,’ her voice was little more than a whisper, ‘and you must know that I love you?’

His smile took her breath away, ‘I was hoping.’

Both hearts raced as their lips finally met.  It was the most beautiful thing either of them had ever experienced.  Suddenly Steven broke away leaning forward.  ‘Are you OK Steven?’

Heat radiated from his body, ‘yeah, I’m fine.’

‘Do you want to go back inside?’

‘Oh hell no!’  He almost shouted.  It was only then she had an inkling of what was wrong with him and began to giggle.  Steven went even redder.  ‘Please, it isn’t funny.’

She burst out laughing, ‘I’m so sorry,’ she gasped, ‘I didn’t mean to laugh.’

‘My god, what is life going to be like if I can’t even kiss you?  That made her laugh all the harder and Steven joined in.   Eventually though the laughter subsided.  It had the desired effect and Steven stood.  ‘I’m OK now, maybe we should just go to bed.’

She gasped, ‘after just one kiss.’

Steven became a little flustered, ‘I didn’t mean that, I meant our own beds.’

‘Oh!  I thought you were going to give me a speech about how soon we could be in battle and how short life is and then try and seduce me.’

His jaw dropped, ‘I could not, would not.’

‘No!’  Her eyes flashed up at him and his mouth dried up.

He sat back down, ‘Komoru, I have never had a girlfriend, or even been with a woman, you know?’

She lifted his chin, ‘I know Steven, nor have I ever been with a man.’

He flushed, ‘I didn’t know that.’

‘I fell in love with you when I was a little girl.  I fell in love with your mind.  I first read your theory’s when I was about fourteen, I was even in touch with your mother for years.  She sent me pictures of you and I still have them on my desk at home.  No man in my life was ever comparable to the young boy I fell in love with all those years ago.  I spent all of my professional life trying to prove your theories correct and was ridiculed for it.  Now I have met the man that child would have become and I am not disappointed Steven.  If anything I love you even more.’

Steven slipped onto a knee and dipped into his sporran.  From it he took a small ring case and opened it, even in the moon light the fire diamond shone bright.  Komoru gasped.

‘Komoru, from the first moment I met you I fell in love with you.  I have never loved anyone else, nor will I ever.  Will you marry me?’

‘Oh Steven, Yes, I will marry you.’  They came together in a long passionate kiss.  When they broke apart he slipped the ring onto her finger.

Komoru’s eyes smouldered, ‘shall we retire now?’

Steven took a deep breath, ‘we may have to wait a few minutes.’

Both burst out laughing.  As they were making their way back to Stevens room a fleet of Taxis began to arrive too take those who did not wish to stay home.  They were side lined by some of the revellers and it was a while before they could slip quietly away.  None were still up when they ships began to radiate and pulsate with a strange light.  As the sun slipped up over the horizon their colour changed to a rose hue and they were content.

Chapter 42

Steven rose before Komoru and put on a tracksuit.  He ran for a couple of miles in the fresh mountain air.  Today everything seemed new.  The light brighter, the air fresher and the colours deeper.  The blood seemed to sing round his veins as he ran.  On returning to the estate he began to do stretching exercises and was soon lost in the world of martial arts as he went through the different exercise patterns.

The Sarge had soaked for a long time trying to get rid of his hangover.  Refreshed he had made his way down to the small dining hall where Lady Jane was standing looking out of the large bay windows with a cup of tea in her hands.

‘Hey Lady what’s doin?’

She raised an eyebrow at him, ‘our captain seems to be doing some strange form or ritual dance.  That’s what’s doin!  Sargent Kelly.’

Kelly grabbed himself a hot cup of coffee and joined her.  It wasn’t long before his eyebrows were also knitted together.  ‘Looks like that Jap stuff.’

‘Stuff?’  She enquired.

‘Yeah you know Jap fighting stuff.’

‘Actually no I don’t.’

Kelly was ready to growl at her but Tapper intervened, he soon joined them at the window with his first morning cup.  ‘Maybe you can shed some light on what the Captain is doing Lord Dunedin.’

Tapper was soon frowning, ‘indeed, what is the captain doing.’

‘I think it’s that Jap fighting stuff.’  Kelly supplied.

‘It isn’t just Japanese Sarge, I don’t recognise that style at all and I am a black belt in two different martial arts.  That’s what they are now called by the way.’

Kelly just grunted.  Lady Jane was more vocal.  ‘It doesn’t look like any form of art I know.’

‘You consider the ballet an art Jane?’

‘Of course she admitted.’

‘Same sort of thing Jane, it takes years of practise to master even one martial art and so far I have seen our captain perform patterns from at least three I recognise.’

‘Morning everyone,’ Buzz came bursting through the door looking for a coffee.

‘Morning Buzz,’ Tapper greeted him, ‘how many martial arts is the captain proficient in?’

Buzz grinned seeing Steven beyond the window, ‘I lost count years ago; he is quite something to watch isn’t he.’

‘I’ll say.’ Tapper agreed.

‘Ain’t gonna do you any good against a bullet,’ Kelly snorted.

‘Great against bullying jocks at school though,’ Buzz grinned, ‘which was why his father sent him too classes in the first place.’

Lady Jane gave Kelly a dirty look, ‘the Captain isn’t a military man, he is a man of science and peace.  Our generations failed and that cost millions of human beings their lives.  Our Captain through unforeseen circumstance has been forced into a military role against his deepest desires.  Our race stands on the precipice of extinction and one man stands foremost among all others in this battle to come.  That is the man you mock now Sergeant Kelly.  He prepares himself for battle in the only way he knows how.  If we survive as a race it will be because of him and humanity will move forward into a new era of peace and prosperity.  If humanity takes its place amongst thousands of others then it will because of that man out there.  I would sincerely hope if that bullet does come, then you would have the decency to step in front of it.’

The air crackled with tension for a few moment, then Kelly slowly grinned, ‘how about I just pull him out of the way.’

Jane stuck her nose in the air and went back to studying the captain.

The door clicked and all heads turned.  A very dishevelled Komoru froze like a deer in the headlights of a car.  She had slipped out of Stevens’s room quietly without being observed and was pleased.  She soon got lost in the many corridors trying to find her own room.  When she found herself by the small dining room she realised she could reach her own room from there.  Bursting through the door she hadn’t expected to find anyone there.  ‘Morning,’ she squeaked before dashing off through the other door blushing furiously.

The three men stood with stupid grins on their faces, ‘looks like someone got a little lost last night,’ Tapper suggested.  They burst out laughing.

The only one who wasn’t amused was Lady Jane.  ‘Well at least they had the decency to get engaged first.’

The three men stopped laughing, Buzz blinked, ‘engaged, when?  Stevie never said anything to me.’

‘Didn’t you see the ring on her finger?’ Jane asked, ‘it has to be the size of a sparrow’s egg.’

‘Trust a Dame to spot a sparkler,’ laughed Kelly.

She skewered him with a look, ‘I am not a Dame Sergeant Kelly, I am a Lady.’

Tapper rubbed his hands together with a grin, ‘breakfast anyone?’

They all agreed, there was nothing like starting the day with a hearty breakfast and a juicy piece of gossip.

Chapter 43

The airport at Kyoto was a hive of activity and the arrival of the two ships caused quite a stir.  Crowds of people stood with their phones in the air trying to catch a photograph.  Babes had converted a part of her body to carry Stevens’s car and during the journey had made significant improvements to it.  They had dropped off everyone all over the world before proceeding to Japan.  As Komoru was the only one of the pair that had her own home and they still had a few days off, it was a no brainer.  The ships had permission to land in Japan but had to do so at an airport.  An armed guard was waiting to provide protection for the ships.  Most of Komoru’s crew also decided to get off at Kyoto and make their way home from there.  Only those who had drawn the short straws were left on duty aboard the two ships.

Steven spotted the differences in is car the moment he sat inside. ‘What have you done Babes?’

Her voice boomed from the speakers, ‘I have made your Ferrari safer my heart.’

Steven was getting worried, ‘how so?’

Komoru was sitting in the passenger seat with her hand in front of her mouth trying her best not to laugh at his expression.

‘I have replaced the anti-gravity drive with a safer version my heart and the power plant.’

Steven paled, ‘oh hell no, you haven’t changed the engine?’

‘Not the ground running engine my heart, only the power plant that supplies power to the anti-gravity unit.’

He felt relief was through him, ‘oh thank god for that.’

Komoru burst out laughing, he just frowned at her, ‘so what exactly have you done, what are all these new buttons for?’

‘You now have the capability to fly at two thousand miles an hour.’

‘That would strip the paint off her.’

‘I realised that my heart that is why I repainted the car with a special paint that would not come off on re-entry.  I used the original pigmentation for the colour.’

‘So I can take this into space.’

‘No my heart, you can take it up to two thousand feet above ground level or two thousand feet below sea level.’

A large grin split his face, ‘we can go under water, cool.’

‘The undercarriage will also retract into the body to facilitate better aerodynamic functionality and the stabiliser on the rear of the car will now also act as a rudder.  I am worried about the ground speed this car of yours can operate at, it isn’t safe, may I limit it to safer speeds?’

‘Uh! No, leave it be, I will drive safely, I promise.’

‘As you wish my heart.’

Steven grinned at Komoru, ‘so which way is it?’

Laughing she pointed the way.  They were soon caught up in the morning Kyoto rush hour.  With a grin Steven engaged the antigravity drive and lifted above the traffic.  Many cars came to a halt and people got out to stare as the bright red car lifted away from the ground and disappeared into the distance.  They didn’t get very far before a couple of Japanese fighters slid up alongside.  The communications equipment sprang to life and Komoru replied to the pilot’s rapid fire questions.  They had already broken a dozen rules and regulations.  Komoru apologised profusely and they guided the red car down to 200 feet before waggling their wings and leaving them to it.

Steven set the car down gently and they drove the last few miles.  She directed him up a secluded driveway, through an ancient forest.  First sight took Stevens breath away.  It looked like something from a film set from one of those movies about the old samurai.  They took their shoes off at the door.  The inside also looked ancient, broken up by highly decorated paper screens.  Steven quickly discovered it was anything but.  Komoru had soft touch technology that sprang to life at a gentle stroke of her fingers.  Steven immediately fell in love with the place.

Komoru introduced him to a Japanese version of a hot tub and then they spent the rest of the morning in bed.  After a light meal they decided to explore Japan.   Komoru showed him around her home, they visited a dozen temples and sites of significance before Steven decided it was time to try out the underwater capabilities of his new car.  They explored reefs and sunken wrecks, cruised along with shoals of fish.  The afternoon ended as they cruised along a few feet under the waves and explored what you could and couldn’t do in the front seat of a Ferrari.

Chapter 44

On the moon of DorthGraa, an area over seventy miles in circumference began to vibrate.  The light lunar dust began to jump around and make strange swirling patterns as it became more excited.  In places plumes of dust exploded high.  A solid ring of light burst from the surface of the moon and molten rock raced past the now falling dust.  The ring of light, never totally diminished.  A few hours later it began to grow brighter as the huge slab began to lift free of the moon’s surface.  Tons of fine dust cascaded over the edges into the growing hole below.  It took almost a full lunar day for the massive slab of rock to be lifted clear of the surface and then it began to pulsate with a strange light as the rock began to move.

It took a farther two lunar days for the slab to move clear of the cavern beneath.  It was another full lunar day before the dark cavern began to fill with light.  It wasn’t a single light, it was hundreds of thousands of lights, many of them different colours.  Large towing ships slipped into the great cavern and hooked up to the great ship within.  Slowly it was towed out into the light of their home sun for the first and the last time.

Once it was clear of the moon it languished in orbit for a few months as final preparations and tests were carried out.  As the weeks passed thousands of ships in tight box formations began to take their place round the massive city ship.  On the day it finally departed a small probe thousands of miles away began to send the data it had been gathering.

Chapter 45

Steven and Komoru appeared suddenly before the Earths Defence Council.  More than one member present got a surprise.  One of them was the head of the organisation.  ‘I almost peed myself there Captain Gordon, would it be too much to ask to have you use a specified location as some form of transporter room.’

Steven laughed, ‘if you set it up sir I will adhere to your wishes.’

‘Thank you for that.  Did you receive a report from the Emperor?’

‘Yes sir, probably at the same time as you did.’

‘Have you had time to analyse it yet.’

‘Yes sir I have.  Unfortunately we have seriously underestimated the enemy’s numbers.  They out number us by thousands of ships of all types.  The city ship is also the biggest on record with a circumference of about seventy miles.’

‘Are we doomed Captain?’

Steven shrugged, ‘it will take them almost six months to reach the barrier and the city ship is so slow it will take it another eight months from there to the Black Planet, then almost a year from there to Earth.’

‘So we have some time then.’

‘Not as much as you may wish sir.  The city ship itself will take that long but I firmly believe they will split into at least two groups once they cross the Great Barrier.  They have fast scout craft that could reach Earth in a few months once they have crossed.  A large battle fleet could reach us within a year from now.’

‘Say we have eleven months Captain, where would we stand then?’

’We would still be thousands of ships short sir.  If we double the assault battalions we most likely would have enough men and weapons, however the problem would be delivering them.  Until we receive deep scans from the Emperors strike force about their defensive capabilities, we really just don’t know what we are dealing with.’

There was silence for a while.  The head of the organisation seemed deep in thought.  ‘I will put every resource I can at your disposal Captain Gordon, would you look into the problem for us and try and find a solution?’

‘I will try sir.  Will that be all for the moment?’

‘Yes captain, thank you.’

For the next few weeks Steven attended meeting after meeting, but seemed to be getting nowhere fast.  One Sunday he was sitting with his own military men discussing the situation.

Steven was rubbing the back of his neck.  ‘It’s the biggest known invasion force ever assembled.’  His eyes flicked up, ‘even bigger than D Day Sarge.’

Kelly normally felt out of place in these meetings as they talked about things well above his pay grade, but if there was one thing Kelly did know about it was invasions.  ‘Cup of Joe sir?’

‘Thanks Sarge I would appreciate that.’

Howe flicked through his tablet, ‘Even if we could build enough factories sir, we still don’t have the time to build enough ships.’

Steven took the offered cup, ‘thank you.  I know colonel.  They have had the resources of a dozen planets going at it for years and we have the resources of one and no time.’

‘We have the guns sir, just not the ships to mount them on.’

Steven agreed, ‘I know.  We are so far ahead we need to wind that part of the operation down.  Maybe we can convert the factories into making something else.  Any suggestions?’

The silence stretched.  It was Kelly who eventually broke it.  ‘I think you fellas are over thinking it all.  There’s too much brains at this table.’

Steven found himself grinning as did Tapper and Howe, ‘go on the Sarge, help us out here,’ Steven encouraged.

Kelly shoved his boots up on the table and took a mouthful of coffee with a sigh.  ‘By the end of the second world war our combined air forces had bombed the shit out of industrial Germany, but still the shits managed to put men and machines onto the battlefield.  What the Krauts were really good at was improvising, making do with whatever they could get their hands on.  When they ran out of steel they saved time and expense by mounting guns on motorised carriages and aimed them by steering the damn things, effective too.  You ain’t ever seen anything as terrifying as a German Panzer regiment coming at you with all their guns blazing.  Blitzkrieg they called it.  We learned how to stop them though.

What I can see from all this is that you are playing the enemy’s game sir.  Looks to me like ships of the line pounding on each other until one ships sinks.  Forget all your fancy fighter squadron tactics at the moment sir.  Strip all that off and you’re going at it like an old naval type battle, right?’

Steven shrugged, ‘I suppose I can see where you are coming from Sarge, go on.’

‘Seems to me that there are lots of examples in human naval history where outnumbered fleets have won the day.  Let’s shove all that to the side for the moment sir.  Right now we got Navy, Air force and infantry all going into battle.  Where’s our tanks sir, where’s our artillery?  It’s how we stopped the Panzers sir, sheer fire power.  You don’t need a thousand battle cruisers or ten thousand Destroyers when you got a hundred thousand tanks or artillery pieces.  Why not mount a gun on a chassis like a tank, give it some form of propulsion.  We got millions of tankie’s and artillery boys just howling to get in on this act, hell I hear they are trying to join the infantry to get in on the fight.  You don’t need bloody big Destroyers or Battleships sir, get some artillery, get some tanks.  Hell my nine year old great nephew could probably fly something like that, I seen him and his friends on those game machines shooting the shit out of things.’

Steven blinked rapidly as he communicated with Babes.  ‘It is something that has never been done before.’

Kelly shrugged, ‘all the better sir, the buggers won’t know what’s hit them until it’s too late.  We got thousands of cargo ships now sir, you could transport them to the battlefield that way then deploy them just out of range.  Take them into battle in large formations of a thousand guns at a time, like the krauts did.’

‘Slow moving targets like those could easily be avoided Sarge, or become easy prey to fighters,’ Tapper pointed out the obvious.

‘Get them into their set piece battle then deploy the tanks sir.  You guys ain’t sure if this is an air force battle or a naval battle yet.  Well it ain’t, it’s a battle for our goddamn existence and we got to use every advantage we got, and anything they ain’t got in their training manuals is a goddamn advantage sir.  Yeah, sure, it won’t take them long to figure out these things are easy prey.  Hell it didn’t take our boys long to discover that their Sherman’s weren’t any good against a kraut Tiger, hell the brass knew before they set foot in Europe that our boys wouldn’t stand a chance going toe to toe against a German Tiger Tank.  What they did was outnumber them about ten or twenty to one.’  Kelly took his feet down from the table and sat forward, ‘let me tell you something else, knowing they were outclassed didn’t stop our boys either.  They found a way of dealing with the Tigers just as we will find a way to defeat these beasts, simply because we have no other choice.  Lay a trap, lead them into a set piece battle then kill them.’

Stevens mind opened up to the possibilities, ‘at this moment in time we have ten thousand heavy guns waiting for ships and another twenty thousand lighter ones, not including those for close defence against fighters.   Sarge you may well have saved the day.  I’m going to go and see if I can wrap a small ship round a gun,’ he stood, ‘if you will excuse me gentlemen.’

The two special service men regarded Kelly with admiration, it was Howe who voiced what he was thinking, ‘well done Sarge.’

Kelly shoved his feet back up onto the table, ‘hell you boys are just kiddies in this game.’

The two men laughed until their sides hurt.

Chapter 46

The new gunships went into full production.  Every second of every minute of every day was cherished on Earth.  The whole world turned its attention to the impending invasion.  New tactics were hurriedly introduced to accommodate the new weapons.  Every tank man and artillery gunner on the planet volunteered as did many naval gunners.  The youth of the World stood forward and volunteered for service.  Millions of men now lived off world and trained daily in a zero gravity.  The huge mountains of rubbish on the Earth were slowly gobbled up.  Many of the dumps the crews salvaged materials from were now large empty craters.

A large Imperial fleet had caught up with the Albany fleet and was now escorting it towards the great barrier.  As a result the humans now had detailed scans of the fleet, its resources and defences.  A large portion of the ships were troop carriers.  It relieved some of the pressure however none of the ships were defenceless.  The Albany City Ship was a hive of activity as hundreds of cargo vessels arrived and left every day.  It took three months longer than expected to reach the great barrier.  The giant fleet split up and slid through.  On reaching the other side safety they regrouped before two thirds of the fleet began a dash for the Black Planet.

For the first few weeks Steven shadowed the fleet.  Tension was high as they waited to be detected but nothing happened.  He didn’t dare scan the ships but within a few days he began to slip in between the vessels and took high definition pictures.   He then travelled back to the city ship.  When they detected no shields, he did a thorough reconnaissance of the city ship.  With their reconnaissance completed,  they raced at top speed to get ahead of the assault fleet.  He rendezvoused with  Earths Battle Fleet a few weeks before the Albany Battle reached the Black planet.

Chapter 47

Commander John Logan sat in the seat of his fighter in the all-consuming darkness of the freighters hull.  He knew Alfie was just a few meters away to his right but could see nothing of him, his ship or the other members of the squadron.  Now the cold was beginning to bite and he wanted to puke.  They had been inside the freighters hull for hours now and had powered down with the approach of the enemy fleet.  A violent bought of shivering racked his frame but they dare not switch on even their suits heating unit.

The freighter was now abandoned and he knew it would never be recovered.  It had been returned to its exact position on the Black Planet; the grasses so hastily dumped before had been picked up and disposed of.  For weeks, months now teams had been on the planet preparing a surprise for the enemy.  The Burning Wind had also returned to her spot on the planet but was now manned by a human crew apart from the tenacious chief engineer who refused to die, despite having being hit many times by the suns deadly neutrons.

He stood beside the new captain of The Burning Wind and watched as an Albany probe headed straight for them.  He rarely dwelt on his luck, assuming correctly that the heavy gravity of his home world, a colony world, gave his body the density he needed to survive the deadly neutrons of the human’s sun.  His world produced some of the best engineers in the Empire and yet his people were always being ridiculed by the rest of his race for their smaller stature.  For the first time in his life he felt like a giant.  Few humans could reach even his diminutive height and with them he finally began to receive the respect and recognition many from his home world craved.

‘The probe is trying to scan us sir.’ An operator announced.  The captain looked towards his weird looking chief engineer who shook his head.

‘Ignore it and let the ships automatic defences deal with it.  Once they have destroyed it I will bring the ship up to full power sir.’

The captain frowned, ‘won’t they be suspicious?’

‘No, they will expect it.  The Albany tried to gain access to The Burning Winds access codes on the black-market but they were fed false ones.  Don’t worry about it though.’

‘You mean they will suspect the codes were false?’

‘That’s right sir.  I think you humans have a saying for it.’

‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’

The engineer grunted his agreement.  ‘The Burning Wind would have been a great asset to them, it was worth the risk.’

‘The probe is attempting a link sir,’ the same operator reported.  The automatic defences of The Burning Wind swung into operation and blasted the probe from the dark sky.  ‘It’s down sir and the ships following behind have turned away.’

‘You were right,’ grinned the Captain.

‘I have played this game many times sir.  It’s time to bring The Burning Wind up to full power, no one will approach us now.’

The captain agreed, ‘do it.’

The engineer growled out commands to his team and The Burning Wind seemed to spring to life as all of its systems came online.  ‘They will expect the automatic defences to stay alert for six hours before winding down again.’

‘Do you think they will approach again?’

‘Not within that six hour period sir.  If they have more than one set of codes they would return but by then the battle should be over.’

‘Here’s hoping.’

‘You have two thirds of the enemy fleet here, more than we anticipated.  If you can kill all of them then you will be left with even numbers.’

‘Yes apart from a bloody great city ship seventy miles in circumference.’

‘The city ship only has light defences sir.  Enough to take out any amount of those ballistic missiles you humans are so fond of, but those guns will barely scratch The Burning Wind.’

‘No, but formidable enough to destroy landing craft.’

‘That is true sir.  If I was you sir I would worry about this battle and not the one to come.’

‘You make a good point, let’s do just that.  Do you think they will actually land?’

The chief engineer did something to his tablet and a big screen appeared, he zoomed in on one particular craft.  ‘Do you see the strange shape of this vessel sir?’

‘Yes it seems to have a big hole cut out of it.’

He zoomed in on the side of the ship, ‘those markings on the ship state that it is a hospital ship, immune from harm.  It isn’t though.  Our ships managed to do an in-depth scan of the ship. It is a medical ship, but it’s also a factory ship.’

‘I see it, it’s for making serum, and I have no doubt that its shape will slip right over the top of their facility.’

‘That’s right sir,’ the engineer zoomed in on some strange looking pipes that ran up and down the side of the ship.  ‘Those look like tethers.  You can pass anything you want through them from ship to ship.’

‘Like inline refuelling.’

‘I understand the concept sir and yes that is quite a good analogy.  Only I think they are there to pass the serum from ship to ship.  The structure is on a flat plane of almost a hundred of your Earth miles square.  All ships have the ability to tether together like that.  You could easily land a whole battle group and link them up.’

The captain sat forward, ‘oh my god that is brilliant.  Once the serum is ready you could dose whole squadrons at the same time.’

‘I think that is exactly the reason for this sir.  Time; every minute they live unprotected can cause a death.  I think they will land, link up and then wait for the serum to be made.  Make a batch deliver it.  Transfer to the ships will only take a few minutes.  They move off the next battle group lands, lands, links up.  By the time they have linked up the next batch is ready.’

‘Simple but very effective.’

‘Yes sir and the little accident we staged at the facility door should delay the medical ship landing.’

The captain nodded, ‘which should give more ships a chance of landing.  That was a brilliant idea, whose was it?’

The chief engineer shrugged but his 2ic leaned over, ‘I think it was Admiral Baxter’s sir.  He wanted as many ships in as small a space as possible for their big surprise and thought a small delaying tactic would concentrate them nicely.’

‘It my well work to, I just wish I could see what the hell was happening now.’

Chapter 48

Commander Gee Ran To’ Nach, felt himself swell with pride at his achievements.  His father had set up this base many years before and his sacrifice had helped propel his sons to greater heights.  Somewhere down below his father’s corpse lay with those of his companions.  The bodies would be retrieved with great pomp and ceremony.  The ceremony would be broadcast live as was every step of this adventure.  News crews were already aboard the medical ship and would go in with the first element.

His command ship hung high above the planet.  All of his crew and the leadership element had already been inoculated.  Below there was just enough serum for the invasion fleet which would travel straight to the planet Earth.  They would begin by destroying the planets nuclear capability.  He knew their primitive weapons could not destroy a shielded warship, but he didn’t put it past the disgusting meat eaters to try and irradiate their own planet.  The second part of the plan was to eradicate much of the population and the wildlife.  The third was to effect a landing and gather up as many survivors as they needed to complete their plans and finally they would eradicate every other living thing on the face of the planet.  The creatures in the seas would be harvested at a later day to provide a fertiliser for the great savannahs that they would create.

The city ship was full of agricultural workers ready to go to work on this new planet.  Things would be hard on all of them to begin with due to the Earth’s gravity, but in time they would adapt and future generations would be able to cope much easier and build a natural resistance to this sun’s harmful rays.  He already loathed the meat eaters of this planet.  Like many other species of meat eaters they had been content to sit upon their own world and kill one another.

When he was appointed commander he had been taken to one of the secret facilities that had bred captive humans.  The stink of these animals had shocked him and to make matters worse a special display had been set up for him.  They had let loose a dozen males on half a dozen females.  The males had literally torn each other to shreds with hands and teeth for possession of the females.  Those that had been able after the fight had then forced themselves on the females.  The sight of them fornicating in their own filth had turned his third stomach.  He was happy there was no longer a single animal left alive on his home world.

A subordinate walked up and saluted, ‘sir if I may disturb you?’

‘You have a progress report?’

‘Yes sir.  The medical ship may well be delayed in taking up its position.’

‘Why what has gone wrong?’

‘It would seem one of the scientists craft crashed into the facility.  Our engineers have cleared it away along with all the others but there is damage to the facility.’

The commander felt a chill run through him, ‘has the integrity of the facility been compromised.’

The subordinate looked at his pad, ‘they were able to see inside sir.  The outer door is badly damaged and twisted and will have to be cut away, however they believe the interior door is secure.  Would you like the engineers to return to fix the problem before the medical ship lands?’

‘Did they say if the medical ship could land the way the door is now?’

‘They did sir and they could.’

‘Then send a team of engineers cross deck to the medical ship.  Tell the medical ship as soon as it is safe to do so to land and the fleet as well.’

As soon as the medical ship landed a small shuttle of engineers slid into its docking bay.  The leading battle group began to land and the ships began to connect to each other.

Another aid approached, ‘if I may disturb you sir?’  He flicked a hand at the aid as he watched the live footage from the medical ship.  The engineers were now beginning to cut through the thick door and he felt the suspense begin to mount within him.’

‘The codes we procured for The Burning Wind failed sir and the ships automatic defences took down our probe.’

‘No surprises there then, were our hails answered?’

‘No sir.’

‘Then the crew must be dead.’

‘We have also found a discrepancy amongst the ships that were reported to be here sir.’

His thick brows knotted, ‘what ships and where?’

‘Two ships belonging to the builder race sir, they are gone.’

He thought it over, ‘wasn’t there another pair of builders ships reported as having passed through the barrier?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Then they probably harvested the ships nano’s themselves and moved on.  Is there any sign of those two ships?’

‘No sir, none.  Those two ships were driven through the great barrier at a point that is known to be heavily infused with neutrons from this sun.  I am surprised any of the crew lived long enough to reach this far.’

‘What is your concern?’

‘That they might have reached Earth sir.’

The commander shook his head thoughtfully, ‘only young ships have been known to take on a second crew.’

‘I checked sir, they were first generation.’

‘Still, the builders are a timid race and the ships reflect their personalities. Humans are meat eaters.  I am sorry, it just doesn’t fit, however we lose nothing by being thorough.’  He turned to one of his operators, ‘patch me through to the chief medical officer.’

‘Yes sir.’

A few seconds later a harassed medical officer appeared on screen.  He struggled to straighten his furrowed brow and lowered his head.  ‘Commander you do me honour sir, the engineers are on board now and are assessing the damage to the building, we do believe the seals are intact at this time I will be able to tell you more soon.’

‘Thank you commander Tar, it is an honour to speak to you too; that is not why I called.  I need your expertise on humans.  Operations have discovered we have two builder’s ships missing and two unaccounted for.  There is some concern those ships may have travelled to Earth and found themselves a new crew.  They were first generation ships.’

‘I see commander that is a concern, however humans do not have the type of brains that can interact with a ship built by the builders.  Let me check to make sure.’

He turned to a console and they waited patiently.  Eventually commander Tar turned back to his screen.  ‘It is as I thought.  To link neurologically with the ship, a human captain would have to be able to utilise at least eighty percent of its brain.  We abducted thousands of humans and tested all of them.  We even followed much of their scientific community and tested them.  The nearest was still under sixty percent commander.  Even if there was one human on the whole planet capable of becoming a ship’s captain, how could those ships find that one person on a planet of billions?  I would imagine we will either come across those builders ships floating dead in space somewhere.  It’s more likely they committed suicide on one of the gas giants after harvesting the nano’s from the two ships on this planet.’

‘Thank you commander Tar; that is precisely what I was thinking.  Your knowledge and expertise is beyond approach.’

‘A pleasure to serve commander.  I have just received notification from the engineers.  They have finished cutting away the door, but will have to replace it before we can enter the facility.  They will also have to fill any cracks in the walls before we enter.  They are afraid that a change of pressure within the facility could cause some of the cracks to widen and cause explosive decompression.  The good news is they can reach all of the cracks without us having to lift off again.  It should only take a few hours.’

‘Thank you commander Tar.’  The screen went blank and he turned back to his aid, ‘are you happy with that?’

The officer bowed politely, ‘yes sir my concerns have been assuaged.’

The commander went back to watching the drama unfold below.  The engineers were working in a space about a meter wide and they were having problems.  It wasn’t until they began injecting a white bonding compound into the cracks that the commander could actually see them properly.  A harassed engineering officer took a few minutes to explain to the news crews what they were doing.  On the inside of the door a section of the wall had been cut away to reveal the door opening mechanism.  Men were working detaching the remains of the old door so they could attach a new door that was being made to the exact specifications as the old one.

It was another hour before the completed door was transhipped to the engineers aboard the medical ship.  It took another hour for them to fit it and reseal the whole thing.  By now the cement used on the walls had hardened and they were ready to go.  Again the tension began to mount.  Suited soldiers entered the facility first.  ‘The integrity of the facility is intact,’ a strange voice spoke aloud to the news crew.  His light shone ahead.  ‘Oxygen levels are low but not as low as expected.’  As he went farther in the lights in the facility began to go on.  ‘That’s better,’ the soldier stated as he switched off his torch.  His eyes studied a hand held scanner.  ‘Oxygen levels beginning to rise.  It looks like everything is still in working order.  No sign of anything noxious.’

The camera zoomed in on the soldier’s scanner and they could clearly see the read out and the oxygen levels were rising rapidly.  He used his viewer to look over the fleet.  They had all landed and linked up, now they were just waiting for the serum.  Something was happening now.  The soldiers had taken their masks off.  A ceremonial guard had marched into the complex, it was their task to gather together the bodies of their fallen heroes.  The Commander felt emotion rise inside him.  His own fathers corpse was somewhere inside that facility and his body was to be taken straight to the command carrier.

The camera crew followed the ceremonial guard.  The camera man panned round and they caught sight of the medical teams as they prepared to retrieve the humans from their stasis pods.  The leader of the camera crew gave a nod to some members of his team and three of them broke away to follow the medics.  A second camera was switched on and began broadcasting live.  The commander watched their progress on a second screen as they made their way through the complex.  When they reached the stasis room the lights flickered on.  The first rows of pods gleamed in the artificial light, but as the lights travelled backwards, deeper into the room, the medics realised something was amiss.

‘Where the hell are they all?’  Asked one puzzled.

‘What the hell is that?’  Asked another pointing to some strange objects in the middle of the room.  It wasn’t enough warning.  Before the cameras could swing onto the strange object there was a blinding flash and the screens went dead.

Below on the surface of the planet there wasn’t just one blinding flash of light, or a thousand.  All over the planet, thousands of nuclear weapons were being launched out of canisters made from the black dust.  These had begun to fire a few seconds before the main detonation.  Sensors on the surface came to life and scanned the area above them.  If they detected a craft the weapons were launched.  The missiles locked on to the nearest target and their rockets fired at the same moment as the initial detonation.  It took that Albany fleet completely by surprise.

The commander was thrown out of his chair by massive concussion from below.  Dazed he had no time to get up before another blast rocked his ship.  Every light went out.

‘Get the shields up,’ someone screamed.

‘I can’t see anything screamed an operator,’ picking himself up from the floor.

Shock wave after shock wave tossed them around like peas in a can.  As emergency power struggled to light up their controls; five nuclear warheads ploughed into the command carrier; it dissolved into the blinding flash of the detonations.

As the command carrier blew it took out its unprotected escort.  The electromagnetic pulse’s ripped through the ships of the unprotected fleet.  Those on the ground died first and those above sitting waiting patiently in a tight pattern weren’t far behind.  Smart bombs punched into the middle of their formations and others targeted the ships themselves.  Burning vessels crashed onto the surface of the Black Planet.

Chapter 49

A green light flared on Commander Logan’s instrument panel.  He cried out with relief, it had taken much longer than expected and now he was shivering uncontrollably.  ’Light them up.  Get ready to launch.’  He punched a button and the freighter doors began to open slowly.  He cried out in pain as heat flooded back into his suit and warm blood began to reach his hands and feet.  ‘Get your hands and feet working pronto.  Shields up.’

He banged his gloved hands together and stomped his feet.  Just as the doors came fully open a huge ship crashed into the planet’s surface half a mile away.

‘Holy shit!  Did you see that?’  Someone shouted, their voice so distorted with the cold he couldn’t make out who it was.

He saw it all right, ‘launch now.’

They were surrounded by blinding flashes of light, ‘keep it tight.’  A troop transporter appeared in front of them, trying to get away.  ‘Let’s get that troopship, fire!’  Streams of light streaked out from the fighters and lanced into the troopship.  It tore itself to pieces.  They were dodging in and out of the enemy battle fleet firing at targets of opportunity.  Despite their shields being up and all of their protective equipment the flashes from the nuclear explosions were almost blinding them.

Logan noticed something out of the corner of his eye and realised he was flying parallel to a smart bomb looking for a target.  It was too much for him.  ‘To hell with this, climb, let’s get the hell out of here.’  His squadron followed him high above the carnage below.  Here and there other vessels were trying to do the same.  Smart bombs were blasting against shields now as the survivors gathered their wits.  Logan was smart enough to recognise it.

He took a deep breath, ‘Alpha to command, we have broken free of the enemy formation, suggest regrouping the fighters, it looks like those who survived have got their shields up and are also beginning to regroup, our smart bombs don’t seem to be doing much damage now.’

The recall command came a few seconds later and Logan led the squadron back to the safety of The Burning Wind.  She was surrounded by a hundred cruisers and destroyers of the Earth’s main battle fleet.

‘Any casualties?’  He asked and found to his surprise his squadron was intact.  From being frozen such a short time before, he now found he was sweating profusely.  He removed his helmet and using a small section of towel he kept in his cockpit for exactly that reason, rubbed his face and neck dry.  ‘Holy shit!’  Was about as much as he could think to say to himself at that moment.

They didn’t get time to rest on their laurels.  A single Albany battlegroup rose from the ashes of the Black Planet in a large square block, led by a massive battle cruiser.  On board The Burning Wind a call came in from the enemy cruiser.  The captain nodded to his operator and an ugly beast appeared on screen.  He seemed taken aback at the sight of the human captain.  ‘You are not Modloch, what do you think you are doing, what race are you?’

The captain grinned, ‘that would be the human race, you know the one you are going to try and wipe out.’

‘That is impossible, you are meat eaters, you have never left your planet?’

‘In that case I must be a figment of your imagination then.’  The crew burst out laughing.

The Albany shook himself out of shock.  ‘Prepare to die meat eater.’

‘Tell me how much do you weigh captain?’

The Albany hesitated, ‘what fool question is this on the cusp of battle?’

The human shrugged, ‘it’s all to do with cooking time.  I have to say you do look rather tasty today.’

The point slammed home and even their Modloch engineer howled with laughter; he approached his captain and slapped him on the back, ‘that remark will resound down through the annals of history captain.  Providing that is you don’t actually eat them.’

‘You know damn well we won’t.’

‘Yes I know; now attack before they collect their wits.’

The enemy battle fleet began to change shape as their troopships were sent into the centre. That was the moment the Earth fleet chose to attack.  As the earth fleet advanced towards their enemy, it took the appearance of an arrow head; driving straight for the battle cruiser in the heart of the Albany fleet.  The cruisers shields held for about a minute but as the humans concentrated the weight of their fire on it the ships shields began to buckle.  Strikes began to show on her hull; then flames began to shoot out into space.  Seconds later it disintegrated.  The human wedge crashed into the centre of the Albany fleet and split it asunder.

Two more Human fleets appeared and blocked their retreat.  Logan and his men were in the thick of it.  The Burning Wind forced its way through the far side of the Albany fleet only to find itself facing another Battle cruiser that had arrived from the planet below all guns blazing.  Logan’s fighters were ordered in and they played havoc with the enemy’s shields.  They didn’t get it all their own way though.  Half a dozen of his squadron fell to the cruisers guns enraging him.  As more and more human ships cleared the Albany fleet, they added their fire power to that of The Burning Wind.  The enemy cruiser began to launch fighters to aid in the battle but it was too late.  Her shields collapsed and she blew spectacularly.  Logan led his men on a hunt of the enemy fighters that had already been launched.

What was left of the enemy battle group tried to retreat.  Both sides knew this was a war of extermination and there would be no surrender.  Human destroyers ruthlessly pursued the troopships in a deadly game of cat and mouse amongst the stars.  Less than a dozen would reach the safety of the city ship.  The remainder of the human fleets turned their attention to the damaged vessels they had left in their wake.  Thousands of emergency pods flew about in disarray.  Most made it to the planet’s surface where they were left to the mercy of the radiation.  Here and there the odd remaining smart bomb would target large groups of these pods as they began to gather.  Burning debris slowly descended towards the planet, pulled in by its gravity.  Large explosions covered its surface.  Now the surface of the planet no longer absorbed the light.  Much of the surface was now covered in a thin sheet of black glass that reflected it.

On board The Burning Wind the Captain recalled his fighters.  The Modloch engineer stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.  ‘No, never recall your fighters in a battle Zone.  Slip to a safe distance and have them follow.  Send them coordinates.’

The captain nodded, ‘thank you.  Bellay that order.  Prepare to slip.  Once we arrive send our coordinates to the fighters.’  He turned back to his engineer, ‘thank you for all of your assistance today.’

‘No, thank you for allowing me to stay on the bridge during the fight.  It makes a pleasant change from sitting in the guts of the engine room shitting yourself with fear because you haven’t a clue what’s going on.’  The two beings laughed in their own manner together.

Chapter 50

Steven slid over the planet like an invisible wraith.  He watched the readings.  ‘Lift us out of this radiation cloud Hailey, we are leaving a radiation free bubble that could be detected by any enemy that may be in the area.’

There was a grunt of approval from the Modloch engineer at his side who had insisted on coming on this reconnaissance.  ‘You are very smart Captain.  That is a mistake many rookie captains make; yet I hear you have no military training.’

Steven shrugged, ‘it seemed obvious.’  Steven checked something else before going on, ‘you are right though.  I have no military training of any kind ambassador.’

The engineer laughed, ‘yes, I have no political training and you have no military training, yet here we are.’

Steven smiled, ‘here we are.’

They were silent for a long time, each lost in his own thoughts.  The devastation below was incredible to observe.  When they reached the spot where the facility had been there was nothing but a large hole over twelve miles in diameter.  The engineer was shaking his head.

Steven noticed, ‘you don’t like it?’

‘It makes me very uncomfortable, I admit.  I can’t think of any race that developed nuclear weapons.  By the time we took to the stars we were far more advanced than nuclear fusion.  There isn’t a ship out there that can’t protect itself from a nuclear blast, yet you destroyed an entire invasion fleet with little more than what is considered a primitive weapon.’

‘And the element of surprise.’

‘It won’t work again.’

‘I know,’ Steven agreed.  ‘But we don’t really need it too.’

‘Yet I hear that is exactly what you are planning to do.’

Steven shrugged, ‘it really depends on what they do next.  They may be primitive weapons but they can still play havoc with a ships instruments.  If the opportunity arises, we will use them as a distraction until we have all our fleets in a good kill position.’

The engineer watched Steven closely.  It had taken him a long time to realise that this man was the real power behind the human race.  Despite all their committees and governments; it was this one human who had wielded it all together.  Even by human standards he was diminutive in stature.  His emperor was huge by comparison, and of regal bearing.  Even if you have never met the emperor before, even the stupidest of being would realise his imperial bearing and bow their heads.  Yet this man set off no such alarm bells.  His eyes lowered to the destruction below, and witnessed the destruction this man, this human had sown.  Almost a third of the fleet destroyed on the ground.  The rest almost before they could recover from the shock.  So few had gotten away.

‘You look shocked ambassador.’

His eyes swivelled back to Steven, ‘I find it frightening the destruction you wrought on your enemy and the manner in which you delivered it.’

‘We call it an ambush.’

‘I know what a damn ambush is,’ he growled back at Steven.  ‘I have just never seen one on this scale, or carried out so effectively.  What is it you call those traps?’

‘Bobby traps.’  Steven offered.

‘Yes, that’s right.  That is a new word the people from my universe would do well to learn.  It is so hard to believe all this was set off by one action.  I have a funny feeling it won’t be long before this booby trap is banned by universal law.’

‘What’s really bothering you ambassador?’

‘I want to know if the human casualty figures are correct.’

‘As far as I know yes.’

‘A few dozen injured, less than twenty dead, three ships in need of repair and you wiped out a whole damn invasion fleet.’

Steven found himself nodding, ‘we were very lucky.’

‘It isn’t lucky; it’s obscene.’

Steven was shocked by the ambassador’s tone, ‘how so?’

‘Look around you.  I have seen many battles but nothing so one sided as this.  You are going to frighten a whole universe.  That isn’t good.  It could lead to your extinction.’

‘May I ask what you expected?’

‘We expected you to lose.  If you did win it should have been by the narrowest margins human.  When you appeared in our universe it should have been with your cap in hand, as you say, looking for the protection of the great emperor.  We would have made great alliances.  You humans would have made great trading partners.  We could have made your planet rich beyond your dreams and rebuilt the empire as well.’

‘But not now; is that what you’re saying?’

‘Look at it from our universes point of view.  You are meat eaters, detested as it is.  Weak meat eaters with wealth people can accept; or at least tolerate.  A strong race of meat eaters, with the capability to cause this much destruction, against a far superior race, with superior military training, will frighten many races.  I know it frightens me.  My instinct tells me to wipe you all out.  If you capture that city ship, your only chance of surviving as a race will be to destroy it completely.  That would make you far too powerful.  You would be stupid to take it to your home planet with all the bio weapons on board.  If you try and cross the great barrier with it; every race will turn against you, including mine.’

‘Damned if we do, damned if we don’t.’  Steven suggested.

‘Maybe, maybe not.  They are illegal in my universe, which will be enough to precipitate a war if you are stupid enough to cross the great barrier with or even without it.  Destroy it completely human, remove the threat or suffer the consequences.’

‘There maybe another option open to us.’

The engineer turned towards Steven, ‘I can’t see one.’

‘Let’s stop beating about the bush ambassador.  I suspect what you are telling me is advice straight from the emperor himself.  As we both know he needs the legal status of a treaty in order to distribute our grass legally.  With the city ship out of the equation, he can at least plead our case with the other worlds.

The thing is, by now or, at least by the time we reach the great barrier, many of them will realise that’s exactly what he is after.  They will no doubt wish your empire to remain weak.  That in itself will give them reason enough to wipe us out.

Now they can’t cross the barrier to do it, so they will have to wait until we cross over before they can take any kind of offencive action.  That will of course precipitate a war with humanity.

If we don’t cross; there is a good chance that many races may well try and reach Earth with biological weapons of their own.  If we remain strong, our very existence will constitute a threat too many races, especially after this battle.’

‘All of that is true.  Your only hope is to go with the emperor’s plan and hope you lose enough forces during your attack of the city ship to appear weak to those on the other side of the great barrier.  Weak enough as not to constitute a treat.’

‘There is another solution to the problem.’

The engineer made a gesture with his hands, ‘I can’t see it.’

‘If we win the upcoming battles, then all that we capture becomes our by legal right, correct?’

‘I suppose.’

‘An alliance is sealed by the giving of gifts is it not?  The emperor no doubt wishes to announce the seeds we have sent him as this precious gift.  Without some legal status, he cannot distribute the grass.’

‘That is all correct,’ the engineer admitted.

‘What if we crossed the barrier in great strength, with the city ship intact and made the city ship a gift to the emperor.  As a trophy of war it becomes ours to dispose of as we see fit.  If we gave that as a gift to the emperor, then it will give the ship itself legal status.  By the laws of your own universe, there is no such thing as an illegal gift.  We arrive through the barrier in your sector of the universe to be met by a large fleet of your ships.  We hand the city ship over to your emperor in a fancy ceremony and the two fleets combine together.’

The engineer was in shock, ‘with the imperial battle fleet, the city ship and your battle fleet we would have a force that no one would dare challenge.’  He shook his head, ‘no I can’t see it.  The emperor would suspect a trap.’

‘Not if you took immediate command of the city ship after the battle.’

‘Me!’

‘Why not?’

‘A grand commander?’

Steven shrugged, ‘why not?  You would be in complete control all the way home.  We would supply you with the resources you needed to repair it.  You know much more about this technology than we do.  I have no doubt that you would discover anything untoward happening on board and warn your emperor long before you arrived home.’

The engineer was very uncomfortable now, ‘no one would dare challenge our combined fleets if we also had the city ship.’  His heart beat faster.  He realised he was so far out of his league now it was becoming frightening.  If he said the wrong thing or did the wrong thing it could cost him his life, and make his family’s existence precarious for a very long time.  ‘I would have to talk to the emperor about it.  I cannot accept it on his behalf without his express permission.  Besides you still have to beat the rest of the Albany fleet and take the city ship.’

Sid Tulane grabbed his attention, ‘sir, we are monitoring radio signals.’

‘Where?’

‘240 degrees sir.’

‘Hailey, take us there, slowly.  Is it more distress signals Sid?’

He shook his head, ‘no sir regular communications.’

Two large grey ships appeared over the horizon.  Babes identified them as hospital ships involved in rescues.  ‘OK Hailey, take us out of here.’

The engineer grunted with distain, ‘aren’t you going to attack?’

‘No they are hospital ships involved in a rescue mission.’

‘You would be well to destroy them all.  They intend to wipe out your race.’

‘I will not get involved in the slaughter of helpless beings.’

‘Yet your people took no prisoners during the battle.’

‘It was a fight to the death.  They asked for no quarter and gave none.’

‘You slaughtered them; why aren’t you doing it now?’

‘These people are out of the fight, injured, sick no doubt.  We did well in the first battle but the biggest one is still to come.’

‘Very few have ever assaulted a city ship and won human.  You should use massive fire power to destroy it.’

‘Then we would have no bargaining chips left on the table.’

‘You would rather risk millions of lives that blast it to pieces.’

‘I don’t make policy ambassador.’

‘I have studied the scans of the city ship human.  It may not be as heavily armed as most, but they still have enough weapons to keep your combined fleets at bay.  You won’t get a landing force anywhere near it.  Their shields are almost un-penetrate-able when all their spare power is diverted to them.  They can just sit there for months and absorb it.’

‘We humans have been assaulting cities for generations ambassador; I have been assured that our planning is in an advanced stage.’

‘What do you plan to do about the millions on board the city ship?’

‘As most are non-combatants, we wish to take them prisoner.’

He laughed, ‘you haven’t taken any so far.’

‘No but we hope to in the next battle, to show them that they can surrender.’

‘They will never surrender to a subspecies.  Every single one of them will take up arms.  To surrender would mean certain death.  You have studied the records from some of the captured data banks.  Only a fraction of the civilians on board that city ship have been inoculated.  Their only chance at life will be to fight their way through to Earth and wipe out your people.  Save enough of you to make serum.  They know it even if you don’t realise it yet.  Besides, if one of them did surrender I wouldn’t trust him.  They Albany are well known for their treachery.  If any of them do surrender it will be because they have something up their sleeves as you humans like to say.’

Steven conceded the point, ‘I will keep that in mind.’

They went back to their vigil.  The engineer trying to hide his concern over the destruction and Steven trying to hide his horror over the massive loss of life.

Chapter 51

The city ship slid into orbit round the Black Planet.  All of the commanders were gathered together watching the large screens in their briefing room.  The silence was oppressive as scene after scene slid by.  The supreme commander was furious and ground his teeth together. He knew there was no going back, their only hope was to reach the distant planet.

‘Has there been any sign of the Modloch fleet?’

His military commander answered, ‘no sir.  None of our probes have been able to get past the giant planet called Saturn.’

‘Send a thousand probes then.’

‘We may not need to sir.  We know there are many moons around that planet.  One has water.  We think they will have set up base out of sight of the human planet on one of those moons.’

He switched pictures and The Burning Wind leapt onto the screen, all its guns were blazing.  The Modloch fleet was tucked in tightly behind it.  The other cruisers and destroyers were all clearly Modloch.  Surprise had been total.  ‘The Modloch fleet doesn’t look too large, I firmly believe it was their surprise tactics that won the day so completely.’

‘We need to hunt them down and commit them to battle and destroy them,’ the supreme commander stated flatly.

The military commander reeled, ‘that would not be wise sir.  I firmly believe we would be better sticking together as a united force.’

‘Do you remember your history commander, I certainly do.  The last city ship that was destroyed was done so by a huge bombardment of rocks.  If I remember correctly the Burro race used the rocks from a planet very similar to Saturn and simply launched millions of them of all sizes at the city ship belonging to the Ouzo’s.  They attacked the city ship while it was undergoing this very intense bombardment with their small fleet.  It over whelmed the city ships shields and the rocks tore through and destroyed it.  Tell me commander, do you see any similarities to what we are facing here. ‘

The military commander’s head dropped, ‘yes sir.’

‘I am quite sure Gairloch has as well.  The emperor’s brother is a master tactician, I cannot think of any other military commander in the whole universe who could have pulled off such an audacious attack, can you?’

‘No sir I can’t, I find it hard to believe that he is still alive.’

‘Don’t you understand the full picture yet commander?’

‘No sir I don’t.’

‘It is obvious to our rulers and myself that the Modloch Emperor has been aware of Earth and what we have been doing for some time now.  They want to claim Earth and its solar system for their own.  They discovered our base and our research.  It could be they already have a serum.  Many of the first fleet were already immunised.  How many of our people did they capture?  We don’t know, we know nothing.   Our own emperor now believes that their last war was a lie.  There was no rebel force.  The battle reports were staged.  What they were in fact doing was building a secret fleet to invade this solar system and that is who we face now.  We believe that they slipped through the barrier a few weeks before we did and made a dash for this planet to set up this attack.’

‘I am forced to point out supreme commander that there was a human on board that ship and he claimed the force was human.’

‘They no doubt resuscitated some of the humans from our facility to aid them in this ruse.  Humans are completely incapable of space travel.  They still use liquid rockets, you know that.  Oh and before you point out that the weapons used in the initial stages of the attack were made from liquid fuel and the dirty nuclear energy the humans use, consider this.  The Modloch have been planning this for a very long time as well.  To prevent a conflict in our universe they need to make it look like the humans attacked us.  The Modloch Emperor has already declared his brother as dead.  Yet the exact details were kept secret, do you understand why commander?’

The commander’s head lifted, ‘because he isn’t dead supreme commander.  That also means that if we do kill his beloved brother there will be no political backlash.’

‘At last,’ the supreme commander sighed.  ‘I firmly believe we still have more numbers than the Modloch.  I need you to take the rest of the fleet and hunt them down.  You won’t need troops so leave them here.’

‘I still believe we would be better off staying together sir.’

‘Of course we would but I have millions of citizens in near panic.  Thousands are dying every week because of this damn sun.  Many of your men are dying too.  By the time we reach Saturn there won’t be enough of you left to fight and if the Modloch already have a serum then we will have lost.  I need you to smash the Modloch fleet and break through to Earth.  We need humans for serum and we need them quickly.  We have already began conversion of one of the hospital ships, it will leave us as soon as you destroy the Modloch fleet.  It will travel with the remaining troopships.  That will give you time to distribute the pathogen and bombard their major cities.  Take the fight to Gairloch, he won’t be expecting that.’

‘Yes sir.’

Chapter 52

Steven was shadowing the enemy fleet as they left the protection of the city ship.  Leaving Ico behind he raced ahead to join up with the unified Earths Defence Force fleet.  Admiral Baxter briefed his men after Steven had given him a brief.  With the order of battle set he found time to talk to Steven alone.

Steven sat down on a couch opposite the admiral, ‘we have been watching the footage of the films you sent us collected from the passive probes around the Black Planet.  It looks like they have been trying to salvage parts of ships.  Did you know that?’

‘No sir I haven’t had time to study the film footage, but it makes sense I suppose.’

‘We are thinking it may well give us a way in.’

‘How so sir?’

‘Trojan Horse scenario.  We drag some hulks into their path and hide your ship inside one part of it, or we let a few slip away and let them run.  Catch them well out of the reach of Saturn and engage them there.’

‘They may make a dash for Earth and Saturn is too close to home sir.  I prefer the first option.’

Baxter thought it over, ‘I don’t think they are coming for Earth.  That may well be their secondary objective.  Have you heard anything from our Modloch ambassador lately?’

Steven smiled, ‘no sir not for a while.’

‘It would seem that the Albany Emperor has taken a hairy fit at the Modloch Emperor, accusing him of planting a secret fleet in our solar system; led by his brother to try and steal it out from under their feet.  They now think the rebel war was a feint in order to syphon off enough ships to thwart the Albany.’

Steven sat forward sharply his mind beginning into race, ‘of course, all our ships are modelled on The Burning Wind and schematics of their destroyers.  So they think they are coming for a Modloch fleet.  What did the Modloch Emperor say to him?’

‘He denied it I believe.’

Steven thought it over for a moment, ‘there’s a good chance that will just affirm his belief.’

Baxter grinned, ‘I think so.  In fact according to our dear ambassador the last words of the Modloch Emperor to his counterpart was, “to the victor the spoils.”’

Steven laughed, ‘then they are coming for the fleet.  Knock out their opposition and make a dash for Earth.  There is no troop transporters with this fleet, just battle ships and destroyers.’

‘Exactly what I think and we are going to give that impression until the last second.  We want you to shadow the enemy fleet to make sure they don’t try and draw us into a feint or split up their forces in an attempt to outflank us.  Apart from that you are not to engage the enemy in anyway, or be seen.  We will need both your ships in the final battle and if the Albany have no idea of their existence the more chance we have of pulling it off.’

‘I understand sir.  Don’t worry, our ships couldn’t survive the onslaught from a destroyer let alone a battle cruiser.  Neither do we have the fire power to take them on.’

‘That’s good but I don’t want you anywhere near the battle zone.  A stray shot could result in you being exposed.’

‘With your permission sir we will return to the moon and stay there until the battle is over.’

‘Good idea, take a few days off if you can.  If they get through you have my permission to do what you have to, to defend the Earth.  Other than that, get some rest, you will have a big part to play in the final battle.’

They both stood and shook hands.

Chapter 53

The commander of the Albany battle fleet stood in front of the screens.  He wasn’t the most imaginative of leaders.  He was bright enough and obedient enough to have been given command of the Blue Veld.  He turned to the executive aid by his side.

‘Do you see it now Orlath, a classical Modloch battle fleet, right to the last ship?  You can stop bleating about your human ships and crews now.’

Orlath Cannies saw the evidence with his own eyes.  ‘I see it sir but as your human expert it is my duty to warn you once more that I believe these ships are crewed by humans and that you are walking into a trap.’

The commander shook his head, ‘you are a fool.  Despite all the evidence you still believe your own drivel.’

‘I am your resident expert on humans’ sir.  I have looked at all the evidence and came to my conclusions based on that.’

The commander sneered, ‘yes we all know just what kind of an expert you are Cannies.  You are dismissed.’

‘I wish for my objections to be recorded and sent to the supreme commander before battle commences sir.’

‘That is your right.’  The commander snarled with frustration and turned to one of his officers, ‘do it.’

It only took a few minutes, ‘that’s his objections recorded, sent and I have a conformation that they have received the message sir.’

The commander snapped back to Orlath, ‘get off my bridge.’

‘Thank you sir,’ he bowed and turned away.

They got back to the business of fighting a battle.  Orlath however never returned to his quarters, instead he wound his way to an aft escape pod and got in.  It reacted to his presence.  ‘Stand by,’ he ordered the pod and it answered with a couple of bleeps.  All he had to do now was wait.

Of course his disgrace was supposed to be kept a secret but it had to be the worst kept secret in the history of the Albany Race.  It had all began when he was a child.  His father had been posted to head up the human research facility on their planet.  He had been an only child and there were no other children on the secret base.  One birthday his father had brought him a pet.  A human girl child about the same age as himself.

At first she had screamed until his father had beat her.  At nights she sobbed in the corner on a blanket and was unresponsive.  After a few days though she began to become curious and seemed to be watching him.  He didn’t really know what to do with it at first.  She was violently sick when she tried to eat grass and it wasn’t until his father began feeding her the worm meal that he fed to the captives that she began to stop being sick and  take more notice of her surroundings.  It had taken only a few hours to house train her and even his father was impressed by that.

He remembered her first winter.  She had been lying on her blanket with her teeth chattering she was so cold.  He had called her up to the bed and she had slid under the warm covers.  They spent hours babbling away at one another in the way children do and the memory brought a smile to his face.  She was able to mimic his sounds quite quickly, but he had a lot of problems with hers.  Still it was fun and whittled away the hours.  He hated bathing but she loved it.  What he did enjoy doing was brushing the tangles out of her long blond hair.

Within a year she could understand most of what he was saying and could make herself understood to him.  His father ignored it and even became violent when she tried to communicate with him.  It was a lesson quickly learned and they hid her growing knowledge.  She could even read a little and memories of her own people faded fast.

His own people became used to the sight of him with his strange pet.  They would take long walks, run through the grass.  Swim in the rivers and climb the hills together.  She grew strong and fast, but he was always faster.  She was more nimble though and her dexterity far outstripped his.

The trouble began when they reached their teens and began to mature.  She began to bleed every month, which caused quite some consternation in the house hold but they soon got used to it.  She always seemed to be in pain at that time and would shy away from him.  Her body also changed and he admired her growing breasts.  He thought they were a work of art compared to the females of his own race.  A few weeks after his fifteenth birthday he experienced his first rut.  A mate would be chosen for him when he reached the age of twenty.  Until then it was up to him to get control of his desires and emotions.

That first rut wasn’t too bad and he coped with it well.  Between the first and the second six months later his body underwent a drastic change.  At night she would rub his new muscle and croon in his ear.  The second rut took him completely by surprise.  He could not believe the agony.  He had no idea how it happened.  When she had came to her monthly bleed, the smell of her blood had been too much for him to bear.  He had taken her.  Her reaction had shocked him.  She screamed every time he came near and he knew he had hurt her.  A thousand apologies and every titbit that she liked eventually calmed her down, but it was two months before she crawled back into his bed.

When his next rut came he banished her to her blanket on the floor as he dealt with the agonies.  She would lie and watch him, eyes wide with fear.  She knew now what was happening.  Over the period of the first week she lay there and watched him.  On the second she climbed back into his bed.  The look in her eyes was different.  There was still fear yes, but there was more.  Her soft words calmed him a little.  She still cried out when he took her but he was far gentler this time.  By the time the rut was over she could even open her eyes.

His biggest surprise came a few short months later when she reached for him one night under the covers.  The biggest shock was when his body responded.  They became eager lovers and a voyage of discovery began.  The ruts began to pass without him even noticing.  It just made their love all the more intense and enjoyable.

Home schooled from necessity, he easily passed the entrance exams for university and at eighteen years left home for the first time.  His father promised he wouldn’t remove his pet and he returned home every other weekend.  He had majored in political science and his life was good.  It all began to change during his summer holidays.  By the time he returned to university she was being violently sick day and night.  His father had promised to take her to the vet at the institute.  It was the last time he would ever see her.  A few weeks later his father informed him that she had died of a mysterious illness.  He was devastated and almost flunked his exams.  He rallied enough to pass, but it was a very low pass.

The dynamics at home changed as well.  His parents had become very standoffish.  His mother was also acting strangely.  Every time he returned home it was to find brand new sheets on his new bed.  His old one had disappeared without explanation.  His father took him to work at the facility.  A graduate of political science became a zoo keeper.  His job to clean out the cages of the animals.  His work mates sneered at him and he found himself very much alone.

His mother and father chose a mate for him from well below their social standing.  The first rut went well enough and they mated for the full fortnight.  A few weeks later he was ready to begin mating again. His new wife was shocked and complained.  Over the months his attempts to change her views resulted in her becoming repulsed by his very presence.  When the second rut came she refused him.  His frustration turned to rage and he beat her.  The divorce was swift.  A rarity amongst their race, and also a source of great distress and disgrace to his parents.  He began to become withdrawn.

A small room was found for him at the facility and he began to spend more time there.  Over the months he began to learn about the humans and their purpose.  Rumour told of a new solar system, a deadly one that these creatures came from.  Wealthy beyond belief and a planet inhabited by lowly meat eaters.  For generations they had been trying to devise some kind of serum from these captives and despite generations of research it was only recently that they had had a major breakthrough.

When the serum was perfected the truth slowly became known.  It was a callous worker that informed him of the scandal.  Of a child who had a human as a pet and had mated with her.  The results had been a child, a genetic bridge between the two races.  Of course everyone knew there had only ever been one child with a human pet.

He had marched straight up to his father’s office.  He remembered the cold eyes of his father as he confronted him.  He had sat quietly for a few minutes before answering.

‘Son I love you yet I loath you.  You have brought nothing but shame on our family.  Yet with that shame you have also gave us fame and wealth.  Because of your perversions we were able to build a bridge between the human DNA and ours.  You’re right, she didn’t die of a mysterious illness.  We killed her and the child.  Not that it would have been born anyway.  Six months we were able to keep it alive.  In that six months it gestated enough to provide that solid link between our two races.  We were able to produce an enzyme that when given to a human will bond to their DNA.  When harvested they can produce serum for thousands of our people.  A serum that will enable us to survive in their solar system.’

His father got up and walked to a cabinet behind Orlath.  ‘Did you know that your mother burns the sheets you sleep in after you stay?’  His father sighed.  There was a click and then Orlath felt a sting on the back of his neck.  ‘A final gift from your son.  The last of the serum made from him and his mother.’

Orlath bellowed with rage and grief.  For the first and last time in his life his father struck him.  ‘Behave!’  He shouted Orlath down.  ‘The serum will make you violently sick for a few days.  Within a few weeks you muscle density should begin to change.  You will no doubt put on a lot of weight.  Relax.  I have just guaranteed you a job for life.  You will be going with the invasion fleet when it finally leaves.  Maybe once you reach Earth you can find a purpose in life.’

His father sat down again and Orlath shook himself out of it.  ‘Of course once across the great barrier I can never return.  You will finally be rid of me.’

‘And the ongoing embarrassment you have caused our family.  Maybe once you are gone we can remember the times when we felt you were our son.  Go back to your animals.’

That was the last time he had spoken directly to his father.  Ten years later he still hadn’t seen his mother, nor had she ever got in touch with him.  Rumour was they had another child, a daughter.  His father had been wrong, Orlath had never become sick.  His change had been rapid.  Within a few months he didn’t need the protective clothing when working with the humans.  They became wary of his great strength, yet as time passed they became comfortable around him.  He changed their lives.  He quickly learned rudimentary communication.  He fixed problems within the human community.  His biggest success was recognising which humans wished to be with each other.  He brought in fruits that his human mate had enjoyed and their health improved.  As their health improved then so did the birth rate soar.  His methods were so effective he travelled to other facility’s and sorted out problems they had.  Yet no matter what he did his shame followed him like a dark cloud.

Now he was in a life pod waiting.  Mesmerised by a blinking amber coloured light before him.  He had done his duty.  He had seen the recording of the human captain.  The one they all said was a Modloch plant, a trick.  What none had done was to filter out the captain’s voice and listen to those voices in the back ground.  He was able to isolate a dozen voices and listen to them.  They were human voices and he recognised many of the words, he could actually speak some of them.  He had never pointed that out to his commander though.  In fact he had been remiss on that part.  He had objected just enough to do his duty, to be seen to be doing his duty.  His parents couldn’t fault him for that.  Albany history would show that he had at least tried to warn his own people.  He also knew why he hadn’t brought his full findings forward.

Half a dozen men had held him down as his father had forced him to watch the processing of the humans.  They had all been forced to bathe in a solution that had left them hairless and burned.  Then they had been dragged ten at a time and thrown into a machine that was nothing more than a big blender.  He would never forget the screams or the looks on their faces.  With no companionship other than these people for ten years he had come to regard many as friends.  Now he had nothing.

The ship lurched hard enough to shake him out of his reverie.  He was shaken about inside the capsule as again and again the ship was struck by powerful weapons.  It didn’t take long for the amber lights to turn red and warning claxons to blare.  He reached for the release button.  Her name had been Barbra but he could never pronounce the r.  ‘Babaa,’ he whispered as he pressed the release button and was shot out of the dying battle cruiser in to hell itself.

Chapter 54

The jocks were laughing at the antics of the two men.  The two were quite infamous in the battalion.  They had been together since they were boy soldiers and best friends.  It had been a gruelling day.  It was now forty eight hours since the great battle of Saturn.  Humanity had won a resounding victory and the Albany battle fleet had been smashed.  The humans had only shown a small part of their fleet.  The Albany had indeed tried to outflank them, but they had been ready.  The moment the enemy had sprung their trap the humans had sprung theirs.  The human fleet had starburst on the appearance of the flanking units and seconds later their main fleet smashed into the rear of the enemy cube.  When the flanking force tried to engage, the reformed unit reappeared and smashed into the rear of them.  It was then that the humans’ unleashed freighters full of tanks and artillery units.

Sown like black seed amongst the stars two hundred thousand guns joined the battle.  In groups of thousands they engaged the enemy fleet.  Lightly protected the enemy guns took a heavy toll of these units, yet the enemy ships quickly fell to the power of thousands of guns being brought to bear on them in an instant.  They forced the Albany ships into a tight square and slaughtered them.  A single battle group now pursued a half dozen ships that had managed to escape.

The men were all suited up and armed, yet their mission was to rescue as many Albany as they could.  Their whole battalion was engaged on this duty.  Thousands of lifeboats had been launched during the battle and it was their task to rescue them.  The only problem was the Albany had proved hostile to being rescued when they realised who was doing the rescuing.  As soon as they recognised who their rescuers were the bawling and lowing would start.  They would become agitated then violent.  A few had even been armed and it had led to loss of life.

Everyman was sick of it.  The inclination to blast the life pods apart had been too much of a temptation for some.  These men however had slowly developed a technique for handling them.  The moment they showed signs of distress they simply used their rifles to stun the Albany.  A man would take a limb apiece and throw him to the ground while another two would hold the plastic ties to bind them.  Despite having down to a fine art it was no guarantee of not getting hurt or struck by a thrashing captive.

It had been almost two hours since they had found a pod and they were due to return soon.  ‘I have a weak signal amongst some wreckage, stand by.’  There was a communal groan at the announcement from the pilot.

‘You’re up Charlie.’

‘Piss off Eddie.’

The sergeant swung a fist that connected with Charlie’s shoulder.  ‘Stop pissing around private.’

That brought a gale of laughter from the troops.  Charlie had been busted a few weeks before saving Eddies hide from an English military policeman who had been intent on bashing Eddie’s skull in with a night stick.  The fight had started when some English Paras had started on a group of jocks in the communal mess.  Charlie sensing something wrong, had arrived in time to see Eddie getting a beating.  He had punched out the English MP and dragged Eddie away to safety.  It was unfortunate that Charlie had been identified and Eddie hadn’t.  Now Eddie had his job and Charlie had been busted back to private.

Charlie scowled at Eddie, ‘you know I’m going to beat you half to death very shortly don’t you.’

Eddie stood up, ‘let’s just get the job done arse wipe.’  With a sigh Charlie got to his feet.

‘You’re going to need cutting gear for this one,’ the pilot announced.

Always a team the two men grabbed the equipment.  When the doors opened they couldn’t see the pod.  The navigator directed them to it through the wreckage.  Lines of strong white thread wound out behind them.  Charlie saw it first.  ‘There it is Eddie.  It looks pretty bashed up.’

Eddie saw the pod, ‘what do you think Charlie, is the thing wasted?’

Charlie struggled through the debris and knocked on the pod.  A few seconds later there was an answering knock.  ‘Nope, whatever is in there is alive.’

Eddie groaned.

It took them an hour to cut the pod free and manoeuvre it through the wreckage to the waiting landing craft.  ‘Stand by.’  Eddie ordered his jocks.  They tensed.  The pod door only half opened and a couple of jocks helped it.  The Albany inside stepped out.  Eddie groaned, ‘look at the size of this bugger.  Get ready.’  Then the Albany did the strangest thing, he bowed.  It caught everyone off guard.  What he did next shocked them to their core.

‘Thank you.’  Orlath managed.  He could see the shock register through the visors of his captors and it pleased him.  His damaged pod had been able to supply him with heat but nothing else.  Orlath raised his hand to his mouth slowly, ‘do you have any wata please?’

Eddie nudged Charlie, ‘did that thing just thank us for saving its life and ask for a drink of water?’

Charlie ignored him, ‘please take a seat.’

Orlath looked round and sat on the nearest seat.  Charlie grabbed a full bottle of water and took the top off it.  He handed it to Orlath who took a sniff then downed the whole bottle.  ‘Thank you.’  He sighed.

‘It’s OK, my pleasure.’

Charlie pulled Eddie to the side, we need to get in touch with the CO.  ‘Go see the pilot.’

Charlie went through to the flight deck and spoke to the communications officer, ‘I need to get in touch with our CO.’

It took about five minutes of threatening before the Commanding Officer came on, ‘this had better be good Murison or I’m going to come over there and boot your arse again.’

Charlie found himself grinning despite being demoted by the man a few short weeks before, ‘got something special for you sir.’

‘Fire away then.’

‘We just took in an emergency pod.  The Albany gets out, bows, thanks us for saving his life and then asks for a drink of water.’

There was a slight pause, ‘maybe he is an officer and better bred that those we have been finding.’

‘Aye yer no getting the right picture sir.  All our translators are bust, this guy not only understands English but is speaking it as well.’

There was a moment’s shocked silence, ‘return to base with him now and tell your operator to put me through to the pilot.’

Chapter 55

Major Joe Simmons had been an army helicopter pilot before he volunteered to join the Earths Defence Forces.  His navigator Derica Roth had been with the German armed forces.  Both stared out of the large windscreen before them.  They were surrounded by debris.  Small pieces were deflected by their shields and every now and then a frozen body would shatter against it.  Both had been violently sick a number of times the first day.  It was a horror the troops they carried in the back had been spared.  The whole flight crew was exhausted.

‘A large piece coming in from the right sir, a thousand meters.’

Joe engaged his thrusters and brought the troop carrier to a stop.  ‘Anything behind it?’

She sighed, ‘I can’t see yet, it’s too big and shielding anything behind it.  I recommend you stay here until it passes.’

It was hard to miss the approaching, tumbling mass.  It had caught some other debris and about a hundred tons of it slid past.  Derica watched her screens carefully, ‘OK that’s the most of it.  We will be out of the debris field in two minutes.’

Joe nodded, ‘I want you all to get some rest while you can.  I have to escort these jocks and their prisoner to the detention wing.’

‘Why?  They have been doing it on their own until now.’

Joe shrugged, ‘it’s what the CO wants, it seems a high ranking prisoner has to be captured and handed over by an officer.  At least handed over.  Universal protocol.’

Derica was too tired to laugh but she did manage a smile, ‘universal protocol.  I hear they are taking out a manual on universal protocol.’

‘I hear its over three thousand pages long.’

They both groaned.  Derica shook her head, ‘what do you want us to do?  We are still scheduled for another hour.’

Joe thought it over, ‘forget it. Get something to eat and your heads down while you can.  I will get lost for that extra hour.’

The whole flight crew smiled.

They broke free of the debris field and headed for their carrier.  They slid into their slot and Joe wound the troop carrier down.  He joined Eddie and Charlie along with their prisoner.  He noticed something straight away.’  Shouldn’t he be cuffed sergeant?’

‘Not this one sir.’

Joe just shook his head too tired to argue with these jocks.  He knew they would do it if he ordered it, but it took a long time to gain their trust and being heavy handed with these Scots was always a backward step.  ‘We have to take him to level twenty nine, room 63.’

It took fifteen minutes going up elevators and navigating corridors to find the right place.  An American MP signed them in.  They were waiting in the room five minutes before two large and burly Americans appeared.  Muscles rippled under their tight shirts.

Joe took out a notepad.  ‘If you guys would like to sign for the prisoner here.’

‘Yeah sure.’ Replied the big white guy, taking the pad and pen from Joe.  The big black man behind just smirked.  Before he could sign anything a black boot kicked it straight out of his hand.

‘What the fuck?’  Screamed the American.

Charlie had been shocked to the core by the appearance of the two men.  His mind had shot back fifteen years.  As the yank took the pad Charlie moved.  He kicked it right out of the yanks hand.  When the man went for a pistol Charlie knocked him cold with his rifle butt and covered the other.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing boy?’

Charlie moved in close, ‘I’m not a boy any more fucker.  You don’t remember me do you?’

The dark eyes became guarded, ‘don’t know what you mean.’

‘Jamaican warehouses in Beirut.   You and your friend there shot a dozen prisoners after you tortured them to death.  A young Scottish soldier from the peace keeping force ran in to see what the shooting was about and you pair stuck a gun in my face, told me to mind my own business and keep my mouth shut or else.’  Charlie was fighting hard to keep control of the rage he felt course through him, ‘I wouldn’t hand a dog over to you pair of bastards.’

The man was silent contemplating Charlie, ‘you never did though did you.  Is that why you’re still a buck private?’

‘Yeah something like that.’  Charlie backed up.

Eddie pushed Joe towards the door, ‘let’s go sir.’  Eddie was also covering the big American with his weapon.  Joe hesitated only long enough to grab up his notepad and pen.

The jocks bustled Orlath out.  He was confused but so far had been impressed by the kindness shown to him by these humans.  He decided to go with them peacefully.

Outside the room Joe recovered his senses.  ‘You had better have a fucking good reason for what you just did private.’

Eddie interrupted him, ‘you sure they are the same boys Charlie?’

‘Dee ye really think I could mistake that pair Eddie?’

‘No.’ he turned to Joe, ‘I’m sorry about that sir.  When we were young laddies new to the battalion we went on a peace keeping mission to Beirut.  Both factions had begun to settle down and peace was on the horizon.  12 men were tortured and executed, six from each faction.  The bodies were dumped where they could be found.  It started a bloody war.  Charlie thinks it was those two guys back there who perpetuated it.  We lost a dozen guys from the battalion in the next few weeks trying to keep the peace.  The whole incident was hushed up and we were all ordered by some generals to keep our mouths shut.  There’s no way we any of us would leave a prisoner with those animals.’

‘Great,’ Joe cursed.  ‘So where to sergeant, if you don’t mind me asking?’

‘Charlie, it’s your call.’

‘Let’s get him to the Bear.  He will know what to do next.’

Chapter 56

Lt Colonel De’ Beer of the first battalion the Gordon highlanders was a large South African with a Scottish mother.  He had followed in her grandfather’s footsteps.  His men respected his forthrightness and referred to him as the Bear.

He joined the RSM in the battalion’s operations room, ‘what the hell is going on?  My phone is going nuts.’

‘Sergeant Eddie has refused to hand over the prisoner to the yanks sir.’

The Bear thought it over for a few seconds, ‘Sergeant Eddie my arse, I’ll bet it’s that bastard Murison that’s put him up to it.  You know how he hates the yanks.’

The RSM regarded his CO coolly, ‘that’s unfair sir.  He doesn’t hate the yanks, just the sneaky bastards in their intelligence corps.’

The same thought flashed through both men’s minds at the same time, ‘surely to god no,’ the Bear breathed.

The RSM turned to the radio operator, ‘get a hold of Sargent Eddie’s unit and tell him to put Murison on.’

It only took a few second.  The RSM took the microphone, ‘talk to me Charlie and make it short.’

‘Jamaica warehouse.’  Came the reply.

‘Shit.’  The RSM cursed.  He turned to the CO, ‘there’s no way he will turn the prisoner over to them sir and I will back him all the way.’

‘I was there RSM.  We lost a dozen men because of those bastards and more than twenty men wounded.  I lost five men altogether from my platoon, good men who didn’t need to die or spend the rest of their lives as cripples.  Double the sentries.  No one is to pass unless they have my permission to do so.  No one from outside the battalion that is.’

‘Aye OK sir but what the hell are we going to do with that prisoner?’

‘I have no bloody idea.’

By the time his men arrived with the prisoner he had made a dozen calls.  He punched Charlie in the chest.  It was a substantial blow that barely rocked the small but solid man.  ‘You will be the death of me yet Murison.  No bugger wants him and I have the bloody yanks screaming down my neck for him.’

‘Sorry about that sir.’

Joe saluted and reported to the CO who quickly dismissed him.  Joe almost ran from the situation.  The CO spoke to the room at large, ‘any ideas, anyone?’

‘What about Captain Gordon?’  A Jock suggested, ‘the yanks won’t mess with him.’

‘Aye like we can just phone him up dick head.’ One of his friends scorned.

The CO searched his pockets and pulled out his phone.  ‘Murray, I need you plug my phone into the system and call this number.  Put it on speaker?’

‘Yes sir.’  The signaller took the phone and plugged it in.  It rang for a while before it was answered by a cultured voice.

‘Is that you Bear old boy?’

De’ Beer grinned, ‘Tapper, how are you?’

‘Splendid old chap, I will presume this isn’t a social call.’

‘Where are you and your people right now Tapper?’

‘On the moon old chap, we got a few days off.’

‘I need to speak to Captain Gordon urgently.’

‘Give me a moment old boy.’

Quicker than expected Steven Gordon appeared on the overhead screen.  Even the radio operator looked surprised.  ‘Colonel De’ Beer, 1st Gordon’s right.’

The Bear grinned, ‘that’s right Captain Gordon.’

Steven was relaxing with his feet up drinking a coffee, ‘what can I do for you Colonel?’  The Bear quickly explained their dilemma.  Steven however seemed far from sympathetic.  ‘I’m not sure what you expect me to do colonel.  I mean what on earth would I do with him? I’m sorry, I’m not unsympathetic but I think you will have to hand him over.’

‘Bean is that you?’

Steven looked shocked, he sat forward, ‘who the hell said that?’

Charlie pushed his way in front of the monitor, ‘I did, is that you Bean?’

Steven felt raw emotion choke him up, ‘Charlie, is that you?’

Charlie looked as shocked, ‘your deed man, your uncle Zander said you were killed on a motor bike.’

The two men stared at one another, Steven eventually found his voice, ‘No, no I wasn’t killed Charlie, just hurt very badly. It’s a long story.’

‘When you stopped writing man, I thought it was true.  I never realised you were that Steven Gordon.’  Charlie shook it off.  ‘Look Stevie, I’m up to my arm pits in shit over this one.  Bottom line is they are going to torture this guy to death.  I pulled him out of there.  He isn’t military and this bugger can not only understand English he can actually speak it as well.  I would also say he was a civilian.  How, what, why, I don’t know man but I think this guy is something special Stevie.   These animals will torture him to death for military secrets he doesn’t have.’

‘Wait, you say he can speak English, without a translator?’

‘Aye he can.’

‘That is intriguing.’

‘Still with the fancy words Bean.’

Steven burst out laughing, ‘Jezz Charlie, you haven’t changed.  OK, give me about half an hour and I will come and pick him up.  I would like to speak to this one.  If he can speak English then he can probably tell us what happened to the people sent through the barrier.’

‘Fast as you can Stevie, I have a funny feeling the powers that be aren’t going to be pleased.’

‘On my way Charlie.’

The Bear turned to the RSM, ‘have you given the orders to keep everyone out?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Good, make sure no one gets through, back it up with force if necessary.’

‘Yes Sir.’

He turned back to Charlie, ‘how the hell do you know Steven Gordon?’

‘He lived next door to me when his parents stayed in Scotland.  His granny was like my second mum.  We grew up together until they left to go to the States.  Every year they would come home or send Stevie home for the holidays.’  Charlie shrugged, ‘we were best buds.  We wrote letters to each other all the time.  You know real ones with paper and all that shit.’

The Bear shook his head, ‘just when I think you can’t surprise me anymore Murison, you pull another one out of your hat.’

Charlie shook his head, ‘I really thought he was dead.’

‘You are so fucking thick,’ Eddie punched him on the shoulder.  ‘How couldn’t you know?’

‘I thought he was dead and it was another Steven Gordon.  I hadn’t seen him since he was a bloody teenager.’

Eddie laughed, ‘you must have seen pictures?’

‘Aye of course but I never took much notice.  He doesn’t exactly pander to the media does he?’

Eddie shook his head, ‘thick as fuck.’

‘Hey!’

Another solid blow to the chest which barely rocked Charlie brought his attention back to the Bear.  ‘Right now we have bigger fish to fry than who knows the biggest celebrity.  I already have the powers that be breathing down my neck.  You’re going to have to pay the piper again.’

‘Aye well at least this time I will be paying for my own actions.’  He glanced at Eddie who was grinning.

Bear sighed, ‘it could ruin your career.’

‘Oh really!  Again?’

The Bear laughed, ‘yeah well don’t worry, you won’t miss any of the fighting.’

Charlie sighed, ‘ah well, something to look forward to then.’

They all laughed.

Half an hour later two men appeared out of nowhere and took the prisoner away.  The CO made Eddie slip plasti-cuffs on Charlie’s wrists; which were just thick plastic ties.  It wasn’t long before the hounds arrived.  The two integrators surrounded by American MP’s.  Before anyone could stop him, the one Charlie had knocked out stepped forward and pistol whipped Charlie.  A full second later he slid across the floor unconscious for the second time that day.  The Bear had knocked him cold with a solid blow and now the MP’s and the large black man were surrounded by levelled weapons.

Danger flashed in the black man’s eyes, ‘Hand the prisoner and this asshole over to me.’

De’ Beer wasn’t fazed at all.  He stuck his face in the black man’s.  ‘Take yourself, these men and that piece of shit on the floor out of my battalion area or I will severely fuck you up.  The prisoner is now in the hands of Steven Gordon.  As for this prisoner, he belongs to me.  I have had him charged with disobeying a direct order and will deal with him myself.’

‘You people just don’t know who you are fucking with.’

‘I know exactly what I am dealing with.  I have wanted to meet you two for a very long time.  You see I was at the Jamaican warehouse too.  He was a young private and I was a young officer who wouldn’t listen.  Long story.  I lost my best friend two days later, not to mention men under my command.  I can’t wind the clock back but I can make you a promise.  If ever any of the pair of you walk into my battalion lines ever again, you will never leave alive.’  De’ Beer took a slip of paper from his pocket, ‘this is a receipt from Captain Gordon for the Albany prisoner.  Now get out.’

The man backed away and he had some of his men pick up his companion.  He backed away keeping his eyes on De’ Beer.  He glanced once at Charlie.

The Bear took a deep breath, ‘I remember those two now.  I saw them a few times in the officers’ mess.’  He took a knife from his pocket and cut the ties off Charlie.  ‘I’m going to keep you locked in the brig for a few days Murison.  After that I will stick a fine and detention on your record.  I don’t know how long we have until the next battle but I want your tapes back up by then.’  He lifted Charlie’s chin where a bruise was beginning to appear on his cheek bone, ‘you’re eye doesn’t look to bad.’

‘Saw it coming and was able to ride it a bit sir.  I loved the way you decked that tosser though.’  The two burst out laughing.

Chapter 57

Steven and Buzz made their way to the interrogation room.  Buzz was sipping on a coffee.  ‘Just heard from De’ Beer.  He has locked up your old friend for a few days as punishment for disobeying orders.  He says not to worry about it.  It is just for show to keep those above him off his back.  Once he has been punished and he accepts the punishment, then they can’t touch him.’  Buzz shrugged.  ‘Hell I don’t understand it; military stuff.  Tapper says it’s OK.’

Steven smiled to himself, ‘after all these years he still recognised me as soon as he saw me.’

‘This was the guy you used to talk about when you came back from your Scottish holidays.’

‘Sure is.’  Steven looked up as though he was searching for the right words, ‘in the village we grew up in, there was a family of nasty shits.  Five brothers, all bullies.  It was one of the reasons my dad sent me to martial arts classes so young.  Thing was I really didn’t need it if Charlie was there.  He always seemed to sense them.  We turned it into a bit of a game I suppose.  I wonder if he kept up the martial arts.’  Steven sighed, ‘I feel so bloody guilty.’

‘Why?’

‘We were close Buzz, you know that.  We used to write once a month to each other.  Charlie liked writing letters for some reason.  I have to admit, it was nicer than email, getting a letter in the post.  Something you could keep and reread over and over again.  I haven’t given him a second thought since Babes changed me back to the way I was.  I had forgotten all about him.  I feel ashamed.  Anyway let’s speak to this Albany and see if Charlie’s instincts are still as good as they used to be.’

‘Well we fed and watered the guy.  He has had a chance to rest as well.’

‘Good.’

Orlath was sitting at the table in his cell on the moon.  Two of Stevens’s men guarded it.  They let him into the cell.  Orlath stood and bowed, ‘Captain Godan.’  He was still having problems pronouncing the R’s.

It was like slamming into a brick wall.  Steven reached out and Orlath took the translation device.  He bowed again, ‘Captain Gordon.’

‘You are?’

‘Orlath Cannies.  I was the human advisor to the fleet.’

‘You speak English?’  Steven got over his shock and sat down opposite, indicating that Orlath should join him.

‘Your words are very hard to pronounce, I probably understand a lot more than I speak.’

‘May I say, you seem very calm?’

‘In fact I am very excited Captain.’

‘Then you must be the only Albany that is.’

‘In fact I am probably the only Albany that is happy.’

Steven sat back, ‘you are going to have to explain all of that to me Orlath.’

‘Then to the beginning captain.’  It took hours for Orlath to relate all his tale.  Steven was fascinated but also mortified by Orlath’s story.  Horrified at parts of it.  When Orlath seemed to be finished Steven took a break.  He found it very hard to accept that Orlath had a human lover.  Babes berated him for his small mindedness and stated that cross racial marriages were often encouraged on many planets.

When Steven had recovered his composure he returned to the cell and sat down opposite Orlath.  ‘I would like to discuss your mate and your child, if I may Orlath?’

Orlath’s head dropped, ‘must you?’

‘I just wish to clear up a few points.  You said your father murdered both of them and then injected you with the serum.  Why would he do that?’

‘As a gift and also as a punishment captain.  When my father’s team discovered the bridge, it made him famous and of course wealthy.  He was rewarded handsomely.  Yet there was my shame clouding his happiness.  The serum is precious; anyone who had been treated was by necessity involved in the invasion.  I was sent as an expert in human behaviour.’

‘Are you?’

‘I was an expert on our human captives Captain. I have no knowledge of the human race as a whole.’

‘How were they treated?’

‘Like animals.’

‘Did you treat them like that?’

‘No of course not.  I helped improve their conditions.  Helped them join with the mate of their choice.  Brought in food other than the worm meal they were fed.  I wish I hadn’t.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because it increased the birth rate and more died because of me.’

‘Do you have any evidence to support all that you have said?’

Orlath produced a small silver box from his pocket.  ‘I have never shown anyone this captain.  It is private.’

When he opened the box a light appeared.  Steven suddenly realised he was looking at a photograph album.  There were literally dozens of pictures from Orlath’s life.  Despite the disgust Steven was feeling he soon found himself absorbed in this person’s life.  She had been given as a pet when Steven judged she was about six or seven.  To begin with his skin crawled but then Steven began to see it.  Two children laughing and playing together.  Two lonely children.  The girl was quite pretty and blond.  Steven even smiled when she rode on Orlath’s back.

‘My mother used to ask me which of us was the pet when she caught us playing like this.  But it was Barbra’s favourite game and I couldn’t resist her laughter.’  Orlath admitted.

As they grew older and more mature Steven noticed how much closer they became.  There were pictures of them sitting having picnics together in an alien landscape.  Then there was the picture of her in bed, the look in her eyes was unmistakable to Steven.  It made him shudder inside but he hid it.  Then came pictures off collage and pictures of his wedding.  Orlath stopped the picture show and explained it all.  How his mate was chosen from the lower ranks and how she then scorned him and accused him of being a pervert because he wished to mate more than twice a year.

‘When Barbra and I first came together, I adapted to her needs,’ Orlath confessed.  ‘Of course I was aware my species only went into rut twice a year but Barbra wasn’t aware of that, nor did she seem to understand when I tried to explain it to her.  So if Barbra wanted to then I accommodated her.  I didn’t realise that it would change me as well.  My experiences with my wife were horrible by comparison.  I mistakenly thought she would adapt to what I considered normal.  Instead I faced ridicule, embarrassment and of course being branded as a sexual deviant.  Something very rarer in our society captain.’

It took Orlath a few moments to gather himself.  ‘There is another album concerning my work, I presume you wish to see them?’

‘Yes of course.’

The pictures were a revelation to Steven.  From picture of dark stinking cells, with emaciated people to eventually groups of laughing people with Orlath in the middle.  Orlath suddenly grabbed the box from the table.  ‘Can we continue this later Captain?  I find these pictures extreme upsetting.’

Steven stood, ‘how about a short break?’

‘Thank you.’

Steven took a short break himself while still struggling with what he had found out.  What Orlath didn’t know was Steven had Babes upload all of the pictures on his device.  He had been worried that Orlath was hiding something.  He hadn’t, though.  Steven sat with a fresh coffee as Babes played the rest of the pictures through his mind.  What Steven began to notice was that there wasn’t a single picture of Orlath with one of his own race after his wife had left him.  There was also voice recordings on the device.  These he hadn’t shown Steven as they were highly private.  By the time he had finished watching them Steven was far more sympathetic to the Albany male.

When they resumed Orlath told Steven the names of the prisoners.  There wasn’t a single one he didn’t remember the name of and it impressed Steven who wrote them down.  By the end of the interview Orlath felt like an empty vessel.

He sat and regarded Steven, ‘your people must eradicate my race Captain.’

‘Isn’t that a little drastic?’

Orlath shook his head in a very human manner, ‘no it isn’t.  You don’t understand just how valuable your solar system is.  My people will not stop.  As yet your race isn’t considered a sentient race.  When my universe discovers just how valuable it is, it will become a target for every sentient race.  My people will build another fleet, bigger than the first.  They will learn your battle tactics.  We have many planets captain, you only have one and we will come back.’

‘The emperor of the Modloch race has offered us a treaty if we win this fight against you.’  Steven argued.

Orlath shook his head, ‘that will do you little good Captain, not unless you are recognised as a sentient race by universal decree.  You can have as many trade agreements as you wish but, those are not unlawful.  The eradication of an entire sentient species is.  Wars between sentient races are not uncommon, but they are normally over disputed territories.  For example if our races shared a border and there was a planet there that we decided to terraform and colonise.  If your race objected as you had plans of your own then we would most likely go to war.  The war would be fought in space.  The winner would claim the planet.  These wars are considered lawful.  You could remove the enemy’s people but you could not slaughter them; that is against the law.  There are few meat eating races in our universe.  None are considered sentient.  Many races have eradicated whole planets of life and recolonized them.  That is not unlawful.  Of course very few of those planets had an indigenous race with industrial capabilities, but some did.  Many races had commercial treaties with those planets.  Those races have to petition the universal council for compensation and most have had it granted.  If the invading race does not want to pay then the aggrieved race have the right to declare war and fight for possession if they feel they are strong enough.  More often than not it is one of the races who have a trade agreement with the planet that invades in the first place.’

Steven was frowning as he tried to absorb what Orlath was saying.  ‘You seem to know a lot about it.’

Orlath gave a very small shrug, ‘I studied political science when I was at university.  Universal political science.’

‘So you are saying that we are at risk from the Modloch race?’

‘You are at risk from every race captain.  The universe will soon know of you.  They will also know why my race covets your solar system.  They will know they can make a serum from your people that will enable them to live in your universe and return without fear.  Not only return but return rich beyond their wildest dreams.  As a non-sentient race you could launch a war against my people.  Eradicate our planets and leave before a universal force is gathered against you.  They can’t follow you back through the barrier.  You can build your defences against invasion, keeping an eye on what is happening.  Strike if you perceive a threat of any kind.  Once you deal with my people the only real threat you face is from the Modloch Empire.  The rest of the universe would be too busy fighting over what was left of ours to bother you for a very long time.  I have little doubt that the Modloch emperor would within a few years launch a strategic attack against your planet with biological weapons.  How they would then recover the resources from you solar system is beyond me.  I am sure they would find away though.’

Alarm bells began to ring in Stevens head.  They had a Modloch that could and had survived in their solar system.  The emperor could quite easily order an entire planet of his people to uproot and move to Earth to exploit it and Earths solar system.

‘What if we were recognised as a sentient race?’

‘No one would be allowed to attack your home planet.  If they did a universal force would be directed against the perpetrator and their worlds destroyed without mercy.  Not even the Modloch Empire could withstand such a force.  Their worlds would be shared out amongst those who fought in proportion to the resources they put in.’

‘Has this universal force ever been deployed?’

‘Only twice in thousands of years.  Both times against non-sentient races.  They were eradicated fully.  Not a single member of either species survive.’

‘So what is to stop this universal force coming after us?’

‘It simply can’t cross the barrier Captain.  Of course Universal war will be declared against your planet but there is little they can do about it.  The barrier would be patrolled after that of course, but that’s about all they could do.  No one would be allowed to trade with you either.’

‘How do you gain recognition as a sentient race?’

Orlath made some very strange noises and Steven realised he was laughing.  ‘I have never heard of a meat eating race even being considered as sentient.  For anyone else there is a number of ways.’

‘You believe we are a sentient race don’t you.’

Orlath became serious again, ‘yes Captain, of course I do.  I wouldn’t have mated with an animal.’

‘Exactly.  What if we made you part of the human race, would that count for anything?’

Orlath sat up sharply, ‘why would you do that Captain.  I am your enemy?’

‘You aren’t Orlath.’

‘If it wasn’t for me then you would not be facing this invasion.’

‘We have a world council Orlath.  I could ask for special dispensation and make you a member of the human race.  Your mate was human and the child she conceived was half human.’

Orlath leaned forward his mind racing.  ‘I am a member of a sentient race.  To change my race I would normally have to approach the department of foreign affairs of my chosen world who would then liaise with the department of foreign affairs from my planet of origin. It is normally a mere formality.  Our foreign department would then have to inform the department of immigration within the universal council.  They in turn would inform all planets and races including the race I was joining of my change of citizenship.  However if the applicant believes that there may be prejudice against him from his home planet he can apply straight to the department of universal foreign affairs via the foreign department of the world he wished to join.  He would have to site his reasons for by passing the normal protocols.  Only the most serious cases are ever even considered.  It would also have to be accompanied by a covering letter from the head of the world council from the race I wished to join.’

‘I think the murder of your mate and your child so the rest of your race could invade our universe would stand as a very serious chance of consideration.’

Orlath was silent for a long time.  ‘Because Barbra conceived, that would make our races compatible.’  Let me think for a moment Captain.  ‘Because I am from a sentient race and had a mate who conceived.  I can be adopted by that race.  Because I am sentient they have to listen to my appeal.  They have no choice; that is the right of every citizen in the universe.  I also have plenty of evidence to back that up.  If they grant me the right of citizenship of your world then by proxy your race also becomes sentient.’  Orlath fell silent as he thought things through and Steven kept silent.

‘If this happened captain.  If this was ruled on and I was given Earth citizenship, then you have a foothold in our universe.  If your world applied for citizenship of our universe then your world would already have met at least one of the criteria; that is having beings from a sentient race living on and adopted by your world.  Of course compatibility with that race also counts.  The letter would have to be drafted very carefully Captain.  We could not mention murder.  In fact I doubt if this would even reach the highest echelons of the universal council.’

‘You mean some clerk somewhere would just rubber stamp it?’

It took a moment for Orlath to understand the term, ‘I see what you mean.  It would be an officer of the council, but a lowly one.  Of course it may seem like very little but if you applied for universal citizenship for your planet it could be a huge stepping stone. Universal citizenship isn’t easily gained captain;  it is a long arduous process with many steppingstones to navigate. There are almost always objections and as your race is meat-eating there are bound to be many.’

‘What else is needed?’

‘Money.  The grant of a substantial amount and an annual payment.  Most races have many worlds so the payment is easily met.  It is shared amongst all.’

‘Even though only the home world is actually safe?’  Steven asked to clarify the point.

‘Yes that’s right Captain.  Although there is something you may not be aware of.  Occasionally races fragment and form new home planets.  If they can get enough support and pay the price then they receive immediate protection.’

‘I bet that doesn’t happen very often.’

‘It does Happen Captain.  Sometimes naturally.’

‘How can it happen naturally?’

‘Some planets have a very mixed population.  The more diverse it gets the more inclined it is to wish for its own identity.’

‘Do you mean a lot of mixed marriages or just diversity in the population?’

‘Mixed marriages of course.’

‘So they become an entirely new race.’

‘Exactly Captain.’

‘Are you people a part of this universal council?’

‘Yes of course.  If your people became a part of it then mine would be forced to stop the war against your home planet.  They would have no choice.  Arbitration would be mandatory, compensation could even be sought.’

Steven sat back, ‘could I possibly leave you alone for a while Orlath?’

‘I am your prisoner Captain, do as you wish.’

When Steven left, Orlath rolled on to the bunk in the cell.  In seconds he had drifted off into a deep sleep.

Buzz found Steven in his office, ‘how did it go Bud?’

‘We owe Charlie a huge favour Buzz.’

Buzz scratched his head, ‘what for?’

‘Our prisoner is the key to the whole shebang.’  Steven explained everything.

‘Holy shit,’ was about all Buzz could think of to say.

Chapter 58

Steven paraded up and down in front of the Earths council and he wasn’t happy.  ‘I am not asking you to make this man Human, I am demanding that you make him human.  Give him the opportunity to say yes to an offer made by you.  Show our humanity and show our compassion.’

‘Why the hell should we?’  Grunted the Australian member.  ‘This guy is responsible for this whole damn war.  It’s his DNA that started it.  I for one am in agreement with his father, the guy is a pervert.’

Steven snapped round, ‘you have no idea how my skin crawled when he first told me he had slept with a human woman.  I said nothing about how I felt and just let him talk.  This isn’t about any form of bestiality, this is about two sentient beings, falling in love, caring for one another.  She was his sole companion while growing up as was he to her.  Who didn’t watch beauty and the beast as a child and like the beast more than the girl?’

‘Yeah but we all knew that the beast was really human,’ the Australian concluded his argument.

‘Well this time the beast isn’t, and you had all damn well better get used to it.  There are thousands of species out there and many intermarry.  You need to get used to this idea now, or we would be as well as just surrender ourselves to the mercy of the Albany.  I can assure you there will be none.  Twenty years from now it will be the Albany who are defending this solar system from the Modloch and we will be little more than a footnote or curiosity.  Just another meat eating race that was wiped out and no one remembers the name off.’

Steven felt his passion rising close to the surface and took a deep breath in order to try and calm himself down.  Another of the committee took the opportunity to jump in.  ‘Captain Gordon, we have never met but I am the representative from Brazil.  You do realise of course we don’t even have a department for foreign affairs.’

‘Then make one for God’s sake.  There’s nothing to stop you and if you don’t we will all bloody suffer.’

‘You need to calm down Captain Gordon, before we got your request we didn’t even know such a thing existed.  Now you say this Albany majored in political science.  Two years, is that long enough to consider him an expert?’

Steven regarded the Brazilian for a moment, the man was right and Steven saw it.  It helped calm him a little.  ‘I am sorry sir if I got carried away.’

The man waved a hand, ‘the responsibility that lies squarely across your shoulders just now Captain Gordon far outweighs any responsibilities that we have at the moment.  You cannot be expected to carry everything on your own.  That is why you called for this assemblage of representatives from all over the World.  We will lighten your burden if you allow us too.  Now please finish stating your case.’

Steven took a deep breath, ‘to answer your question sir, the intellectual difference between our two races is more like a chasm.  Their years are also longer than ours with less holidays.  I checked.  A two year course for an Albany student would be the Earth equivalent of a seven year doctorate.  There is also something else you need to consider.  This Albany was injected with the DNA of his own child.  He never once became sick like so many of the others.  This is patient Zero.  I have talked with some of our top DNA experts and they believe with his cooperation they could well develop an antidote to their serum.  Even if a person were taken hostage they couldn’t be used to make serum.  There is a theory that an antidote built with Orlath’s DNA could prevent the binding of any serum to our DNA from any product derived from his son.’

‘Why would we need his cooperation?  He is a prisoner, we could force him.’  Stated the Australian.

Steven whirled, ‘because we don’t need to.  He will help us willingly.’

The head of the council raised a pencil he was taking notes with, ‘Captain Gordon, you mentioned in your email you believed that we were are risk from the Modloch emperor did you not?’

‘I did sir.  Right now the Modloch Empire is struggling after a protracted war against members of their own race.  They are in dire need of cash.  That is why this treaty is so important to them.  They can make a packet off of selling the exotic grasses we sent them.  Our solar system has barely been tapped for its resources.  The Engineer from The Burning Wind, our Modloch ambassador has survived the ordeal from our sun.  That is because his people live on a planet that is close to the gravity of our own planet.  That makes their bodies much denser and able to withstand the neutrons from our sun.

After the meeting with Orlath I did quite a considerable amount of research on the Modloch race and the type of treaty that we are supposed to be signing up for.  It is a trade agreement only.  One where by we will provide a considerable force to help protect the assets we jointly own.  The ships we have built are Modloch ships.  That of course makes them vulnerable to a race that designed and developed the ships.  The emperor has offered us Modloch staff to help train our people.  Again that makes us vulnerable.  They will learn about the wealth of our solar system and believe me these people have no problems wiping out non sentient races.  He has a whole planet of people capable of living on Earth.  It is not without the bounds of possibilities for him to order the whole population of that planet to relocate on Earth.’

‘You mean after he has wiped us out?’  The head of the council interrupted.

‘Yes sir.’

‘You believe this treaty gives us no protection from the Emperor himself.’

‘None.’

‘You believe him capable of carrying out a plan like this?’

‘I have discovered nothing to persuade me otherwise sir.’

‘Thank you captain Gordon.  I know you want a quick decision on this so we will not keep you waiting for long.’

‘Thank you sir.’

The council watched him leave and more than a few sighed with relief.  Suddenly one of them burst out laughing and was soon joined by the others.

‘I am amazed he thinks we won’t grant his wish,’ laughed the Brazilian.

The leader waved his hands in the air, ‘for god’s sake don’t give him the impression that he can walk all over us.  We need to play this very carefully.  Not only should we grant his wish but we should seriously consider hiring this Albany and putting him in charge of foreign affairs.  The rest of our race may well think that this organisation is a bit of a joke, but no other race in the universe will.  They will turn to us and we in turn need to be able to turn to our own people and stamp our feet.’

The American didn’t like the sound of it, ‘my government won’t tolerate being told what to do by this council.’

‘None of them will, but they had better learn too.  If we become the official representatives of Earth then the power will come into our hands.  We will have real clout.  These other planets have one emperor and a world council like ours.  That council is responsible for taking their orders from there emperor and making sure he is informed of what is happening.  Our world council will have to be run like the universal council.  They report to many planets as we will have to report to many countries.  It would be our responsibility to liaise between the two.  The Earths Defence Force will sooner probably rather than later, fall under our jurisdiction as well.  Gentlemen, the human race is growing up and we had better heed Captain Gordon.  We also need to find our own feet, begin planning ahead.  We start with this Orlath Cannies.  We get him his human identity, then we bring him on board.  We need him far more than he needs us.  Agreed.’

Fifteen minutes later Steven was leaving the council with a smile on his face.  Buzz suddenly appeared at his side.

‘We got it, they have agreed to make Orlath human.’

Buzz grabbed his arm.  ‘I got bad news Stevie, it’s about your friend Charlie.  Two generals walked in to his regiment’s brig with a squad of heavies and ordered the release of Charlie into their care.  That was a few hours ago.  No one can find him.’

Steven was shocked, ‘did De’ Beer allow this?’

‘The regiment was out on exercise at the time including De’ Beer. It was the man himself who called.  He can find no trace of Charlie.  The man’s going nuts.’

Chapter 59

The Bear sat with the communique in his hand.  He was as white as a sheet.  He handed it to his RSM in silence.  The RSM had to read it three times before it registered.

‘This canna be right sir.’

‘It’s completely out of our hands RSM.’

‘It’s not right sir.  They can’t do this.  What trial, what court martial, what witnesses, and since when has our army ever supported the death penalty?’

‘I have no idea.  We don’t, there is no rule book for this EDF, these assholes are making this shit up as they go along.’

‘Two generals, who the hell are they sir?’

‘I have no idea RSM, I have never heard of them before.’

The RSM stabbed the communique with a thick finger, ‘what the hell does this mean?’

‘Traditionally it is the man’s own platoon and officer that supplies the firing squad.  The final indignity.’

‘They won’t shoot Charlie.’

‘No they won’t and that puts them right on the firing line themselves.  We are going to have to think this through very carefully RSM.  I will command the firing party myself and brief the men.’

‘You won’t be allowed to take your own weapons sir.  They will be supplied.’

‘I know.  Right now I need to get in touch with Captain Gordon, he may well be able to prevent this.’

Five hours later Steven felt he was going insane.  He still couldn’t find Charlie, no matter what he did he was thwarted at every turn.  He sat with the Bear in his HQ drinking coffee.

‘It’s all got something to do with the intelligence community,’ he informed Steven.  ‘It’s like a blank wall.’

‘It is an ugly beast that has reared its head Mr De’ Beer.

‘Just call me Bear Captain Gordon.’

‘Steven.’

‘Well Steven if you can’t find out anything with your resources then we are all fucked.  Please pardon the expression.’

Steven waved a hand, ‘I feel the same way Bear.  I did manage to get some information on the generals.’  He shoved over a tablet with their pictures.

The Bear growled, ‘I know this pair.  I have seen them before.  Didn’t know who they were though.’

‘Where?’

De’ Beer told Steven about the Jamaican warehouse incident and Charlie’s involvement.  Steven thought it over.  ‘It looks to me like they are cleaning house.  From what little information I can gather they were retired not long after that.’

De’ Beer found himself in agreement, ‘it is possible they were held accountable in some way.  The facts buried along with their carrier.  This war has resurrected a lot of careers.’

‘Aye and no sooner than their carriers are back on track and up pops Charlie.’

De’ Beer took a sip of his coffee, ‘Some shit will follow you around to the grave Steven.  It looks like this pair want to bury it along with Charlie.  He is the only witness to the whole incident.  Did you find out where he is being kept?’

‘No it isn’t on the ship you have to report to that’s for sure.  I have no doubt he will be delivered there just before the execution is scheduled.’

De’ Beer sat back with a sigh, ‘my biggest fear is that he is already dead and this is just some form of cover up.  I shouldn’t have locked him up, they would never have caught him.’

Steven found himself grinning, ‘can he still do it?’

‘Do what?’  De’ Beer asked him suspiciously.

‘When we were kids there was a family that had five brothers all bad to the core.  They used to try and ambush us all the time.  Charlie could smell them a mile off, saved us from a lot of kicking’s.’

De’ Beer half smiled, ‘Charlie was in my first platoon.  We go back a long way, I was also his company commander before becoming his commanding officer.  I remember Sergeant Banks who was my platoon sergeant back then, just before I left the platoon; introducing two recruits to Charlie.  He took them into Charlie’s room where he was lying on top of his bed reading a book.  ‘You see this guy here?  If he says stop you stop, go back, you go back.  Go left you go left and go right then you go right, understand?’  One of the Jocks said no, and Sargent Banks turned on him, ‘aye well laddie, neither do we, but we still fucking do it.’’

The two men laughed awkwardly, ‘that’s Charlie,’ Steven agreed.  ‘A good man to have at your back.’

‘Charlie is a good man to have at your back.  He’s a great man to have at your side; but where you really want Charlie is way out front looking for trouble.’

Steven laughed, ‘I never thought of it like that before, but you are most likely right.’

‘Oh I’m right.  You have to watch him though.  Charlie doesn’t always avoid trouble.’

Steven slid a small bag across, ‘let’s hope we can pay him back.’

De’ Beer took possession of the bag and stood, ‘I had better get back to the men.’

Three hours later they were taken to a nondescript freighter and guided through to a closed off part of the cargo bay.  They were shoved inside a small room.  Eddie stood beside De’ Beer as a nervous American MP Sergeant handed out weapons.  When he was finished he stood with one of the American rifles in his hand.  ‘Watch this way.  All of the rifles have been loaded with one round apiece.  Not all of the rounds are live, half are blanks.  That way no one will really know whose shot killed the prisoner.’

‘His names Charlie, you fucking asshole,’ growled one of the Jocks.

‘Can that shit,’ Eddie snapped.

The Jock dropped his head.  The MP eyed him for a moment before going on.  ‘OK guys, I know this is all fucked up but I ain’t got no choice, just like you guys.  Pull back on this handle and release to load the weapon.’

‘We know how to bloody use one,’ Eddie interrupted the sergeant pulling the magazine from the rifle.  He looked at the blank round and flicked it out with his thumb.  ‘Give me a live round.’

The rest of the Jocks did the same and the MP suddenly had blanks rounds being tossed at him.  ‘Give us live all live rounds,’ Eddie insisted.

‘I’m not allowed.’

Bear moved forward with the pistol he had been given.  He cocked it and placed it against the MP’s temple.  ‘Give them live rounds, I know the one in this one is live.  I will kill you and take them if I have to Sargent, do not question my resolve in this.’

The MP broke out into a cold sweat, ‘don’t try anything sir.’

‘Each man, one round, each man bears equal responsibility.’

His eyes flicked to the jocks faces and saw the resolve there, ‘I can live with that sir.’

He dished out the rounds and the men reloaded their weapons.  ‘When the prisoner is taken in your doctor will check if he is fit enough to be executed.  You and your padre may then approach to see if he has any last words.  Once the padre has said his piece you will return to the firing line.  His crimes will be read out by my officer and his sentence.  You will then be ordered to proceed.  You will give the order to load sir, that’s when you cock the weapons.  Aim and fire.  Speaks for itself.  Is that all clear sir?’

‘Perfectly.  May I have a word with my men alone Sergeant?’

The MP Sergeant stood, ‘of course you may sir, five minutes.’

‘Thank you.’

He waited until the man had gone.  ‘Reload.’  De’ Beer ordered.

The men whipped off their Tam O’ Shanters.  They had been swept for weapons with a hand held metal detector.  Of course it had gone off when it swept over their bodies.  The normal belts and buckles along with money or change they had in their pockets.  They hadn’t even bothered sweeping their headdress as it was obvious the large cap badge would set off their detectors.  Behind everyman’s badge was tapped five rounds of ammunition.  They ripped them out and added them to the magazine in their rifles before reloading them.  The type of weapons to be used in the execution had been stipulated in the orders and luckily for them Colonel Howe’s men had a stash of the correct ammo for their own personal weapons.

The MP returned to wait with them and the hard faced Scots kept their silence.  After a brief wait they were ordered into a large empty hanger.  A pile of sandbags had been set up and a wooden post fitted into a bracket welded to the deck.  Ropes hung from metal rings.  The Scots tensed as the minutes passed.  It was almost a relief when the two interrogators appeared dragging a bloody sack between them.  It wasn’t until they attached the sack to the post that most of the jocks realised it was in fact their friend.  The two men walked to the side to watch with smug grins on their faces.

De’ Beer and his regimental doctor swapped looks.  Both men were in shock.  A MP Officer approached them, ‘you need to check your man sir.’  He looked pale and swallowed nervously.

The doctor took the first step and the Bear followed hesitantly.  The doctor pressed his stethoscope against the bloody sacking.  ‘He is alive, but I would say barely.’

The De’ Beer took a deep breath, ‘Charlie, can you hear me?’

The sack twitched, ‘Bear.’  The word were slurred but De’ Beer took a deep breath of relief.

‘Do you know what’s happening Charlie?’

‘Execution!’

‘That’s right.’  De’ Beer slid a small silver pin into the sacking.

‘No trial.’  The figure managed before slumping.

De’ Beer felt the rage course through him.  He walked up to the American MP Officer who was waiting with a notepad and pen.

‘Did he have any last words sir?’

De’ Beer growled, ‘he said there was no trial no court martial.’

The man reeled, ‘that’s impossible sir I have the orders here.  All the paper work.’

‘It’s wrong, I demand my man be returned to me at once and this whole farce called off.’

The large white interrogator suddenly appeared at the lieutenants side with a drawn pistol, ‘it was a closed court martial, he was found guilty and sentenced to death.  If you don’t carry it out you and your men will take his place after I shoot him.’

De’ Beer could see the naked hatred on the bruised face of the man.  This was obviously personal and De’ Beer had a feeling he would be next on the man’s list.  ‘So be it.’  He turned and walked away.  Their final chance at a peaceful solution gone.  He knew the jocks under his command would want no peaceful solution, but as an officer it was his responsibility to at least try.  The blood pumped behind his eyes as he spoke to each of his men in turn.  It made focusing difficult.

‘What are you doing?’  Asked the MP Sergeant.

‘Telling them to shoot straight, now piss off.’

The man took a deep breath and stepped back.

The padre finished praying over Charlie and stepped back.  He nodded to De’ Beer.

‘Listen in.’ De’ Beer growled.  ‘Attention.  Shoulder arms.  Load.’  The men swung their rifles round in front of them and cocked them.  The metal click of rounds being chambered seemed to ring round the hanger.  They could see Charlie slump farther.  ‘Present, Aim, Fire.’

It all happened so fast no one had time to react.  The jocks swung their weapons and the two interrogators fell to the crash of the rifles.  They then snapped off warning shots above the heads of the MP’s.  Men ducked instinctively as the metal rounds whipped round the hanger bouncing off of the metal walls with a strange zipping sound.

‘No one move,’ roared De’ Beer and the MP’s froze.  ‘As you can see we brought our own ammunition and have enough to kill all of you.  Lie on the floor with your hands in front of you.’  They obeyed reluctantly.  De’ Beer walked over to the bodies of the two interrogators.  The large black man’s eyes fluttered open.  He barely had time to register De’ Beers presence before two shots to the head ended him.  Another two shots made sure of his companion and De ’Beer pressed something on his lapel.  In an instant they were gone.

Chapter 60

Steven dry heaved in to the bowl in the medical lab.  The doctor had tried to keep Buzz and him out but they had insisted.  Buzz had walked out a few minutes before after finishing being sick.  He had simply patted Steven on the shoulder and left.  Most of the soldiers had left with Buzz and he guided them to the ships rest room for visitors.  Only De’ Beer and Sergeant Eddie were left beside the bloodied lump of meat on the table.  The doctor handed him a towel and Steven covered his face with it.

‘Tell me,’ Steven prompted.

Her eyes dropped, ‘I’m sorry Steven, he is so close to death, there is nothing I can do for him but to give him pain killers.’

‘You mean put him out of his misery?’

Her eyes lifted for the briefest of moments, ‘Yes.’

‘What did they do to him?’

‘They cut off his fingers and toes.  Smashed what was left of his hands and feet.  Almost every bone in his body has been broken.  He has five skull fractures, his right eye burned out.’  She shook her head, ‘his body is full of stimulants.  His internal organs aren’t in bad shape considering the rest of him.  Bruised yes, but not badly enough that it would kill him or to stop his organs from working.  A way of keeping him alive longer,’ she explained before he could ask.

‘Why stimulants, what were they for?’

‘To keep him awake, enhance the pain.’

Steven felt tears spring to his eyes, ‘animals.’

‘He is unconscious now, doesn’t feel anything.  The poisons in his blood are beginning to build rapidly.  His organs will begin to fail soon and he will die before he wakens.’

Steven moved over to Charlie’s side.  What was left of his limbs were twisted and mashed.  Sargent Eddie had tears coursing down his face and De’ Beer looked completely lost.

Steven apologised to the two men, ‘I’m sorry for that.’

The two men nodded, ‘can you do anything?’  Steven spoke aloud.  His eyes glanced at his companions, ‘sorry I’m speaking to the ship.’

‘I can try me heart.  He is strong this one.  How can one person do this to another?’

‘I have no idea,’ he replied with his mind.

‘Lay him on the floor my heart.’

‘Help me please, we need to lay him on the floor.’

They gathered round and lifted Charlie in the sheet and laid him on the floor.  The floor began to shimmer and they stepped back.  A strange silver tube with a wicked looking tip appeared from the floor.  It began to weave like a snake and struck as fast.  It pierced Charlie’s femoral artery.

Eddie winched, ‘oh that was bloody close.’  It helped relieve the tension a little.  They watched fascinated as he began to sink into the floor.

‘Don’t worry OK!’  Steven warned them and his friends took a step back.

For a few seconds after he had completely disappeared the floor continued to shimmer, then it became solid again.  For a moment they weren’t sure whether to move or not.  Steven bade them follow and he took them to where the rest waited.  The soldiers sat slumped in their seats, defeated, fugitives from their own army.

A week later Steven met up with them in the canteen.  He grabbed a coffee and sat down.  ‘I have good news for you and some bad.  The good news is all charges against you have been dropped and the two generals responsible have been arrested and are on their way back to Earth.’  They let out a cheer and Steven lifted a hand.  ‘Unfortunately before they were arrested they changed the order off attack.’  He looked De’ Beer straight in the eye, ‘you have been put in the first wave with me.  I am trying to have that order rescinded.’

‘Why?’  De’ Beer asked.

‘I am supposed to carry Special Forces.  Experts in infiltration and explosives, not infantry.’

‘My men and I would be honoured to stand by your side in the fight to come Steven.’  There was a growl of consent from the jocks.  ‘In fact I insist on it.’

‘Are you sure Bear?’

‘Never been more certain of anything in my life.  Any news of Charlie?’

‘She says be patient and won’t tell me any more than that.’

‘We will be waiting for his return.  In the mean time I think we had better be heading back to the Battalion.  It looks like we have a lot of training to do and very little time to do it.’

Steven sent a silent command to Hailey and the ship turned towards the fleet.

Chapter 61

It was a strange buzzing noise that brought Charlie to his senses.  Like a beehive he thought.  He couldn’t feel anything at all and wondered if he was actually dead.  The buzzing receded a little.  He remembered the torture and the pain, but the pain was gone now.  He remembered their laughter and their evil remarks as though from a film.  They tortured him for the sheer pleasure of it.  There were no questions, just the taunting and the pain.  Maybe he was paralysed and blind.  Was this what life was going to be like from now on, was he no more than a vegetable trapped within his own mind in perpetual darkness.  His acceptance of the situation allowed his mind to relax a little and the buzzing noise came back.

He began to concentrate on it and all of a sudden he could make out voices; many voices.  There was one a little louder than the rest.  He concentrated on it and the voice became louder; the others receded into the background.  It was a woman’s voice and very pleasant to listen to.  She seemed to be speaking to many people at the same time.  Charlie relaxed and listened to many things he didn’t understand but found it comforting.  He never really realised he was drifting in and out of sleep, but when he was awake he listened for her voice.  He became very adept at finding her within the noise.  One day she seemed very close.

‘I wish I could talk to you?’

She hesitated, ‘I’m sorry who said that?’

Charlie was shocked, ‘I ah, I think it was me.’

‘Me, who is me?’

It was him she was hearing, Charlie felt emotion for the first time since awakening, ‘my name is Charlie.’

Now he really felt her presence and her voice became louder.  ‘Charlie, Steven’s friend Charlie?’

‘Yes that’s right who are you?’

For a moment he didn’t think she was going to answer, ‘They call me Babes, I am Steven’s ship.’

‘You have a very lovely voice, for a ship,’ he added.

He was sure he actually heard her giggle, ‘how can you hear me Charlie?’

‘I don’t know, where am I?’

‘Ah, that may be a little hard to explain.  You are actually between my decks; within my decks.’

‘Within your decks, that sounds a little strange.’

‘It is but it’s the truth.  I am using my systems to rebuild you.’

‘You mean heal me.’

‘No not really.  I am surprised you are awake and even more surprised you can talk to me.’

‘I think I have been awake off and on for a while now.  I have been listening to you talk to people.’

‘I am sorry, that should not have happened.’

‘No worries, I thought I was dead at first.  I should be you know.’

‘I am surprised you aren’t panicking.’

‘You mean because I can’t breathe, see or hear anything?’

‘Yes, that has been my experience with humans.  At this moment in time I am breathing for you.  Your nervous system has been disengaged from your brain.  You won’t be able to see anything until I release you from between my decks.’

‘Am I going to be a vegetable for the rest of my life?’

It took her a moment to understand his meaning.  ‘We won’t really know until I release you.  You will have to be patient.  Would you like to sleep until then?’

‘How long will it be?’

‘About another week.’

‘Then yes please.’

The darkness came swiftly.

Chapter 62

De Beer and Eddie were both waiting with Steven when the floor began to shiver.  Charlie’s nose appeared first and all three were holding their breath.  The sheet he had been wrapped in now served as a pair of pyjamas.  Charlie’s eyes flicked open and they all sighed with relief together.

Amanda knelt by his side, ‘be careful and don’t try and move to quickly Charlie.’

His eyes flicked to her, ‘aye OK.’

She offered a hand, ‘try and sit up.’

Charlie reached and suddenly snatched back his hand.  ‘How the hell.  I know that was cut off.’

‘The ship rebuilt you.’

‘Aye she did say,’ he reached out and grabbed her hand, she sat him up.

Charlie frowned, he could still hear the buzzing, only it was quite loud.  He switched it off and was greeted by silence.  ‘Now try and stand and get on the bed.’

He was a little wobbly at first as she lay him down.  He smiled at his friends and they looked like they were going to burst with pleasure.  ‘I’m all here then?’

Amanda laughed, ‘it certainly looks like it.  You’re going to be here for a few days so try and relax.  I think the captain wants to talk to you.’

Steven moved to his bedside with a bloody great grin on his face, ‘how are you feeling Charlie?’

‘Bit weird, what did you do Stevie?’

‘We rebuilt you, like the six million dollar man.’

‘Whit like Steve Austin?’

Steven laughed, ‘yeah like the six million dollar man.’

‘Aye, only for you it only cost fifty pence,’ Eddie laughed.

They all joined in.  Charlie pinched himself on the arm, ‘this is my skin, I can feel it.  It feels like me but different.’

Stevie sat on the end of the bed, ‘it is your skin and your nervous system has been rebuilt to control everything but underneath you are bionic.  Everything is mechanical including your eye, well both your eyes actually.’

Charlie frowned, ‘I only lost one if I remember right.’

Stevie shrugged, ‘sorry man, something to do with depth perception or something.’

‘So she replace both.’

‘Had too I’m afraid.’

‘Well I can see fine so who cares right.’

‘You will be able to do more than see well Charlie.  In fact I want you to stay here for a week until you get control of your new abilities.’

‘What’s happening in the outside world?’

‘We are on our way to intercept the city chip now.  The attack is planned for a month from tomorrow.’

De’ Beer stepped forward, ‘we are going in with Captain Gordon in the first wave.  You will take command of your own platoon Charlie and we are going to assault with Captain Gordon and his men.’

Charlie was shocked, ‘why the hell are we going in first?’

‘A little favour done for us by those two Generals that had you arrested and executed.  I will tell you when you get back.  In the meantime it’s good to see you whole again.’

‘Thank you sir.’

Amanda stepped forward, ‘OK gentlemen I am going to have to ask you to leave, I have a lot of tests to do.’

‘Catch you later mucker,’ Eddie punched him on the shoulder.  ‘The fifty p man.’

They all left laughing.

Amanda was smiling as she went to get some of her instruments.  Charlie watched her with interest.  When she bent down his interest soared but not only his interest.  His eyes suddenly zoomed in.  Then her cloths began to change colour.  Charlie realised he was seeing heat; a few seconds later it wasn’t the only thing he was seeing.  He felt a reaction; shocked he pulled his pyjamas open to reveal his biggest shock of the day.

‘Wow.’

‘What is it?’ Amanda asked standing.

Charlie hid is embarrassment and looked away, ‘oh nothing.’

‘I hope he wasn’t looking at my ass.’  It was Amanda’s voice but it came from inside his own head.  Then came another voice, ‘can you still hear me Charlie?’

‘Is that you Babes; yes I can?’

‘Yes it’s me Charlie.’

‘Thing is Babes you’re not the only one I can hear.’

Chapter 63

Charlie and Steven lay side by side in his room on the floor.  The huge city ship swung into sight.  In the days since Charlie had woken up he had learned to harness his new ability’s.

‘This is weird Stevie.’

Steven grinned, ‘it’s a bit like floating in space isn’t it?’

‘Totally, but it’s no just that.  How many times when we were kids did we lie on the floor next to one another, playing games or watching TV?’

Steven laughed, ‘yeah you’re right it is a bit weird.’

‘I’m a bit scared, you know that.’

‘Why Charlie?’

‘Stevie I can run at about sixty miles an hour.  I can zoom in on a bloody fly a hundred meters away and can read minds from miles away.  It’s bloody scary.’

‘It is a little I suppose, but you will get used to it.  You can tune people out.’

‘Aye I know.  Some days I just don’t feel like I’m me.  Even Babes is freeked out.’

Steven gave a slight shrug, ‘not really, she likes you a lot, she just isn’t used to people been able to hear her unless they are connected to her.  Ico freeked out though.’  The two men laughed. ‘I suppose it just proves they are living entities,’ Steven sighed.

‘Aye they are that.’

‘You sure you can do this Charlie?’

‘I can try Stevie.  It was a great idea testing out on that Orlath guy.’

‘I wanted to know for sure if he was genuine or not.’

‘Well he was.  He was also surprised the Universal foreign office, what ever it is, granted him Earth citizenship.  You were really pleased about that.’

‘It gives humanity a foot in the door Charlie.  No meat eaters have ever been granted entry into that universal club.’

‘We don’t just eat meat Stevie, I like my fruit and veg as well and not every human eats meat.’

‘That’s a good point Charlie.’  Stevie pointed towards the city ship.  ‘Do you see those central structures with the bubbles on top?’

‘Yup.’

‘According to our information, that is the central hub of the city and where their command centre is.’

‘Get us as close as you can.’

Babes swung as close to their shields as she could without being detected.  Charlie crossed his eyes and concentrated hard.  Eventually he opened them again.  ‘There’s nothing there Stevie.  Not a thing.’

‘You sure?’

‘I can hear millions of voices Stevie but none are coming from those towers.’  He had an idea, ‘Babes can you project a holographic image of the city right here that I can manipulate?’

‘Yes of course Charlie.’

The city appeared by his side and Charlie played with it a while.  He found by touching areas in the holograph he could concentrate more easily on an area within the city.  ‘I got something Stevie, this area here is a bio-weapons plant.’  He concentrated hard, ‘oh dear?’

‘What?’

‘It’s no wonder those towers aren’t manned Stevie, they are a trap.  They are full of a biological agent.  We are supposed to absorb it into our bodies and when we get home to Earth it will activate.’

‘Shit!  What kind of agent?’

‘Not sure Stevie, but it will be activated by some kind of environmental trigger.   Mark those towers for sanitation.’

‘Sorry?’

‘Blow the buggers up Stevie?’

Steven laughed, ‘no need for such drastic action Charlie, opening them up to space will kill anything inside.’

‘I hope your right.’  Charlie shook his head, ‘I’m getting nothing more but the thoughts of terrified people.  Let’s try somewhere else.’

It wasn’t until they flew under the great ship that Charlie detected something else, ‘bingo.’

‘What?’

‘Give me a second Stevie.’  He already had the city upside down and expanded it.  ‘This area here, quite deep, some kind of auxiliary control room.  That’s where they have their HQ.’

‘How deep?’

‘Very, right in the heart of the place.  We need schematics.’

‘We don’t have any.’

‘Then we had better bloody get some Stevie.’

’Do you think there will be some on one of those ships we destroyed?’

‘I would say on the command vessels.’

‘There isn’t much left of them Charlie.’

‘I think we had better go look.’

Steven ordered Babes to turn round and head back at full speed.  Once they reached Saturn the hunt for the city schematics began.  Ico joined them and both crews spent a whole day sifting through the wreckage of the command carrier.  It was Cookie and Lewis that found it but it took another three days for Babes and Ico to get the computer working again and break the encryption.

It was while working on this that Charlie and Cookie had a very interesting conversation.  Charlie was taking a meal alone in the cookhouse when Cookie slid into the seat opposite with two cups of coffee.

‘How you doing Charlie, still two sugars and milk?’

‘Aye, Cookie, been a long time man.’

‘Seven years Charlie, how are the boys?’

‘Still missing you, still talking about you.’

Cookie grinned, ‘nice to hear.’

‘How’s the SAS, or should I say how was it?’

‘It was great Charlie, you should have joined us.’

Charlie shook his head, ‘it wasn’t for me Cookie.’

‘Bollocks, it was because of that hot chick you were banging back then.  You had visons of settling down and all that crap.  Did you marry her?’

‘No, turns out I was the bit of rough on the side mate.’

Cookie was surprised, ‘she was married?’

‘Oh hell no, she was seeing some banker type online, going away for the weekend, that kind of thing.’

‘How did you find out?’

‘She told me.’

‘You mean you figured it out and challenged her.’

‘I figured it out all right, but no, she beat me too it.  He decided to get serious when she fell pregnant.  They moved in together.  She told me straight.’

Cookies jaw dropped, ‘holy shit.  Whose kid was it?’

Charlie shrugged, ‘no idea, I just walked out and never looked back Cookie.’

‘Man that’s harsh Charlie.’

Charlie shrugged, ‘the way it goes Cookie.  I’ve never heard from her since.  So what about you and this chick over here?’

‘Who, Mya?’

‘Aye.’

Cookie shrugged, ‘don’t know.’

‘Bollocks Cookie, you’re in love with her and she is in love with you.  If you want the knickers off her you’re going to have to marry her first though.’

‘Jesus Christ Charlie, you were bad enough before, but now you can here peoples thoughts?’

‘Afraid so.  You’re shitting yourself because you respect her and are afraid she will reject you.  She’s afraid that you aren’t attracted to her and just want to have sex with her.  You find the fact that she is still a virgin intimidating, because you don’t really know how to handle the situation.’

‘Enough Charlie.  Get out of my head man.’

‘I’m not in your head Cookie your firing off these thoughts like artillery shells man, both of you are, because you are both anxious.’

‘Help.’

‘OK.’

‘OK what?’

‘I’ll help.’

‘I never asked for your help Charlie?’

‘You just screamed help.’

‘In my head man.’

‘Aye OK.’  Charlie turned, ‘Mya can you come over here for a moment please.’

‘Yes OK.’

‘For god’s sake man no.’

‘Shut it Cookie.’

Cookie paled, ‘naw man, I can dee it myself.’

Mya arrived at the table, ‘what is it?’  Her eyes kept flicking towards Cookie.

‘Do you know who I am Mya?’

‘Yes you’re Charlie, Cookie has often spoke about you and your friendship.  You are friends with the captain too.  Now you are something called Bionic and can read minds.’  She smiled, ‘is that right?’

‘That’s right Mya and I have been reading both your minds, you and Cookies, you are both in love with each other.’  Charlie stood, ‘so stop pissing around.’  He lifted a cup, ‘thanks for the coffee Cookie.’

Cookie had hid his face in his hands, ‘bugger off Charlie.’

Charlie left with a grin.

Cookie was finally able to lift his face from his hands.  Mya looked like a bird that was about to take flight.  ‘Hi.’  Cookie managed and was rewarded by a huge smile.

Chapter 64

With the new schematics they were able to delve much deeper into a plan of attack.  The new Enemy command and control centre was identified along with other important resources.  Most importantly they could now identify the shield generators.  Babe’s Bridge was stuffed full of men from the 1st Gordon’s.  Outside the Earth fleet was attacking the City ships close escort.  Invisible and to the side Ico also lay in wait.  Three large bright lights indicated exploding ships.

Charlie could feel the tension throughout the whole ship.  ‘Hey Cookie did you bring the barbecue sauce?’

Cookie laughed, ‘I got the sauce, did you bring the tatties?’

‘Aye and Eddie has the carrots.’

The men on the bridge laughed at the sallies and it brought the tension down a knot.

Steven received a signal straight from the fleet commander.  His head snapped up, ‘OK it’s a go.  Get ready everyone.’

The ships moved together in perfect unison.  As they approached they could see the debris from a destroyer splash against the city ships shields.  It scrapped along the invisible bubble then slid off into space behind it.  The human fleet slid back out of detection range and the enemy ships slowed to a halt.  Steven spotted what he had been told to look out for.  The largest enemy vessel had half its front end sliced off.  It lay dead and inert, its guts exposed to the deep cold of space.  Small explosions still lit the dead part of the ship.  They were taking a huge gamble and knew it.

While the front part of the vessel struggled to land on the surface of the city ship Babes and Ico buried themselves into the dead part of the ship.  They faced a fraught two hour wait but eventually salvage Tugs arrived and dragged the dead part of the ship back to the city.  They began to manoeuvre it towards the other half of the ship.

‘Stand by everyone.’  Steven sent a silent order and both ships slid out of their hiding places.  Steven was worried falling debris would warn the enemy of their presence.  He looked to Charlie whose eyes popped open.  Charlie gave him the thumbs up.  They hadn’t been detected.  Steven sighed with relief.

Sid Tulane turned to Steven, ‘I think they are pulling the last of their ships in captain.’

‘They should have done that a long time ago,’ Bear growled.  ‘No doubt they will fire at our ships from within the protection of the city’s shields.’

Charlie jerked forward, ‘their commander is about to make a speech,’ he approached Sid, ‘May I?’

‘Yeah, sure Bud.’

Charlie put in a stream of numbers he saw in his head and the Albany commander appeared on the screen.  ‘People of the Blue Veld, citizens, Albany men women and children.  Our darkest hour quickly approaches.  The meat eater fleet has already began to show their fangs.  I have pulled our reaming ships in to defend us from the deck of the city ship.  We are still a month from the meat-eaters planet.  Their tactics are still a mystery to us at this time but I assure you we are all ready.  We still believe that our shields will hold but this race has proven relentless and cunning.  If they do breach our shields then it is up to every single one of you to fight to the death.  I know some have received messages from those who we thought fell in previous battles.  They may well be being looked after by our foe just now but do not think surrendering to the enemy will save you.  Thousands have already fallen to the deadly effects of this sun.  In time all will fall.  Our only hope of survival is to reach that blue planet and wipe out the meat eaters on it.

For months we have been making weapons and now all of you are armed.  If the meat eaters get aboard then take advantage of it.  Capture as many as you can alive.  I promise any serum made from your captive will be given to you and any member of your family first.  That is my oath as your supreme commander.  Dead meat eaters are of no use to us but a wounded one is.  If we can keep them alive for a day then our compound will bind with their DNA and we will be able to process them to make serum.  The faster you receive the serum the more chance you and your family will survive.  For those that fall rest assured your sacrifice will not go in vain.  As soon as those who have captured the meat eaters have been treated then the families of the fallen will be treated next.

I have received word that the news of our adventure has reached the ears of our Universe and all eyes are upon us now.  Our emperor has received words of encouragement from many other races to wipe these meat eaters out.  The treacherous Modloch Emperor has admitted that he presented the human race with the Battle Cruiser The Burning Wind as part of a trade agreement with the meat eaters.  From this they have been able to construct a battle fleet equal to that of a Modloch Battle fleet.  As yet there is no format agreement between the meat eaters and the Modloch race, nor by our oath will there ever be.  This is our solar system now and we will fight for it and we will keep it.  Our news crews are now broadcasting live to the whole of the Universe, conduct your selves with grace, conduct yourself with courage and take what belongs to us.’

Charlie clutched his head and staggered.  Steven got up and grabbed him, ‘are you OK Charlie?’

Charlie winched, ‘you might not have heard the bloody great cheer that went up round this bloody city Stevie, but I just did.  They have their minds set man, there will be no quarter.’

Steven paled, ‘we were hoping most of the civilians would surrender.’

‘It’s no going to happen Stevie, we are now facing millions of these people and all are armed.  Not only that we can’t alert the rest of the fleet without risking detection.’

Steven rubbed his face then turned to Sid, ‘Sid I want you to prepare a burst transmission to fleet HQ.  Include the footage we have just witnessed and a personal message from me.  I suspect that the population of the city are determined to capture as many human beings as possible.  Expect heavy resistance, much heavier than we expected.  Warn troops to suspect any form of mass surrender as a ruse to capture them.  Send it the moment The Burning Wind takes out the command centre.’

‘Yes sir.’

Charlie patted him on the shoulder, ‘you ready Stevie?’

‘That was a joke right?’

‘Yup, you can never be ready for this shit Stevie.’

‘OK Charlie, let’s do it.’  Stevie sat back in his chair and pressed a button.  ‘Hailey take us to our first target; get ready to deploy troops.  Situation report all stations, gravity on the surface of the city ship is as we expected about a third less than that on Earth.  It will be the same within the city ship.’  Steven hesitated for a moment then smiled.  ‘The sky is expected to stay clear for most of the day, however the weatherman has stated the possibility of thunder with green lightening and heavy metal showers later in the day.’  The soldier’s throughout both ships burst out laughing, ‘good luck everyone.’  He removed his finger from the button and Turned to De Beer, ‘it’s all yours now Mr De’ Beer.’

The Bear nodded smiling, ‘thank you Captain Gordon. We will catch you on the second phase.  All stations this is Zero Nine, Prepare to deploy.’

A few seconds later Charlie and Eddie vanished.

Chapter 65

Charlie and Eddie stopped for a short rest.  Two man teams swarmed all over the city, but it was so vast only Charlie was able to spot any of the others.  Eddie took the last packet of explosives from Charlie’s pack and stuck it to the side of the shield generator.  ‘That’s the last one Charlie, signal for more.’

Charlie flicked on the green torch and sat it pointing upwards.  Now it was a case of waiting for resupply.  Eddie sat beside Charlie but looking in another direction.  He was breathing hard and Charlie knew he had been sweating heavily.  He checked Eddie’s oxygen and placed a yellow torch beside the green.  ‘You’re low on oxygen.’

‘Again, jezz, you’re still on your first tank, I’m on my third.’

‘I don’t need as much as you now.’

‘What does it feel like Charlie?’

‘Just the same really.’

‘No shit!’

‘Nope.’

Eddie squinted, ‘this place is so bloody weird eh!’

‘Aye man.  It’s like being on the set of a space movie.’  Charlie was watching the traffic below.  Strange looking self-contained pods whizzed back and forth on wafer thin rails.  It wasn’t busy; Charlie imagined in normal times it would be much busier.  They were sitting high on a central structure.  It was different from most City’s Charlie knew.  It looked more like one of those giant American or Asian city’s he saw on TV with the huge skyscrapers; only a little more uniform.  Buildings of the same type were clustered together.  There were no pedestrians or advertising boards of course.  Charlie’s eyes could pierce the metal structures around him and he could easily see the heat from patrolling bands of soldiers or citizens.  He hadn’t told Eddie yet just how much he could actually see going on around them.  In fact much of his abilities were still being kept secret.  He knew if the intelligence agencies got wind of his abilities they would try and recruit him and he detested spooks.  The trauma he had endured at the hands of those animals was never far from his mind.  His nights were filled with nightmares.  He wished he could have seen the bodies of the two men that haunted his dreams.  Maybe that would have helped a little.

He had the satisfaction of knowing that he had been able to strike out twice when his torturers had put their faces too close to him.  He was sure he had broken both their noses.  Their revenge had been excruciating and their demonic laughter seemed to follow him around day and night.  He shook it off.  These thoughts could get him killed as well as Eddie.  Eddie pushed a button on his suit and a small straw flicked up in front of his mouth.  He sucked on the straw; Charlie decided he was getting thirsty as well.  They only got five minutes rest before a new set of Bergen’s appeared at their side along with fresh oxygen packs.  Charlie decided to change his oxygen pack as well.  They did Eddies first.  A couple of flicks of a switch and Eddies pack slid out.  Charlie slid the fresh slim line pack in with a click.  Eddie returned the favour and they shouldered the new Bergen’s.

‘Where’s our next target Charlie?’

Charlie pointed, ‘a mile that way.’

‘Bloody hell!’  Eddie exclaimed looking at all the buildings. In front of him.  His eyes turned towards the edge of the city.  It was flat there but he knew it was exposed.  ‘This is going to take forever.’

‘That’s why they gave us days to do it Dickhead, let’s get going.’  Charlie did a standing jump of over a hundred meters to the next building.  He fired a line that whipped out across the gap.  Eddie caught up the line and Charlie pulled him across.

High above them Babes and Ico scouted for the lights that indicated that men would need more explosives and life giving oxygen.

Buzz appeared at Stevie’s side with a mug of coffee and handed it over.  Stevie reached out for it, ‘thanks Buzz.  How are things back there?’

‘Not too hectic at the moment.  They are beginning to spread out a little now so the calls are coming in farther apart.’

‘That’s good, there is still no sign of any kind of patrols.’

Buzz shook his head, ‘are they being cocky Stevie or just stupid?’

Steven shrugged, ‘I have no idea Buzz.  By what I have read they aren’t used to these types of tactics.’

‘Yeah trust the human race to introduce them to a new type of warfare.  I would still be happier if these boys were Special Forces.’

‘I have to agree with you there Buzz, but I have to admit, they are keeping up with the plan so far.’

‘Neither of us know much about soldering Stevie but I know the Special Forces boys are a lot fitter than infantry.  Don’t be surprised if they start slowing down.’

‘I won’t.’

Fifteen hours later they began taking the men on board for a rest.  The troops were exhausted but in high spirits.  The Bear staggered on his feet as he reported to Steven.  He was concerned about the schedule.

‘How are we doing Captain Gordon?’

Steven suddenly felt guilty as he studied the sweat lathered face.  He himself had just grabbed six hours sleep and was refreshed.  ‘Your men are doing an excellent job Bear.  We are on schedule, a little ahead in some places.  So far we haven’t sighted an enemy patrol and no one seems to have spotted your men either.’

‘Yes, I think we would all know if anyone had been spotted.  Still it is a minor miracle in itself.  These people are sloppy.’

‘Just confident of their own technology Bear and by how these ships are normally assaulted.’

Bear grunted, ‘I never got the manual.’

Steven laughed, ‘few did.  It normally consists of multiple fleets attacking the ship until its shields fail then sending across hundreds of thousands of troops until the city was taken.’

‘So they just aren’t expecting any kind of assault until our fleet attacks?’

‘Exactly.  You also have to take into account these ships have been banned in their universe for a long time now.’

‘Why?’

Steven took a deep breath, ‘simply because of the resources it took to assault one.  Not to mention build one.  With a city ship you could lose every battle and still win the war by attrition.’

De’ Beer frowned, ‘you mean they could lose so many men in an assault that they could actually loose.’

‘Pretty much, it all came to a head hundreds of years ago when two races basically almost fought each other to extinction.  A dozen fleets and two city ships.  The fighting went on for weeks.  The city ships were so close to one another they were able to fire directly at each other.  The inevitable eventually happened.  One exploded and took the other with it and what was left of both fighting forces.  Their worlds were left exposed and vulnerable.  Within about ten years both races were forced back on to their home worlds and other races had taken over their territories.  Eventually they turned on their home worlds too, forcing them to take to the stars for refuge.  That’s when everything changed and the great alliance was formed.  City ships were banned and all home worlds became protected.’

‘Did this alliance force the races that had taken advantage to hand back over the home worlds?’

‘It was their first act and declaration.  The survivors eventual settled back on their home worlds but both races were close to extinction by then.’

De’ Beer mulled it over, ‘pretty smart some of these aliens.  They must have got quite a fright.’

‘They did.  There were quite a few of these city ships around at the time, none of the great races wanted to end up in the same boat.  You also have to bear in mind that war isn’t a natural state for many of these races.’

‘I hear none have even fought a protracted ground war.’

Steven nodded, ‘you’re right, but why would they need to?  Their technology is so advanced they can wipe out any race from space.  A large fleet could wipe out a fair sized city in minutes.  Towns in a single blow; there is just no need for these people to get their boots muddy.  There are also laws to protect civilians within any disputed territories.’

De’ Beer smiled, ‘thanks for the history lesson Stevie.  Some things make a lot more sense now.’

‘It’s a pleasure Bear.  Go get some food and rest, you look like you need it.’

Chapter 66

It had been days since the human fleet had shown face.  The supreme commander had halted the city ship to wait for the attack that never came.  The humans had almost destroyed his home fleet then simply stopped coming.  They had waited for days but nothing had happened.  He was feeling very uneasy when he ordered the city ship forward again.  Still it had given him time to deploy what was left of his fleet at strategic places within the shields of the city ship.  Many had undergone emergency repairs and were now in a position where they could fire most of their weapons.  It gave him hope.  His city ship wasn’t as heavily armed as a normal city ship would have been.  There seemed little requirement for it.  Now his defences were bolstered by the fleet which would fire out through his shields.  His confidence soared.

His emperor had been on the news encouraging everyone to fight to the death.  They themselves had talked for over an hour.  They were sure that sooner or later the humans would have to attack.  Despite the human numbers even their top experts were sure there wasn’t enough of them to stop the city ship.  The fight would be slow but decisive in their favour.  If the humans did get aboard, he had measures set in place to ensure their final defeat.  It would just take one contaminated human to reach Earth for them to gain final victory.  The humans did not have the technology to stop the plague that would ensue.  That had been his idea and he was proud of it.  He would far rather have preferred to be in his comfortable office rather than the war room in the bowels of the ship.  He had studied historical defence strategies.  He knew the main control centre was always any enemy’s ultimate goal.  He had stationed most of his remaining troops in a pattern to enhance the deception while he and his staff remained anonymous and safe deep within the city itself in the auxiliary war room.

He sat in his command chair admiring his work.  Large screens surrounded him and bands of operators sat at monitors.  The latest universal news was coming through and he listened into it.  He felt great pride when his own face appeared on screen.  The Modloch were now coming out of their shells about their relationships with the humans.  There was no mention of how first contact came about but there was plenty about the how some of them survived for a long time on the planet.  A great monument had been erected to the emperor’s brother.  It would be one of the first things he would destroy when he reached the blue planet.  The humans had documented the Modloch visit.  There was the funeral of Gairloch and the handing over of The Burning Wind by the ridiculous ambassador to Earth.  Now they were publishing documentaries on the wildlife of the planet.  He knew many races would be eyeing the great grasslands on the planet with hungry eyes.

He had watched them with interest planning what he would do in more detail.  They would eradicate most of the human cities; turn them in to grasslands.  The vast oceans would provide the fertiliser for the planet.  In the vast deserts local habitats would have to be built but that wasn’t a problem.  Not with the resources they would have available.

The Modloch were now accusing the Albany of setting up the illegal trade in blue grass which they now said came from the planet Earth.  Of course it was true but his emperor was denying the allegations.  It was how they had funded the great invasion fleet.  He was quietly confident that by the time they reached Earth their fleet would be decimated and they would have a free hand to dispose of the humans at their own leisure.

His eyes and ears were drawn to a screen that began to sound and flash a warning.  ‘Fifty enemy vessels inbound.’  An operator announced.

‘What do they think they can achieve with fifty vessels?’  One of his aids asked absently.

He was ignored by all.  ‘Warn our defences,’ ordered an officer on the floor.  ‘Stand by all stations.’

‘All stations alerted sir.’

Another operator made himself known, ‘the enemy has just broadcasted a message straight at us.  Translation says, ‘stand by, ten seconds.’

The supreme commander burst out laughing, ‘how nice of them to tell us when they are going to strike.’  There was a dutiful ripple of laughter.  It was the last time he would ever laugh.  A few seconds later multiple alarms began to go off.

‘What the hell is going on?’  He shouted into the room.

‘Our shields are falling,’ someone shouted.

A split second later The Burning Wind appeared on screen her weapons already charged.  There was a bright flash of light and a great roar.  No one in the control room heard the roar; they were already dead.  The Burning Wind punched a hole clean through the city a hundred meters wide.  Automatic systems began to crank into life and the city sealed itself.  What was left of the command crew drifted off out into space along with shards of molten metal.

Chapter 67

The men had six hours sleep and a meal.  Now they were ready for phase two of the operation.  Ribbons of light raced round the city as the explosives went off.  Most couldn’t see it but Steven and the bridge crew could.  The Burning Wind seemed to appear and fire almost at the same instant.  In that instant Babes and Ico turned on their IFF beacons so the Earth ships would not target them by mistake.  Others arrived the second The Burning Wind disappeared.  They fired on the remainder of the fleet that lay scattered around the city ships outer rings.  Without their own shields up it was a massacre.  None survived the onslaught.  With no one to tell it differently the ship slowed to a halt as emergency systems swung into action.  The devastation on the outer city rings, which were relatively unoccupied and undefended; caused the automatic systems to shed them.  Two large rings fell away together and then a third on its own.  Steven sent out an urgent warning.

The main defences were still operating automatically and as the Earth ships appeared they were greeted by orange fire lancing up from all over the city ship.  The ships would slip in, fire and slip out.  Earth fighters got in on the act as they tried to take out the guns.  Steven saw one fighter blasted into oblivion by a main gun.  Steven stood, ‘Sid instruct the Fleet to keep their fighters at bay for the moment; it is a waste of life.  The destroyers are doing well though and defeating the guns.  It may take time but we have plenty of it.’  He turned to the Bear, ‘are we ready?’

‘Ready as we will ever be,’ grinned De’ Beer.

Charlie stepped up to Steven’s side, ‘are you my personal escort Charlie?’

Charlie suddenly smiled, ‘haven’t I always been.’

Steven felt a moment’s gratitude, ‘it was the first time he had seen Charlie smile since his recovery.’

‘Let’s go then.’

He sent a silent command and men began to appear on the deck of the city ship.  Beneath the deck and hidden in the vast gulf of the city lay over a dozen hidden auxiliary control rooms.  This was their target, to make them inoperable so the inhabitants couldn’t regain control of the vast ship.  It would be a deadly race.

The stars were lit up by flashing lights as ship slipped in and out, firing their weapons.  Stevens’s party materialised beneath the great structures.

Steven looked around, ‘there was supposed to be an access point at these coordinates.’

‘Nothing here Stevie.’  Charlie stated the obvious.

‘So where the hell is it?  The blue prints must be wrong.’

‘If the blue prints are wrong about this Stevie what about the rest of it?’

‘That my line Murison, back off,’ the Bear growled in a friendly manner.  The question however was a serious one.  If the access points weren’t where they should be, what guarantee the auxiliary control room would be where they were meant to be?  His men could end up fighting and dying for nothing.

Sealed carriages zipped overhead.  Steven shrugged helplessly, ‘I’m sorry I don’t know.’

It was Eddie that supplied the answer, ‘it’s supposed to be an access tunnel for robots to do maintenance on that railway line right.’

The Bear scowled at him but Steven took the question seriously, ‘yes that’s right.’

‘Forgive my French then but why the fuck would it be fifty feet below the bloody railway line.’

Steven hadn’t really thought about it.  He had just assumed that it would have been.  His head canted back but he couldn’t see anything.

Charlie could though, ‘I think it’s there Stevie.  Give me a second.’  He leapt up the fifty feet.  The door was there but there was nothing to hold on too and the door was almost seamless.  ‘There’s no way we are getting in there Stevie.’  He explained the problem.

Steven thought it over for a moment then aimed and fired at the rail above their heads.  Charlie immediately had an inkling of what he was doing and was ready.  It took a moment but the door slid open and a ball shaped robot appeared.  A rail extended from the doorway to the one above their heads and the robot slipped on to the main line.  Charlie leapt high.  He didn’t make it in time but he got a glimpse.

When he landed he reported to Steven again.  ‘No go Stevie.  The doors already closed but worse than that there seems to be a half dozen behind it.  We would have to cut our way through the door, then the robots.’

The Bear banged on the wall, ‘how thick is this?  Can we cut through here and make our way up behind them and into the ducts that way?’

Steven consulted with Babes.  ‘My ship tells me as soon as a breach is made the city will seal itself with a thin shield to help keep the atmosphere in.  It isn’t impossible to breach the shield but very difficult.’

‘We have nothing to lose by trying Stevie.’

‘That’s true Bear.’

Steven cranked up the power on his rifle and cut a big circle in the skin of the city ship.  After a few minutes kicking the slab of metal fell free.  Only Charlie was able to force himself inside through the shield.

The Bear was getting frustrated, ‘this is no bloody good.’

Charlie bust himself out again, ‘I have an idea.’

The Bear was scowling at him but Charlie just grinned.  He cut a hole in the floor beneath them and the metal slab fell free.  They heard it clang into a metal corridor below.  Charlie shone a torch down.  ‘Looks to be about twelve feet.’  He walked into the middle of the invisible shield, ‘this feels bloody weird.’  He laughed.  He cranked down the power setting on his rifle and fired it at the shield beneath his feet.  He disappeared.

He was still laughing when Stevie and the Bear followed him down.  ‘Shut up Murison,’ Bear growled at him.  He knew what Charlie was laughing at.

Charlie turned away, ‘officers and bloody geniuses.’

It was Stevens turn to burst out laughing, ‘well done Charlie, you’re right, I at least should have thought of that.’

‘No worries Bean.  I’ll keep you right.’

The rest of the men began to fall through and the three caught them as they fell.  Bear pushed them out of the way with his customary growl.  Once they were in he transmitted a message to the whole battalion telling everyone how they managed to breach the outer skin of the city ship.  It was now up to Stevie to guide them to the auxiliary operations room.  He led them to an access door and laid a pad against the touch screen opening mechanism.  His nanobots went to work.  It took a few minutes before the door slid open into a wide bright corridor.

Charlie and Eddie went first.  Charlie checked the detector attached to his forearm. ‘The air is good to breath.’  He gave his suit permission to switch to atmosphere.

‘Clear,’ reported Eddie.

The men filed out of the ducts and Steven knelt beside Charlie.  Charlie grasped his arm and smiled, ‘take a deep breath Stevie.  Stay behind me OK, never get in front.  Now point the way.’

‘About five hundred meters in that direction.  It leads to an emergency stairwell that will take us down to the level we need to be on.  From there it’s about half a mile to the control room.’

Charlie glanced at the Bear who nodded.  Charlie moved out and Steven followed closely behind.  The platoon spread out behind with the Bear and his HQ group in the middle.  They had almost made it to the stairwell when an enemy patrol appeared.  Charlie fell flat and fired into the group of Albany without warning and Steven threw himself down at his side.  The two of them cut down the group of a dozen soldiers between them.  Charlie finished off the odd squealing Albany with a few well aimed shots.  Eddie sent two men forward but they were all dead.

Steven’s face had gone pale.  ‘You OK Stevie?’  Charlie asked.

‘I’ll be fine Charlie, this isn’t my first time in a situation like this.’

Charlie wondered at that and filed the comments away for another day.  They made it to the stairwell without farther incident; unaware that the killing of the Albany had already alerted the enemy to their presence.    Each Albany had a medical unit strapped to their skin that updated automatically to their units aid post.  The unit’s doctor immediately informed his commander.  After trying unsuccessfully to contact the high command he decided to take action himself.  He quickly and correctly deducted the humans target and sent his troops to cut them off.

Chapter 68

A storm of fire washed down the large corridor.  The enemy were entrenched behind some kind of makeshift barricades on both sides of the stairwell and they could hear more moving down from above, and others coming up from below.  The moment Charlie had tried to open the door they had opened fire, he had been lucky.  The troops were now crowded in to a small section of the stairwell.

Eddie didn’t think twice, he burned a hole straight through the wall beside him and kicked in the metal plate.  It fell away with a loud clanging noise to reveal a vast dark cavern.  There was another wall about fifty feet away.  Eddie cut a hole through that as well, but had no way of kicking in the plate.  He ended up cutting it into smaller and smaller sections until it finally gave under its own weight.  It revealed a bright but empty storage room of some kind.  He grabbed Charlie, only he would be able to make a standing jump of that distance.

Charlie just managed to grab the edge of the hole and haul himself up.  The store room had a simple handle and wasn’t locked.  He found himself behind the barricade which was chocked full of excited Albany.  Charlie pulled the pins from a couple of grenades and rolled them out into the corridor.  ‘No one move until I give the word.’  He ordered.

One of the Albany troops felt something bump against his boot and picked up the egg shaped green device.  They exploded with a crump and were devastating in the confined space.  Charlie burst out of the store room and finished them off.  Electric sparks hit the barricade beside him and he found more troops running to their aid.  He quickly cut them down using the still smoking remains of the Albany soldier as cover.  A quick inspection of the barricades told him that they were portable.  It didn’t take him long to realise they were locked together and could be raised by some kind of jack.  It took him ten minutes between fighting and pushing to get the barrier to the stairwell.

The Bear took the scene in at a glance.  ‘I want that other barrier.  We can sandwich ourselves in-between and advance forward.’

The Albany troops were taken by surprise when the humans advanced towards them.  Grenades thrown at them began to thin out their numbers.  They replied in kind with a type of grenade that was less lethal and more of a flash bang type more suitable to stun than kill.  It was also more suitable for combat in deep space where a puncture could cause a blow out and kill yourself as well as the enemy.

This deep inside the ship the human grenades were safe enough to use, but ricochets could always harm the user and the men were constantly ducking.

Charlie was staring at the stairwell.  Eddie spotted him and slapped him on the shoulder, ‘we took care of it Charlie, we cut away the staircase above and below us.  They can’t reach us.’

‘Not unless they get a rope Eddie, but no sign of it yet.’

They both fired as a man to the right of them fell silently and a fresh wave of Albany appeared behind them.  The Bear noticed the Albany hiding behind a barrier in front of them trying to retreat and drag the barrier with them and ordered a fresh wave of grenades.  When they went off the humans charged the barrier which was only a few meters away now.  It took the Albany by surprise and the humans wiped them out.  The Bear organised the turning of the barrier and soon everyone was safe between the portable walls.  Steven attached silver badges to the dead or wounded and they disappeared.  Bear took stock of the situation.  He was now down seven men but their grenade stock was running low.  He informed Steven and a few seconds later a large crate of them appeared.  The jocks filled their pockets and pouches until they were all gone.

‘OK listen in, I want half a dozen men pushing and pulling.  The rest fighting.  Any wounded pulled into the middle for evacuation.  Let’s get to that bloody control room men.’  With a roar they set to with will.

It was a half mile to the control, room and the Albany fought them all the way; their casualties were huge and every now and then the build-up of bodies stopped them and had to be cleared.  The barriers were opened and the dead Albany allowed inside.  Steven tagged them and the bodies were beamed out into space by Babes and Ico.  The Bear changed the men pushing and pulling regularly.  Eventually they reached the control room.  Charlie’s eyes sought through the metal walls.  He pulled Stevie and the Bear aside and told them what was waiting for them.

‘There must be fifty of the buggers behind that door.’

‘That’s no good, if we destroy the controls with grenades we won’t be able to do anything.’  Stevie grunted with distain.

The Bear thought it over, ‘couldn’t your ship just beam them up Stevie,’ he suggested.

‘She could I suppose but she will have to scan the area to pinpoint them.  That means the Albany will be able to see her.’

The Bear grunted, ‘that’s no bloody good. If she gets taken out we are all stuffed.’

‘I might be able to help,’ Charlie admitted.  ‘I can talk to her with my mind.  If I can show her where they are she might be able to lock onto them that way.’

Steven warned her and she listened carefully for Charlie’s voice.  It took a while for them to connect properly given the distance and a sever amount of concentrating on Charlie’s part until she could see what he was seeing.  Once the connection was made though it didn’t take her long to clear the room.  They pulled the barriers round the door and most of the men stayed outside and defended while Steven, Charlie and Bear with the command element went inside.

De’ Beer, found a spot for himself and got in contact with his units while Steven and Charlie inspected the control room.  Under Babes tuition it didn’t take Steven long to realise that the enemy were still in disarray.  No one had taken control as yet and most of the control rooms were still unoccupied.  Steven fired up the computers and the displays began to come to life.  Access to the systems was a big problem but nanaobots injected onto the system began to rewrite code and give Babes access.

De’ Beer approached Steven, ‘it isn’t going well.  Only a third of my units have reached their objective, the rest have been held up like we were, some have been so badly mauled they had to be evacuated.  The worst areas are those in the residential areas.  The Albany are attacking in vast numbers; civilians as well as soldiers.  Not a single Albany has surrendered so far.’

‘That is not good.  Howe and Tapper are on their third control room now, but they had no resistance for the first two.’

De’ Beer was surprised, ‘have they reached their third one yet?’

‘No they have also became bogged down.  The enemy were waiting for them at the third.’

De’ Beer was seriously impressed.  ‘Excellent work.  So what are you doing now?’

‘Trying to stop the enemy guns from firing.  Seemingly all hell has broken loose outside.  The enemy fighters haven’t put in an appearance as yet and high command is worried they are waiting for the arrival of the troopships and landing craft.’  Stevens hand hesitated and then he turned and walked away to another console.  Charlie stepped in behind him.  The buzzing of alarms had Steven run back to the console.

‘What have you done Charlie?’

‘Switched off all the oxygen in the area’s where our boys have been bogged down.’

‘You can’t do that Charlie, how did you know how to do it?’

‘I overheard Babes tell you what it was and how to do it.’

Stevens hand reached out but Charlie caught it; his eyes were cold.  ‘I’m sorry Stevie, my friends are fighting and dying out there right now.  These people just aren’t giving up.’

A short struggle ensued but Steven quickly realised it was futile struggling with a man whose arms were bionic.   Steven tried to appeal to his humanity as he watched the oxygen levels drop.  ‘For God’s sake Charlie; there are females out there, children.’

‘I can hear then in my head Steven.  They have no wish or desire to stop fighting.  They are more than willing to fight themselves.  Their only thought and desire is to capture one of us alive so they can go on living.  They are organising groups to rush our men.  Overwhelm them with numbers.  Did you know, right now there is a group of technicians who are getting the processing plant ready?  I received flashes, pictures of these things, do you know what they look like Steven, what they are?’  Steven took a step back and Charlie saw it clearly.   ‘You do don’t you?  Bloody great blenders Steven and they put men women and children into them alive back on their home world.  I saw it in the mind of a technician.  They are planning genocide, this is a lot less.’

Steven took another step back his head dropping, ‘I can’t do it Charlie.’

‘I can Stevie.  Just keep out of my way.’

Stevens head came back up and he looked Charlie straight in the eye, ‘that isn’t fair on you.’

‘Maybe one day I will stand in a dock and tell the Universe that it was my duty to do so.’

‘Only if you were ordered to do so Charlie.’

‘I know.’  Charlie glanced at the readouts and turned to De ‘Beer, ‘Bear!’

His commanding officer looked up from the map he was studying, ‘what is it Charlie?’

‘Tell the men in sector 21 that the oxygen levels are dropping fast.  If anyone has a damaged suit or helmet they may want to consider linking up or doing repairs.’

‘Right,’ De’ Beer gave the orders to his signal man and went back to his map.

Charlie went back to his task switching off alarms and overriding safety procedures while Steven stood helplessly by.

Ten minutes later the radio operator called out, ‘sir the men in sector 21 says the enemy have been incapacitated and they are heading for their objective.’

De’ Beer barely glanced round, ‘right, tell them good work.’

Ten minutes later the operator shouted again, ‘sir sector 21 reports all the Albany in that sector seem to be dead.’

‘What!’ he looked up, ‘Charlie, what the hell happened there?’

Charlie turned, ‘I switched off their oxygen supply.’

The De’ Beer was silent for a moment, ‘how the hell did you know how to do that?’

‘Long story, not the time for it.  Anymore sectors we are having problems with?’

De’ Beer thought it over for a while, ’17, 28, 91,’ he glanced down at his map, ’72 and 61.’

‘I can access 17 and 28 from here but we will have to move to access the others.’

‘Why?’

‘Some kind of safety protocol.  You can’t shut down the whole damn ship from one place.’

De’ Beer was having a war with his conscious.  ‘OK shut down what you can from here and we will move on.’  Charlie set back too it.  Within half an hour sections 17 and 28 had also been cleared.  What he never told anyone was that he had also cut the oxygen to the residential areas in those sectors.

Eddie appeared, ‘Bear, there are thousands of the buggers out there.’

De ‘Beer looked over, ‘Charlie, can you help from there?’

‘No the oxygen flow to this part of the ship is in auxiliary control room 52.’

‘There’s no bloody way we will be able to fight our way out from here.’  Eddie added, ‘they have some of those barriers and are getting closer.’

De’ Beer turned to Steven, ‘can you beam us all out of here?’

‘Could do yes.’

‘That’s what we will do then.  Hand out those discs to all my men will you and put us to our next objective.’  Steven went over and studied the map.

Charlie went out to help Eddie while some of them planted explosives.  Fifteen minutes later they were back on the upper deck of the city ship.  Charlie had just cut a hole in the deck and punched in the metal plate.  Steven stepped onto the hole with him.  He managed a wry smile and shrugged, ‘here we go again Charlie.’

‘Aye Stevie, once more into the breach.’  He fired his rifle and both men dropped through the hole.

Chapter 69

Three hours later they were getting it down to a fine art.  Steven was switching off what defences he could and Charlie was cutting off the oxygen supply to whatever area he could.  Their numbers were beginning to dwindle.  From the thirty odd men that they had started with the numbers were now down to eighteen.  Eddie was leaning against a wall smoking a cigarette while Charlie patched him up.  Eddies helmet lay at his feet all scarred and burned, but it was his arm that had taken the full brunt of the fusillade of shots that had greeted them as they approached their objective.

‘I can still fight,’ Eddie growled.

‘Bollocks,’ Charlie replied, ‘you canna even move your bloody arm let alone hold a rifle.  You’re going back.’

Eddie cursed under his breath for almost a full minute.  Eventually he gave up, ‘OK but let me finish my fag first.’

Charlie sat down with a sigh; took off his own helmet and delved into a pouch.  He produced his own cigarettes and lit up.

Eddie took a deep drag and let the smoke out slowly, ‘Oh man that’s good.’

‘Aye Charlie agreed.’

‘At least I’m no bleeding to death,’ Eddie summarised his wounds.

‘Aye these energy guns leave a nice wee cauterised wound don’t they?’  Charlie agreed.

‘Still I wouldn’t mind a fifty cal as back up,’ Eddie scratched his chin with his good hand thoughtfully.  ‘It would scare the shit out of these buggers I’m thinking.’  Charlie found he had to agree.

De’ Beer appeared from somewhere, ‘you pair slacking off again.’  He slid down the wall with a sigh and removed his helmet.  His face was as lathered as Eddies while Charlie still looked quite fresh.  He sniffed, ‘god I hate the smell of cigarettes.’

‘Put your helmet back on then,’ Eddie spat at him unsympathetically.

‘Don’t talk to me like that Eddie or I will boot your arse out the nearest airlock.’  The three men laughed easily together.  De’ Beer sighed, ‘you fought well Eddie and were an inspiration to the troops.’

‘Aye and then I got bloody shot.’  They laughed again.  ‘What’s the big picture sir?’

‘We have most of this sector disabled.  There are a few guns still firing.  Their shields are almost none existent at the moment.  Most of their troops are now wearing space suits so Charlie’s trick isn’t working any more.  The destroyers are working hard slipping in and out taking out guns where they can.  Trouble is the remaining auxiliary command centres are being heavily defended like this one.  We can’t get near them, we have become bogged down.  I have been in touch with Admiral Baxter, he thinks it’s time to change tactics.  We pull quarter of the troops away and attack the gun emplacements from above.  The rest can keep them occupied from here.  So far our ships within the shields have remained undetected.’

‘Why not use the ships to take out the guns, or deploy explosives sir?’  Eddie asked.

‘If they fire their guns they will be spotted immediately and they have little defence against the weapons this city has.  They also believe beaming in explosives the way we want them to could also compromise their position.  It’s got to be done by hand the same way we took out the shields.’

Eddie sniffed, ‘to hell with that.  They know we’re here now.  Looks like you’re gonna get killed Charlie.’

Charlie laughed, ‘go fuck yourself Eddie.  I’d rather be out there than down here in this rat hole being ambushed every ten seconds.’

Eddie grinned painfully, ‘you know what they said about those guns Charlie.  If they discharge close to you they can compromise your suit.  Blow its circuits with the discharge.’

‘The pain beginning to hit you is it mucker?’

Eddie stubbed out his cigarette, ‘we bit.’

Charlie took out a small pistol like thing from one of eddies pouches and shot it into his good arm.  ‘Time for you to go bud.’  Charlie pinned a silver disc to Eddie’s suit and a few seconds later he disappeared.

‘You up for this Job Charlie.’  De’ Beer asked.

‘Oh hell aye, bring it on.’

‘There are still seventy guns in this sector Charlie.  Once they are down they will be able to begin the landings.’

‘We need to get a shift on our arses then Bear.’  Charlie stubbed out his cigarette and put his helmet back on.

Twenty minutes later he and Steven were racing across the rooftops.   They stopped at the far end of a building and contemplated the leap ahead.  Steven shook his head, ‘there’s no way I can make that Charlie.’

‘I’ll manage Stevie.’  Charlie took of the pack he was carrying and carelessly shoved a packet of explosives under his belt.  Slinging his rifle he took a run and leapt for a ledge on the super structure across from them.  He misjudged it and slammed into the wall, almost bouncing back over the ledge.  He teetered for a moment.

‘That looked nasty Charlie, you OK.’

Charlie laughed, ‘aye Stevie, I’m fine.’

One of the largest cannons was in sight just quarter of a mile away and about a hundred feet above their heads.  Charlie’s eyes examined the route he would take.  There was just enough protrusions to get him there.  Charlie took off as fast as he could.  This time he never made a mistake.  Leaping high he managed to bounce from one spot to the other until he reached the massive gun.  He placed the explosives to where one of the double barrels protruded from its housing.  Taking a chance he ran along the length of the barrel and leapt for the nearest building.  He landed and rolled.  As he came to his feet he felt eyes on him.  His eyes focused quickly.  A few buildings away two creatures stood at a window pointing at him.  Instinctively Charlie aimed and fired.  The two figures disappeared out of sight and Charlie was sure he had hit them.

‘What are you shooting at Charlie?’

‘Someone spotted us Stevie,’ Charlie answered through his communication link.  ‘Better inform the Bear, we could be compromised.’

Steven switched to the different frequency and told De’ Beer what was happening.  Steven listened to his reply then warned Charlie.  ‘De’ Beer says we have over fifty of them mined and he is going to blow them now.  Get the hell out of there Charlie.’

‘On my way Stevie.’  Charlie leapt from building to building until he reached Stevie.  They raced away in the direction of their next target.  It was almost seven minutes later when De ‘Beer set off the explosives.  ‘That should bring the buggers up,’ Charlie thought aloud.

‘It didn’t before,’ Steven mused.

‘No because we went down after them.  They will realise now we aren’t going for the control rooms.’  A dozen destroyers suddenly appeared and began firing at the remaining guns.  The two men skidded to a halt and took cover.  Charlie peeped up above the edge of the building they were hiding on.  One destroyer was hit multiple times and began to limp away unable to slip.  The others quickly hammered the remaining guns into silence.

‘That’s the last of them,’ Charlie announced.  ‘Give it a few seconds and the landing craft will start hitting this thing.’  He looked at Stevie, ‘looks like that’s your job done Stevie.’

‘I want to stay with you Charlie.’

Charlie shook his head, ‘sorry Stevie, this is all grunt work now.    De’ Beer will pull in what’s left of the Battalion and we will mark the landing areas.  Your job is to get us there, then the bloody wounded out of here.’

Steven smiled slowly and reached out a hand, ‘would you like to join us Charlie.’

Charlie shook it, ‘if you can get me a posting.  I have almost done my twenty two years and the government owes me a bloody great pension.’

Steven laughed, ‘I think I could beat that.  It’s been great spending time with you Charlie.’

Charlie looked up to where huge ships were beginning to arrive, ‘why is it every time we get together Stevie some bugger is trying to do us in?’

They were still laughing when they dematerialised.

Chapter 70

The commander of the Albany City Ship fighter force listened to the report from his subordinate in disbelief.  ‘The whole of our command structure is wiped out.’

The officer stood staring at a point far out into space.  ‘Completely sir.  There is a hole from one side of the ship to the other.  I think it went straight through the command centre.  There is no one in command.  I ran into others on the same mission.  The humans are attacking all of the auxiliary command centres in the third quadrant.’

‘So no ones in charge.’

‘From what I hear you are the senior commander sir.’

The news made him reel, ‘have the humans been captured?’

‘From what I can make out the humans have been wining sir.  Most of the auxiliary command centres have been destroyed throughout the ship.  The humans have suffered severe casualties and they believe they have been halted for now.’

A thought occurred to him, ‘what about the main command centres, have they been attacked?’

‘As far as I am aware sir, no human has gone near them.’

‘What about the auxiliary command centre in this sector?’

‘You would already know sir.  It isn’t far from your own command centre in this section and on the same level.’

‘Round up as many armed personnel as you can, quickly.’

Fifteen minutes later a heavily armed force made their way to the auxiliary command centre in the fighter wing section.  Their communications arrays were still intact and he sent a message to the high command at home.  It took them almost half an hour to make a decision.

He felt a thrill run through him.  He was now acting supreme commander.  The codes were changed and he felt power rush through his fingertips as he put in his details and the command was transferred to him.  He had only one chance of regaining full control and that was from the main control room.  There was no report of fighting in that area at all.  The problem was it was full of the contagion and he had human DNA.  It wouldn’t kill him but it could make him and those of his command who were immune to this solar system very unwell.  He gave orders to purge the whole building and open it to space.  They were about to leave when an operator grabbed his attention.

‘Sir you have to see this.’

‘What is it?’  He snapped.

‘Sir it is on the news.’

He was on the point of bawling the man out for watching it when the man played the scene back.  Instead he shook his head, ‘what was that?’

‘I think it was a human sir.  Outside on the hull after one of our guns.’

‘Can you zoom in a little?’

‘Yes sir.’

The operator played the scene again.  They watched the human race across the superstructure then leap high.  He reached the gun in a few bounds.  Did something to the barrel of the gun then run along it and leap to the nearest building.  The human reappeared briefly then there was a green flash.  The news feed was cut.  He found it hard to comprehend what he was seeing.  ‘Is there sound, what were the reporters doing?’

The operator played the whole thing back with sound this time.  The reporter was giving an overview of the battle so far, or as little as they knew of the situation. They reported that the shields had been damaged and that they believed there were human’s on board the ship somewhere and their forces were involved in a deadly battle.  Up until that moment they had seen no evidence themselves of the battle, only rumour; as yet there was no sign of a human fleet.  It was then the camera man had spotted the two figures leaping across a gap between two buildings.  He had brought the reporters attention to it and they had speculated on who or what they were seeing.  The green flash had ended their lives.  He had never truly faced fear until that moment.  He didn’t recognise the symptoms at first.  A strange taste invaded his palate and his throat had gone dry.

‘When was this taken?’

The operator checked, ‘I believe I saw it live sir.  Barely minutes ago.’

His mind unfroze and began to work properly, ‘there must only be a small force of humans on board.  Somehow they got past our defences, they must be trying to disable the guns in the third quadrant for a landing there.  They have been attacking the auxiliary command centres and trying to shut down the grid in that sector and then destroying them.’

‘How did they know not to attack the main command centre sir?’  An aid asked.

‘I don’t know and don’t care.  The simple fact is they do know.  They also seem to know the layout of the city and how to disable our guns and shields.  The only place we can regain control from is the main command centre.  From there we can override everything they have done so far.  We need to move fast.’

He judged it would take them at least half an hour to reach it and take complete control of the ship again.  He considered staying where he was for a moment but then the thought of a creature like the one they had just seen busting through the door made him shudder.  The humans obviously had a plan and that plan included taking out the auxiliary command centres.  He had little doubt that this one would soon become a target.  It was just a matter of time.  The only thing he was certain of was that they had shown no interest in the unshielded main control centre and that was where he wanted to be.  Once they activated the shields surrounding it the humans would have a hard time regaining any kind of control.

‘It won’t be long before their main landings take place.  Tell the fighter squadrons to stand by.  They will attack the troopships and landing craft.  Order visual observation points and the squadron commanders to attack as soon as they are sighted.’

The race was now on.  He realised most of his guns had been taken out manually and this was the humans attempt to take out the guns that were left in that quadrant so they could effect a successful landing.  The thoughts of thousands of those creatures leaping about all over the ship made his skin crawl.  Someone would be taken to task for this.  They had been led to believe the humans were small and weak creatures.  The creature he saw on the newsfeed may have seemed quite small, but it was anything but weak.  How had it seen the film crew and how had it been able to hit them at such a vast distance.

He wasn’t the only one speculating.  The news footage was already being watched across the great barrier.  As it spread from race to race amongst the news channels more and more races began to take heed of what was happening.  Until now many had bet on the outcome as a win for the Albany race.  After footage of Charlie being shown around the universe; the odds began to swing in favour of the humans.  The Modloch Emperor was also cashing in on the phenomena.  He was charging a small amount for each download of the human documentaries.  As the news spread, downloads increased.  Within a few hours he had made enough to build a whole new battle fleet.  He had watched all of the documentaries the humans had sent him.  Until now they had never shown documentaries about their own race or how they had come to be the dominant species on the planet.  Now he believed he knew why.  He also realised that these humans would petrify many species out there.  With them at his side no one would dare challenge him.  There was only a few questions left to answer.  Did he have the courage to take them on as partners?  Could he keep then under control?  Right now they were at their most vulnerable, should he strike now while they weren’t expecting it?’  Should he strike at all?  Not too do so would be dangerous.  The other races in the Universe would no doubt thank him.

He had a whole planet of people that could take over the Humans planet.  It was an idea he had been toying with.  They would become rich without precedent.  Yet he still had doubts.  The humans had access to all his people’s battle tactics.  It would take every ship he had to defeat them.  His empire was vast but the recent war had depleted his fighting force.  Once they were through the barrier it would leave the rest of his Empire unguarded.  Those ships and their crews could never return home.  His new ambassador, his brother’s old engineer had survived and he knew he could train the rest of his people to fight.  Indeed there were many already serving him, but that planet was known for the quality of their engineers not their fighting ability’s.  To many of his people they were considered a joke.  They took the abuse from the rest of the empire with great dignity and served him with great honour and pride.  Yet once across the great barrier they would be untouchable.  He had just fought one bloody civil war, would he soon face another?

He checked the download figures again and smiled.  In his few moments of contemplation he had already made enough money to build a command carrier.  The first harvest of the new grasses was now complete and as the news spread about their origin, the bales were commanding never before heard of prices.  Would a whole planet producing these grasses command the same price?  He knew they wouldn’t.  His ambassador was also screaming about the fruits from this planet.  It seemed the humans actually ate only a little meat and were in fact omnivorous.  That would go a long way to appeasing the Universal council.  There were two new words he had been introduced to, vegetarian and vegan.  Humans who were not only herbivores but a sect that used no products at all from animals.

He checked the latest figures and smiled again; he had a lot of thinking to do.

Chapter 71

Sargent Kelly held onto the strap as the landing craft swung out of the Troopship.  ‘Ten minutes men.  Check each other’s equipment, check each other’s suits for rips or tears.  Make sure your helmets are properly sealed and the little green light comes on when you push the test button.  Switch on your weapons and make sure they are fully charged before we hit the beach but keep your bloody fingers off the trigger.’

He was finding it hard not to compare these men with the one he had landed in Europe with almost a hundred years before.  He knew it was all about propaganda when they asked him if he would like to lead the assault with the same regiment and platoon as he had landed on Omaha beach with.  He hadn’t hesitated for a second.  Despite the years very little had changed.  His lieutenant approached, ‘I’m glad you’re with us Sargent.’

‘You have said that before sir.’

The man blushed furiously, ‘sorry.  I checked up on your records Sargent, it would seem most of your officers never lasted very long.  I just hope I last a little longer.’

Kelly had a flash back to Omaha beach.  This young officer was black but the one that day had been white, as white as snow and puking into the scutters.  He hadn’t even made it off the landing craft.  As the ramp fell MG 42 fire swept the deck.  A slug had torn the young man’s throat out before he had even taken a step.  It was true though, there was no denying it.  Every officer he had served under had been killed in action within a few days or weeks.  In the end his commanding officer had just left Kelly in charge.

‘Most of those young fellers died because they were hunting glory and medals sir.  Take some advice sir.  The smart officers, the ones that survived all took a step back and let their sergeants run the show for a while.  Kept their head down and learned the trade from the veterans.  There will come a time when the reins will slip naturally to you.’

The young man nodded and smiled, ‘I will try.  So is it any different this time?’

‘Oh hell yes sir, these suits are great.  The only shit you can smell is your own.’

The young officer burst out laughing as did those closest who overheard the remark.  ‘You know what I mean Sarge.’

‘Hell yeah I know what you mean sir.  The uniforms and weapons might be different sir but it all comes down to the same thing in the end.  Boots on the ground, muscle and the courage to see the job through.  Guts and determination sir.  If you have those you will always win in the end.’

‘I get that.’  He looked round, ‘were you this nervous your first time into battle?’

‘Oh hell yeah.’

‘Does it get any better?’

‘Nope, if anything it gets worse.  The second time round you know what’s coming at you, third, fourth, fifth too.’

‘Holy shit!’

Kelly grinned, ‘there are a few tricks to keep your mind and the men’s off it sir.’

He grabbed a piece of cardboard from a ration pack and stood out in front of the men, ‘listen in.’ He held it out in front of himself as if he was reading off it.  ‘This has just came in from high command.  There will be no loitering on the beachhead.  Anyone found skinny dipping or fishing with grenades will be put on a charge.  Two marines have already been disciplined for this offence.’  A few men laughed and he smiled.  ‘Also there will be no fraternisation with the local female populace.  This will not be tolerated.  High command believe they may well carry some exotic disease our doctors may not be able to treat.’  That brought a little more laughter.  ‘Again two marines have already been disciplined,’ the rest of his sentence was drowned out by the laughter.  He waited until it died down again.  ‘In their defence the marines stated that the females plied them with a local beverage made from coconuts.  As there doesn’t seem to be any coconut trees in space the high command disbelieved their story.  So don’t try it, you won’t get away with it.’

He waited until they had finished laughing, ‘OK brace yourselves.  When we hit the beach move off the landing craft as quickly as possible.  Watch your feet and keep your balance, their gravity isn’t as heavy as ours.  Keep it down to a gently trot until you find your space legs.  If we are under fire get into cover as quickly as possible.  Locate the enemy and open fire.  Listen in for words of command from myself, your officer and squad commanders.’  He hesitated a second, ‘good luck men.’  He took his place beside the young officer and he could see the gratitude in the young man’s eyes.  Seconds later the craft lurched and Kelly knew something had exploded nearby.  He grasped the strap above his head and many followed suit.

The landing craft slammed into the deck of the city ship and seconds later the ramp dropped.  ‘Squad leaders screamed at their men as they chased them off the landing craft.  Kelly looked up as it took off.  Enemy fighters snapped overhead firing at the landing craft.  One was hit and tumbled through space until it exploded.  Something’s never change Kelly thought.

There was no incoming fire and he huddled with his Platoon commander over a map.  ‘We are right where we are supposed to be Sarge.’

‘Order the lead elements out sir.’

He gave the order and Kelly moved up to join the lead element and make sure they never got lost.  Five minutes later he found himself staring down the barrel of a weapon.  His eyes locked on to the coldest set of blue eyes he had ever seen in his life and he knew he was staring into the eyes of a veteran.  The weapon dropped.  ‘First division?’

‘Yup.’

‘This way.’

Kelly followed the man’s back.  A short while later they came across Colonel Howe.  Howe held out his hand and Kelly shook it, ‘Nice to see you again Colonel.’

‘And you Sarge, I see you found your way home.’

‘Only until the battles over sir.’

He indicated the soldier that had guided them, ‘this is Charlie, he is a personal friend of the Captain and may well be joining the crew in the future.’  The two men sized each other up and liked what they saw.  They simply acknowledged each other with a nod.  ‘Charlie here will guide you to your start point.  From there it will be up to you to breach the walls and gain entry to the ship.  You have your objectives.’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Right get going.’

Howe nodded to Charlie who moved out silently.  Kelly followed closely behind.  When they were out of sight from Howe he moved up beside Charlie.  ‘What are the enemy like?’

‘Determined.  I haven’t seen one run yet.  They get together and charge with their heads down and fire from the hip.  Their heads are huge and an easy target.  Their wounded fight on so make sure all are dead before you break cover.  Their grenades are pretty ineffective, more of a flash bang designed to stun rather than kill, they will lob a dozen at you then charge.  Ours are bloody lethal.  Make sure you are in good cover before you toss one.  The ricochet is a bitch.  They have something that looks like a 20 mm cannon and is as effective.  I have only seen two entrenched, most are on mobile wagons, lightly armoured.  Crank your rifle up to near full power that will take care of them if they don’t get you first.  Our rifles cut through the walls easily on high power but it sucks up your batteries.  They are slowly becoming organised and will come at you from every direction all at the same time.  We noticed venting of the main complex and think someone has decided to fire up the main control room.  From there they can undo everything we have achieved so far and light up those guns out there.  The rest of my battalion is trying to take them out now with conventional explosives.  We got all the big ones but the smaller ones will kill a landing craft no problem.’

Charlie paused, ‘what’s your objective?’

‘Our division is supposed to gain entry and spread as far round as we can.  The brass are in a panic because these bastards can shed whole sections of this city if they want to.  They want us to get a foothold in every sector then spread out.’

‘Aye well they won’t be able to do that until they regain the main control room and switch all the systems over.’

‘Every second counts then,’ Grunted Kelly.

‘I would say so.’  Charlie agreed.  ‘The best method of entry is through the roof.  As soon as you cut a hole some kind of shield comes up to keep the air in.  You can’t bust your way through it.  You can interrupt it though.  When the plate you have cut drops away just stand over the open hole.  The shield will hold you up.  Fire a shot through it and it cuts out long enough for you to drop through.’

‘Thought a plug like that would blow out, not in.’

‘That’s what we thought.  Steven recons the shields in place before we finish cutting so they drop in under gravity.’

‘Sounds a bit hairy, how far is the drop?’

‘About twenty feet in most cases, at this gravity though it feels more like ten.  I’d advise you to look first though.’  Charlie added with a grin.

‘Did you boys take a lot of casualties?’

‘About fifty percent; fifteen of that fatalities.  On the upside, if you don’t get hit in the head or a vital organ, you have a good chance of making it.  These energy weapons also cauterise wounds.’

‘Burns then, not bleeding.’

‘Aye, I believe it still hurts like hell.’

Kelly grinned, ‘I’ll bet it does.’

Charlie reached the central super structure and looked around.  ‘There’s about a thousand of the buggers right behind this wall but the corridors underneath seem pretty clear.’  He concentrated hard.  ‘There’s a stairwell a few hundred meters farther in, you could come up behind them.  If I was you I would blow out some holes here and engage those inside, then sneak some of your lads up the stairwell behind them.’

Kelly tried to scratch his head, ‘how the hell do you know that?’

‘One day I will tell you, in the meantime trust me.’

Kelly grinned, ‘fancy coming along for a bit?’

‘Thought you would never ask.’ Charlie grinned back. ‘I’ll lead the boys inside, you engage the bastard’s from out here.’

Kelly gave the orders and the men fanned out.  He fixed explosives to a section of wall and cut about a thirty foot hole, shoulder high.  Out of sight Charlie cut a hole into the corridor below.  When Kelly blew the charge Charlie kicked in the plate and dropped inside out of sight.  The men quickly caught on and followed.  The ringing of the explosion carried right down the stairwell and along the corridor they were traveling in.  When Charlie had thirty men he gathered them around.  He spoke in as plain an accent as he could.

‘Every man have a grenade ready.  We will be in a stairwell.  There is a thousand of the bastards in there so don’t fuck about.  I go first and kneel by the door.  You will run past me and hand me a grenade as you go.  Keep going up until the last man is past and I toss the last grenade.  Once I move you follow.  Spread out right and left.  Kill everything you see.  Keep in contact with each other.  I don’t want to find out the first man up hasn’t stopped running until he reaches the roof because no bugger told him to stop.  Right let’s go.’

Charlie put on a burst of speed and reached the stairwell in a matter of second.  The Americans were caught flat footed.

‘Who the hell is this guy?’  Spluttered one.

His squad commander gave him a shove, ‘just bloody move it.’  They were panting by the time the caught up and all were staring wide eyed at Charlie.

‘Take a second to catch your breaths.  There are two sentries this side of the door above.  I will go take them out.  You follow.’

Charlie didn’t wait.  He caught the two guards firing through the open doors at the men outside.  He shot both in the head and dragged their bodies clear.  He was waiting with a hand out stretched as the men arrived.  The first passed a grenade and ran on.  Charlie had pulled the pin and tossed it before the second reached him.  The enemy didn’t know what hit them.  As the grenades began to go off they began to mill in panic.  A few spotted Charlie and opened fire but he killed them with the next grenade.  When the last one went off he charged inside light spitting from his weapon.  The men followed spreading out and finding cover where they could.  An Albany officer got control and pulled his men back.

Charlie got his men ready.  ‘They will charge, be ready.’  More men began to arrive under the command of a young officer.  Charlie filled him in on what was happening and he spread his men out.  A few minutes later the Albany charged and were slaughtered.

The young officer approached Charlie with a grin, ‘thank you for your help Sargent.’

‘Think nothing of it sir, a pleasure to help.’

‘We have to hold this spot as a bridgehead.  Sargent Kelly has taken charge outside.’

‘I will have to get back as well sir.  Do you have men guarding that entry point?’

‘I have a whole squad down there.’

Charlie clapped him on the shoulder and took off.  He bust through the shield.  Kelly barely had time to blink before Charlie appeared before him and it took another second for him to find his voice.  ‘Did you just bust through that shield?  I thought you said we couldn’t do it?’

‘I can you guys can’t.’

Kelly shook his head, ‘is my officer still alive.’

‘Aye he is fine, as is your boys.  He looks like a good one.  You might be here for a while.  I would rest the men while you can.’

‘Good idea.  Listen in boys take five minutes for a smoko.  Give your nicotine patches a rub.  Anyone caught removing their helmet and lighting up will be put on a charge.’

Charlie laughed all the way back.

Chapter 72

Steven was very disappointed.  They had alerted the admiral that he thought the Albany were going to reoccupy their main command centre.  By the time a destroyed appeared to blast the command centres to smithereens it was too late.  The command centre’s shields were already up.  He jumped involuntary as the guns it had cost them so much to disable roared back into life.  They took out a half dozen landing craft in as many seconds and they scattered.  The Earth fighters came roaring in and within a few seconds the guns were silenced, but they had taken many lives.

Buzz gripped Stevens arm, ‘relax bud, the boys did what they could.’

‘We should have done that to start with.’

‘No we did exactly what we were told to do.  We kept them underground and the deck of the ships clear of their troops so ours could land safely.’

‘Yeah I suppose you are right Buzz.’  Steven rubbed his face, ‘I don’t think I have ever been so tired.’

Sid Tulane tuned in his seat, ‘Captain we have been ordered clear of the area.  We are to report to the hospital ship to off load our wounded and dead.  Then you and Captain Komoru have to report to The Burning Wind.’

‘OK.’  He closed his eyes and heard Komoru’s voice.  ‘I received the order Steven, we will follow you.’  He opened his eyes; Hailey was watching him waiting for an order.

‘Get us out of here Hailey, find out where the hospital ship is and rendezvous with her.  Keep us out of the fighting but close to where the ships are coming and going through the shields.’

‘Yes sir,’ she sounded relieved.

Fifteen minutes later they docked with the hospital ship.  Medics were about to swarm on board but Steven stopped them.  Instead he beamed them straight into the clearing station.  He paid a quick visit to Sergeant Eddie before he was beamed off.

An hour later they were on The Burning Wind and were given a thorough debriefing.  Admiral Baxter paid them a visit.  He told them of how the Albany fighter base had been destroyed and their remaining fighters shot down.  The Albany were now up on the deck of the city ship and fierce fighting was taking place.  Their troops were fighting above ground and the civilian’s seemed to be fighting below it.  The American troops now held the central hub of the city ship and there was little point now in dropping large sections of the city.  The fighting was chaotic and confusing.  The Albany troops had been popping up behind their lines.  Now our troops were having to drop down into the ship and clear them out deck by deck.  Baxter assured them they were winning.  A million Chinese troops were now beginning to embark onto the landing craft.

He told Steven to go back to his ship and get some rest.  They returned to their ships and the ships docked.  Steven and Komoru spent the night together, but were too tired to do any more than hold each other.  By the time they woke up from a restless sleep the Chinese soldiers had been deployed and were spreading rapidly throughout the ship.  Steven and Komoru re-joined the fleet and watched as the Europeans joined the battle.  A million men from Europe took over from the exhausted Americans who were pulled back to rest.  There was no word from Charlie and De’ Beer or the rest of the Scottish troops and Steven fretted.  Even Babes couldn’t reach Charlie.

Colonel Howe stood with Tapper at the security station.  Occasionally they would exchange the odd word.  Buzz was keeping himself busy going through their stores inventory.  With so many soldiers on board for so long there was a lot of work to do.  Lady Jane arrived on the scene.  She approached Steven and handed him a nicely bound book.

‘What’s this?’ He asked.

‘It is a guide to Modloch protocols Captain.  I wish you to review it.’

Steven tried to hand it back, ‘not just now Jane please.’

She took a step back, ‘we all have friends who are fighting below Captain, but we still have a job to do.’  Jane turned away.

A flash of anger crossed Stevens face and he was about to fire a sharp retort after retreating back when Komoru grasped his arm.  ‘She is right,’ her gentle words appeared in his mind.

Komoru sat up straighter, ‘Lady Jane.’

She stopped and turned bowing slightly, ‘yes Captain Komoru.’

‘May I have a copy?’

‘I gave a copy to Lewis for you a little earlier Captain.’

‘That was thoughtful of you, thank you.’  Komoru gave a small bow from her seated position and Jane returned it.

When she was off the bridge Steven took a deep breath, ‘that woman just gets under my skin.’  He told Komoru silently.

‘She is trying to distract you with mundane and routine tasks.  Maybe even distract you by doing something that annoys you.  You have just fought in your first battle Steven.  The mundane tasks of daily life are the road back too normality.  Lady Jane understands that.’  Komoru stood and bowed, ‘if you will excuse me Steven, I have a lot of work to do.’

Steven shook himself out of it and stood, ‘yes of course.’  He returned her bow.  ‘I believe I have too.’  She left and he approached the two military men.  They seemed to be studying his face, looking for something.

‘I would like to discuss upgrading the ships shields and weapons.  I don’t like the idea that we can withstand a blast from a nuclear explosion but not a broadside from a destroyer for any more than two minutes.  I want to at least match the standards from an Albany Destroyer.’

Something warmed in Howe’s eyes, ‘we have been discussing the same thing sir.  As we are we both firmly believe we are too vulnerable.’

‘Then let’s go have a cup of coffee and discuss it shall we gentlemen.’

Steven noticed the dark walls that had been put in place for the soldiers were disappearing and the pictures of the constellations were reappearing.  Cookie had been cooking up a storm and the canteen smelt of baking.  Fresh scones, bannocks and cakes of descriptions were on offer.  Steven suddenly realised this was Cookie’s coping mechanism.  When Lady Jane arrived for a cup of tea he invited her to the table.  She flushed with pleasure and the conversation swung onto different paths.  Steven was amazed when he found himself laughing.  His world was beginning to tilt back onto its proper axis.  He knew he would never be able to rid his mind of the memories of the fight.  The horrors of battle, the carnage.  This had never been his vison of exploring the universe.  He had always assumed that an advanced race would be a peaceful race just like the Builders.  It would seem that racism, greed and a hunger for power, wasn’t just a human trait.

Chapter 73

The new supreme commander of the city ship hesitated to make his report.  Eventually he realised he had no other choice and pressed the button.  An official’s face appeared first and he was told to wait.  Ten minutes later the face of his emperor appeared on the screen.  The supreme commander bowed low and greeted his Emperor with all the proper protocol.

‘Tell me what is happening commander.’  The emperor ordered.

His head dropped, ‘I am sorry to report highness that we are still losing.  When the humans took control of the auxiliary command centres they cut the oxygen to large parts of the city.  We lost millions in those sectors.  In the fighting since millions more have died.  Our soldiers are not containing them.  Our fighter cover is gone and all our outside guns have been destroyed.  My troops are exhausted, our resources are being depleted as we are being cut off from them.  Humans are in every sector within the city, there is little more we can do other than fight to the death.’

The emperor was silent for a long time.  ‘You cannot blame yourself for a bad situation that you inherited from your predecessor’s commander.  Tell me, do you still have access to the bio labs?’

‘Yes sir I believe we do and most of our top scientist have survived so far.’

‘Good, that is very good.  This what I want you to do.  Pull every citizen that has already been treated off the fighting and gather them in the central complex.  Have the scientists make as many small vials of the toxin as they can.  The survivors are to sew these vials into their clothing.  When that is done I want you to surrender.’  The Emperor leaned forward, ‘this is not a request.  As you know prisoners of war must be catered for on their enemy’s home planet or a planet they occupy.  From the information we have been able to gather so far, those they have taken prisoner already are being kept on a planet called Mars.  This planet however has no atmosphere.  This is unacceptable.  According to the treaty of Balang on the welfare of prisoners.  Prisoners must be accommodated on a planet or planetoid with fresh air and grass to graze on.  Prisoners must be given room to move freely within reason.’  The Emperor sat back.

The commander bowed his head, ‘highness, the humans have not signed the Balang treaty.’

‘Not yet.  We believe they may well make a move for citizenship within the universe.  All applicants must satisfy a very large list of preconditions.  The signing of the Balang treaty is one of those.  We and our allies will insist this precondition is met before we will even consider the petition.’

‘I understand highness.  When we arrive on Earth we release the pathogen.’

‘That is correct.  You may well not survive but neither will most of the human race.  We are beginning to build a fast ship with a mobile laboratory on it.  We will send it along with half of our home defence force.  By the time they arrive most of the humans will be dead.  We will retake the city ship.  I have no doubt they will move it closer to their home planet.  Once we have done that and produced enough serum a new occupational force will be sent.  Good luck supreme commander, do not fail in this last task.’

‘I shall not fail you Highness.’

The screen went blank and the supreme commander began issuing orders.

Chapter 74

Charlie ducked involuntarily as a beam of light cut down through three decks and obliterated the enemy position in front of them.   For a few seconds the experienced explosive decompression until the shields sealed the hundred meter wide gash.

De’ Beer moved forward cautiously and peered over the edge of the gash, then crawled back.  His combat suit was stained and caked with filth.  For almost three weeks they had been in the thick of the fighting.  He rolled on to his back, ‘the way is blocked Charlie, can you leap that gap?’

‘I could with a run and more head room sir.’

De’ Beer sighed, ‘then we will have to find another way round damn it.’

‘Stop fucking moaning sir, you ordered the strike.’

‘How would you like to be a private again Murison?’

‘I swear I’m going to change my name to fucking yoyo.’

The men around them laughed and De’ Beer smiled.  After three weeks of continuous combat their spirits were still high.  He took out his map.  They had been fighting their way towards the main control centre on the third level.  This corner of the city had been stubbornly held and the commanders on all floors had agreed to the strike.

Charlie scanned the walls around him and began cutting holes.  The men followed him blindly and within half an hour they were past the large hole.  They came to a wide open area and the men blinked in surprise.  There were strange trees and grass growing under warm lights.  Beyond in the distance was the command centre buildings.  A strange mist obscured the roof.

Charlie scanned the area, ‘we are going to have to pull back sir.  There are thousands of the buggers coming this way.’

‘That might be a little awkward; we have just been told to hold our positions.’

‘Why?’

‘There is a general ceasefire in effect.  The enemy have called for terms.’

‘Well I hope someone has told these buggers.  They are all armed and look like they mean business.’

‘Well there is no cover here, let’s get to the edge of that grassy area.’  De’ Beer decided.  He ordered the men to run and a mad dash ensued.  They hit the grassy area and took cover along its edge.  De’ Beer kicked Charlie, ‘get up that bloody tree and cover me.  I’m going to challenge them.  If any of them so much as twitches kill them.’

Charlie nodded and scooted up the tree.

De’ Beer stood tall.  At the last minute he remembered his translator and fitted it to his ear.   ‘Translate human to Albany,’ he instructed it as soon as he heard the beep.

A few seconds later they strode into sight, ‘Halt.’  De’ Beer ordered.

There was a growl from somewhere in the Albany ranks and to De’ Beers surprise they halted.  There was movement within the ranks and one wove his way until he was in front.  He raised his weapon above his head.  De’ Beer thought it might be some form of ritual and mimicked him.  The creature strode forward alone and De’ Beer went to meet him half way.

‘I am commander A’ Ne’ Vara, a senior commander.  I have been sent to make first contact with your forces.  I am here to be guided to your supreme commander to discuss our terms of surrender.’

‘I am Lt Col De’ Beer of the 1st Battalion the Gordon Highlanders.  If you give me a moment I will contact my high command and appraise them of the situation commander.’

He gave a small bow, ‘I will wait with my men until the escort arrives.’

De’ Beer returned the bow and both returned to their own lines.  De’ Beer contacted HQ and was told to wait.  He called Charlie out of the tree.  ‘Well you seem to know what everyone is thinking these days.’

‘He thinks you are diminutive and dirty.  He is also disgusted with the performance of his own troops and finds it almost impossible to believe that such a filthy race of meat eaters could defeat them.  He also hopes that you know the proper protocol and that he will be met by a commander of equal rank and an escort of six men.  He will also field six men to protect him.  They will stay outside and guard the meeting place.  He is also hoping that the escort will be clean and not filthy like you.  He is also scared shitless.’

De Beer scowled, ‘dirty is it?’

‘You asked.’

‘One of these days you’re going to have to tell me exactly what that ship did to you.’

‘I would tell you sir but then I would have to shoot you.’

‘Don’t get fucking smart with me Murison or I will boot your arse from here to kingdom come.’

‘Aye well good luck on catching me sir.’

De’ Beer was still laughing when he got on the radio.

An hour later the entourage arrived and escorted the commander and his six men to meet with Admiral Baxter.  A few days later the Albany were evacuated from the ship and it was formally turned over to the humans.  A few hours later Charlie and his friends were on their way back to Earth.

Chapter 75

Steven wasn’t happy.  He had been invited to the negotiations.  Their supreme commander seemed to be a little too anxious to please for Stevens liking.  He was sure the Albany were up to something and he wanted Charlie at his side but Charlie and the rest of his companions were already on Earth in the process of reforming their Battalion.  Steven also realised the request to bring Charlie here at this time would seem strange to many and could even compromise Charlie’s secret.  The answer had come from another source.

Orlath had contacted him directly a few days later.  He too suspected the motives of his former race and offered his help.  After discussing it with the rest of the negotiation team they all agreed to Orlath’s help.  A few days later he was slipped into the community on mars posing as a lowly tech captured from a battle cruiser early in the campaign.   He posed as the only survivor from his crew.  It hadn’t taken him long to get the information they were wanting and it mortified him.  Many of his companions were only too eager to tell him how stupid the humans really were.  In the dead of night Orlath had activated his hidden beacon and an hour later he was back on Board Babes.

Orlath told the committee members what the Albany were attempting to do and they were horrified by how close the human race came to destruction.  Steven and a team of experts studied the Balang treaty for days before they discovered a possible answer and put a plan into effect.  As Steven set of to accomplish the difficult task the committee set too delaying any signing of the treaty.  For six months they were able to hold out against the inevitable with Orlath’s help.  In the end it was as though they bowed low to universal pressure from the Albany home world and their allies.  The leader of the Earths council signed an electronic copy of the treaty and the prisoners were scheduled to be removed from Mars to Earth within a few weeks.

Chapter 76

The supreme commander found his quarters to be lavish as befitting a person of his status.  He strode through the large central building looking for fault but finding none.

‘These quarters are adequate,’ he told his human host.  The lowly captain held out the digital form for him to sign saying he was content with his quarters.  All his officers were receiving the same treatment.  Those few family’s that had survived were also receiving similar treatment while those who were single were put up in military type barracks.

The supreme commander followed the humans outside.  His last remaining news crew were touring the facilities and reporting directly back to the Empire.  The school buildings were inspected, family quarters.  Quarters for higher ranks and quarters for the few single females that survived.  The supreme commander had already picked out the one that he wished to spend his captivity with and she greeted him with a signal from her eye lashes.  They would have to survive the next few days to be safe.

The tour with the humans and the news crew continued.  A small river flowed through the forty mile long valley.  The water was cold and clear.  Downstream some of the men released from duties were already enjoying it.  Sounds of pleasure and merriment reached the group.  Others could be seen running through the pastures of long grass; some of which had already began to turn golden.  Here and there a head could be seen through the long grass as someone sat down and stripped the heavy seed heads bare.  The commander felt the heat of the sun on his upturned face just as a breeze picked up.  This was some kind of Heaven.

The formalities took a few more hours before everything and everyone had signed off on their new home.  Even their own emperor seemed impressed with the trouble the humans had gone to, too accommodate their prisoners.

Just as the sun was setting the human transport came to pick up their people.  Admiral Baxter alighted from the transport.  The two adversaries bowed to each other and went for a small walk.

‘Is everything to your taste supreme commander?’

‘Indeed it far surpasses our expectations Admiral Baxter.’

The human took a good look around.  ‘You have a valley in west Africa all to yourselves, no predators.  It is seventy miles long and twenty wide surrounded by mountains.  You will not be able to travel farther than that.  To do so will be to violate the conditions of your surrender.  There are security measures in place to make sure your people do not wonder outside this area.  These security measures are automated and will lead to the death of anyone trying to leave the area.  No humans will bother you.  Once we leave this will be considered a no go area for humans.  Your command centre contains a direct link to your own people and one to ourselves.  If you need anything simply call and we will do our best to accommodate you.  Beyond that hopefully you should never see another human during the duration of your captivity.

‘No guards at all Admiral.’

‘None supreme commander.’

‘That is rather strange.’

‘There is nowhere for you to go.  You are light years from home.  On that note every home has a communications device they can call home from.  As have each barrack block.’

‘How long will this captivity last Admiral?’

‘My superiors tell me that will depend on our acceptance into the Universal family.  Until then we have no intentions of entering negotiations with your people.  By your universal standards they would be pointless.  Until we have Universal status your people would not be obligated to fulfil any treaty that they make with us.’

‘You humans learn fast.’

‘It is a gift we have.’

They wondered back to the landing area and a short while later the humans took off.  For the next few days he was nervous, expecting the humans to return at any time.  As the days passed his confidence grew.  He began to call together his commanders.  Men were sent out to explore the immediate surroundings.  For the most part all were content.  It may have been a cage but it was a gilded one.  His emperor began to get impatient with him but he had ulterior motives for waiting.  The female he had been keeping his eye on was coming into season early.

The night she came to him it was raining.  Everyone was outside enjoying the warm downpour.  The first many had felt on their skins for years.  He had caught her eye and they had sneaked away.  She had squeaked and squealed trying to fight her own desires.  Nature however had eventually overcame her reservations and she had prostrated herself for him.  He had taken her with wild abandon, bellowing with triumph every time he reached his zenith.

In the morning she lay exhausted and fast asleep.  He had taken himself to the stream and washed himself down.  As he gathered his commanders he watched the tendrils of water vapour lift from the ground into the air.  Within an hour every one of his people who had carried a vial was gathered.

‘Today we strike a blow for all our fallen comrades.  The conditions are perfect for releasing the pathogen.  It will bond with the moisture and be born aloft to be spread by the wind.  We should have a few days grace before the humans discover what has happened and seek revenge.  You all have stores enough to last a week.  It is time to leave and hide.  Now put on your masks and release the pathogen.’

He put on his mask and tore at his uniform.  The small deadly vile was released into his hand and with little ceremony he placed it on top of a rock and smashed it with another.  The blue liquid began to evaporate quickly and he walked quickly away.

She was waiting with their packs.  He slung his on and grasped her hand.  Some of his men had dug a shelter for them ten miles from the centre.  They had plenty of time to reach it before the humans discovered their treachery.  But as the admiral had pointed out, with no formal treaty no one in their universe would give a damn what they did to the humans.

She squeezed his hand.  He could see by the look in her eyes she was coming fully into heat now.  She was a rare beauty this one.  He could see them ruling this planet as king and queen, maybe their children would one day challenge their own emperor.  He smiled to himself, tomorrow was the day for making plans, today and tonight was the time for passion.  He considered taking her there and then in the long grass, he looked around but could still see others as they spread out into the wilderness.  He returned her gesture; there would be plenty time later.

As he marched he noticed that his body seemed to feel lighter.  He put it down to his euphoria but when she squealed and stumbled he discovered she was becoming weightless.

‘What is happening Avar?’

‘I don’t know my love.’

In a few minutes both began to float free of the ground.  The clouds above began to vanish and the sky turned red.  A loud blaring noise began to resound from all around them.  The red glow in the sky pulsated, when the light dimmed he could see a strange honeycomb shape appear above it.  A feminine voice vibrated through the air.

‘Warning, a deadly pathogen has been detected in the air.  All citizens of the planetoid bio dome the West Africa should return to their homes immediately.  Emergency procedures have been implemented.  Your homes will be locked down and decontaminated.  You will be safe indoors.  The bio-dome emergency procedures will purge the atmosphere out into space.  Please remain within your homes.’

The message began to repeat again and again.  His shocked mind began to unfreeze.  Every member of his community were now floating free all around him.  The female clinging to his arm began to scream.  A loud boom caused him to look up.  The honeycombed roof began to break up and they began to accelerate.  Her screams were drowned out by the shriek of escaping air and his last words were a lowing of fear.

A short distance away Admiral Baxter watched the spectacle.  Beside him the Modloch ambassador swallowed back the bile that came into his throat.  ‘Is this what you called me up to witness Admiral?’

‘Aye, pretty much Ambassador.’

‘I thought you just liked having me around.’

Baxter laughed, ‘as a matter of fact I do Ambassador, however we thought that it might be prudent to have an independent off world witness to events as they unfolded.’

‘What just did unfold Admiral?’

Baxter nodded to one of his men who played back the mornings events for the Modloch Ambassador.  When it was over he turned to Baxter, ‘you knew they had bioweapons planted on their person?’

‘Yes we did, that is why we built this bio-dome and before you say anything more the use of a bio-dome for an enemy that frequently uses biological agents is perfectly  within the laws of the  Balang treaty.’

The ambassador shook his head, ‘I won’t but you can be sure there are many that will.  The question they are bound to ask is why were they put in a bio-dome in the first place?’

‘Don’t worry about it Ambassador we have covered our tails.  They had scientists amongst them capable of reproducing said weapons if they got their hands on the materials etc etc etc.  It is all in the treaty.’

‘I will take your word for it Admiral.  So what’s for breakfast?’

‘I thought you would never ask Ambassador.’  Baxter turned to the Captain of the ship, ‘have the gravity turned back on captain and see if you can get all that trash back on board the habitat.  Once that is done fire up the retros and send it into the sun.’

‘Yes sir.’

The Ambassador nudged Baxter with an elbow.  ‘You shouldn’t do that you know.’

‘Uh!  Do what?’

‘Send your trash into your sun, you should have more respect.  They aren’t immortal you know and you can severely damage a sun by dumping garbage into it as many races have found out to their cost.’

‘This is a one off.  We just want to make sure none of the pathogen survived.’

‘I hope so Admiral, although if you consider the fact your people have already unloaded tons of the bloody stuff from the city ship, I think it is more of a symbolic gesture.’

The admiral thought it over for a moment then shrugged, ‘you may well be right.  By the way a consignment of those mushrooms you like, the ones that grow on silage arrived today.’

The Ambassador’s eyes lit up, ‘really, they are a real delicacy.  I can’t believe your people find them, poisonous.’

Baxter laughed, ‘aye well believe it.’

Chapter 77

A few hours later the Modloch Ambassador found himself under the inquisition from his own emperor.  The emperor was pacing back and forth in an agitated manner while the ambassador was trying to figure out how to look over the emperor’s shoulders and into the far flung distance over a screen.

‘Will you stop rolling your bloody eyes around all over the place,’ the emperor snapped at him, ‘just look at me directly.’

‘Sorry sir.’

‘Sorry, is that it!  Do you expect us to believe these casualty figures?’

‘It is what I was provided with sir.’

‘No war ships destroyed, only a handful of landing craft and fighters.  The human dead only amount to a few thousand, how is that possible?  They eradicated a city ship with millions on board.’

‘I believe they do not charge and lock horns as many races do in mortal combat sire.  They hide themselves away and do this ambush thing.  When the enemy charges they hide behind cover and slaughter them at a distance.  I have seen many of their war movies, they are very adept at it.  They were also able to cut off the oxygen supply to large sections of the city as well killing millions that way.’

‘That is not an honourable way to do battle.’

‘They were fighting for their very existence sire, I don’t think they gave a shit about honour.’

The emperor fixed him with a glare and the ambassadors eyes began rolling again.  ‘So the humans had an Albany spy; and with this spy they managed to find out the Albany intentions?’

‘Yes sir although he was made a member of the human race months before the final battle.’

‘I see and this has been ratified by the Universal council.’

‘I believe so sir.’

‘You have to be the worst damn ambassador I have ever had the misfortune to own.  You saw absolutely none of this coming did you?’

‘No sir.’

‘I knew it. Bloody useless.  Still you will be glad to hear that I am putting forward a professional team from your own home world to take your place once you reach the great barrier.’

‘I am relieved to hear it sire.’

‘I bet you are, and you will be dismissed immediately after the handing over ceremony.’

‘I am relieved to hear that to sire.’

‘I’ll bet you are you little shit.  Still I am not displeased by the way you have handled yourself and you will be rewarded in the manner befitting a real ambassador on retirement.’

‘That is too much sire.’

‘Don’t argue with me.  Now what state is my new ship in?’

‘It has thousands of holes in it and it is beginning to reek with the smell of the dead, but the engines are sound.’

The emperor rubbed his long snout, ‘the engines are sound.  Do you hear yourself really?  Well I am glad you like them ambassador, get familiar with them because I am going to make that city ship my very own command carrier.  In it I shall visit every corner of my empire and make damn sure no one else try’s to rebel against me.  As for you, you shall be chief engineer.’

‘You do me a great honour sir.’

The emperor groaned again, ‘only an idiot from your planet could consider a demotion of such a monstrous size a reward.  Never mind, what do you propose to do now?’

‘Cleaning up operations are still ongoing Sire.  Once they have remove the dead they will hand the city ship over to me in its entirety.’

‘Will they help you with repairs?’

‘Only if we wish it sire.  The humans believe it is a wonderful opportunity for their engineers to work in such an environment and if we let them come on board they will foot the bill for all of the repairs.’

‘I see.  You will have full control over the ship and its systems.’

‘Yes sir.  If I wish the humans will even recover the outer rings of the ship for me.’

The emperor strolled up and down for a bit, ‘yes, have them recover the outer rings and make as much repairs as possible.  I don’t want them repairing the main armament, we will do that ourselves with weapons of our own choice.  What will be your priorities?’

‘Fix the shields sir, then the auxiliary control rooms that have been damaged.'  The ambassador got carried away and the emperor let him rattle on for a while.

‘It looks like I have picked the right man for the job,’ there was a touch of sarcasm in his voice.  ‘So tell me, what is your opinion of the human race now?’

‘They still frighten me sir.  That’s a fact.  I have gotten over my fear of being eaten at any moment though.  They have never shown any sign of wishing to consume me.  Neither have I came across any sign of them trying to ingest any Albany.  They most certainly aren’t a direct threat to our universe, yet they are a deadly adversary.’

‘Of that Ambassador the whole universe is aware.  Or at least they are now.  Go on,’ he encouraged.

‘For all my initial fears and worries I have made some great friends amongst the humans sire.  In fact I have to admit to likening them very much.’

‘Do you think your diminutive race could beat them in battle?’

‘Not a hope in hell sire.’

The emperor began to pace some more, ‘who will help you crew the ship until it reaches my dominion.’

‘I asked Captain Gordon, the one who captains the Builders ship to help me and he has accepted, along with his mate and her crew of the other ship.’

‘Good, you said he himself fought in the battle?’

‘Yes he did sir and from what I hear he fought with great distinction.’

‘A good choice then.   I wish a report from you every month until you reach home ambassador.  I will be in touch.’

The ambassador bowed so quickly he smacked his snout off the table in front of him.  The emperor just groaned and waved a hand, the screen went blank.

Chapter 78

Steven joined the ambassador for breakfast.  It was a routine they had got into over their many months of travel together.  The two had become firm friends as they travelled round the great city ship and worked on repairing it.  Most of the engineers had left the ship the day before.  Behind them in close formation the main Earth Battle Fleet cruised.

‘Today is the big day then Steven.’

‘It certainly is sir.’

‘So its sir again is it?’

‘For today.’

‘And tomorrow you will be able to call me chief.’  The two laughed easily together.  Of course the ambassador had to ask, ‘so where is the freak today?’

Steven grinned, ‘I have no idea where Charlie is today.  Probabily out running round the deck somewhere.’

The ambassador shuddered, ‘you really need to hide him away.  If anyone finds out he can read minds we are all in the shit.’

‘You know damn well we can’t do that.  We need him at that ceremony.’

‘To read the mind of my emperor, no doubt to make sure that he isn’t lying.’

‘Exactly.’

‘Well god help the lot of you if he ever finds out.’

‘We will be careful and it’s a onetime deal only.  Even my own command don’t know about Charlie.  You found out by accident.’

The ambassador had fell down a deep shaft.  It was so deep and narrow that he could barely breathe he certainly couldn’t shout out.  Charlie had heard his distressed mind and had come to his rescue.  It had taken a little time for the ambassador to work out how Charlie had found him, but he had in the end.  Despite his reservations, they had become firm friends and the ambassador was genuinely concerned for his safety.

As they were finishing their morning coffee Komoru appeared, she had been doing the night shift and was tired.  She chatted for five minutes and went to bed.  Their next visitor was Lady Jane with a list of the day’s itinerary and a list of protocols that had to be observed.  Even the ambassador was cowed by her manner.  He waited until she left.

‘Has anyone bedded that witch yet?’

Steven grinned, ‘not yet, but Charlie says he thinks she has the hots for Kelly.’

The ambassador grinned, ‘well if any man can handle that, it has to be Kelly.’

Their communicators began to buzz.  ‘Damn it,’ cursed the ambassador.  He looked straight at Steven, ‘this is the last time we will be able to do this in these surroundings my friend.’

‘I know, I am going to miss these mornings.’

‘As am I.’

By mid-day they had entered the great barrier.  It wasn’t as thick as Steven thought it would be and by mid-afternoon they had cleared it.  The clouds of dust parted to reveal a great Modloch battle fleet waiting for them.  For a moment Stevens’s heart leapt into his mouth.

‘It’s ok Charlie,’ murmured at his side.

Steven let go a long breath.  They were all dressed up in their finery.  The soldiers in theirs, Komoru in a cherry blossom Kimono.  Steven was in the Kilt and the ambassador in a long flowing white gown type of thing that Babes had made for him.

Steven sent word to the fleet behind them and within an hour both fleets had come to a standstill.  The ceremonies began.  Mya was going to be one of the very first presented to the Emperor.  After the initial introductions the emperor would board the city ship for the hand over ceremonies.  Once they were completed the emperor would take possession of his new ship and both fleets would travel to the Modloch home world.

‘It going to be a long day sighed the Ambassador.’

Steven found himself smiling, it would be a long day, but it would be a great day. The beginning of a new dawn for mankind the beginning of a new adventure.

The End

Table of Contents

- The Black Planet
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 39
- Chapter 40
- Chapter 41
- Chapter 42
- Chapter 43
- Chapter 44
- Chapter 45
- Chapter 46
- Chapter 47
- Chapter 48
- Chapter 49
- Chapter 50
- Chapter 51
- Chapter 52
- Chapter 53
- Chapter 54
- Chapter 55
- Chapter 56
- Chapter 57
- Chapter 58
- Chapter 59
- Chapter 60
- Chapter 61
- Chapter 62
- Chapter 63
- Chapter 64
- Chapter 65
- Chapter 66
- Chapter 67
- Chapter 68
- Chapter 69
- Chapter 70
- Chapter 71
- Chapter 72
- Chapter 73
- Chapter 74
- Chapter 75
- Chapter 76
- Chapter 77
- Chapter 78