Waiting (20 page)

'Sorry guys,'
said Staples. 'Nothing personal.'

Gunther already
had the cell door open and he and Salamandra ran inside as Willis
and Staples stood guard, one facing the steps, the other with his
eye on the elevator.

'Bridget,'
cried Gunther. 'Have they hurt you?'

'No. Get me out
of here.'

Gunther freed
his daughter and kissed her. 'Time to go.'

'How?'

'It's ok.
Staples and Willis have a plan.'

'We do?' said
Willis.

'Tell me you
have a plan.' said Bridget.

Staples said,
'Not really. To be honest, we expected to be dead by now.'

'The armoury
again?' suggested Salamandra.

'That worked
last time,' said Bridget.

They ran up the
one flight of steps to the basement and Bridget gave the heavy door
a good kicking which failed miserably to open it.'

'Allow me,'
said Staples taking aim with his laser rifle. With half the door
blasted away it only required the slightest of shoves to get it
open. 'Just the stingers.'

They sat
astride a stinger each, roared out of the basement in single file
led by Gunther, up into the ground floor and were greeted by a
hundred armed troops all pointing various weapons in their
direction.

'What kept
you?' said General Kane.

'Not too much,'
admitted Staples, draping himself casually over the handlebars of
his stinger. 'Although rigging that bomb behind you took some
time.'

'Nice try,'
said Kane.

Staples turned
to Willis and said, 'Do you have the remote for the bomb?'

Willis patted
his pockets. 'Nope. I thought you had it.'

Salamandra
said, 'You gave it to me, remember?' Then he pressed the button and
half the wall blew up sending a hailstorm of debris raining over
Kane's troops who were diving for cover. Kane shook herself free of
the rubble and aimed a shot at Salamandra as his stinger smashed
into her and before the troops got to their feet the five were
rushing towards the forcefield and seconds later they were racing
across the desert to the Base.

Chapter 62

The door slid
smoothly aside as Sam Clifton entered the incubation room. Sandy
Beech the incubation technician looked up from her chores.

'Sam. What
brings you in here?'

'Hi, Sandy.
Just one of my walkabouts. Everything running smoothly?'

Beech said,
'I've almost completed my routine checks. It all seems to be in
order.'

'Very pleased
to hear that, Sandy.' He peered into one of the hundreds of
incubation chambers through the small bulletproof glass observation
window. That chamber contained one hundred embryos, as did the
other two hundred chambers. Inside each chamber lay what looked
like many rows of identical little pink sausages. 'It never ceases
to amaze me these will one day be fully functioning people.'

'The chambers
slow their development down to one hundredth of their normal
growth. We can accelerate that up to the normal unborn baby cycle
with just a few adjustments to their nutrients. All the regular
features like heads legs and arms will develop. Sorry. Here's me
rabbiting on, Sam. You know as much as I do what happens in
here.'

Clifton smiled
at the young technician. 'I don't think anyone could match your
passion or enthusiasm for all this, Sandy.'

Beech blushed
slightly then said, 'I enjoy my work. I...this is going to sound
silly.'

'I doubt you
could ever say anything silly. Go on.'

'Well. If you
promise not to tell anyone.'

Clifton said,
'You have my word.'

'Ok. I look on
myself as being mother to all of them. Like there's a little of me
in each of them. Even though they are all the different colours
from every race on Earth. I've even given them names.'

'All two
thousand of them?'

Beech said, 'Of
course not. Just a couple in each chamber. When I do my rounds I
look in on them and talk to them.'

'Do they answer
back?'

Beech frowned
and said, 'You're mocking me.'

'Just teasing
you a little,' said Clifton with a grin. 'I think it is admirable
that a young woman like you can be so dedicated.'

'Thanks. One
day when we're on Spero and these little ones are proper babies
running around, yelling and playing, I'll be able to tell them how
we came down on a big ship and I helped turn them into babies. Then
as they grow I'll be able to tell them stories about Earth. I think
that is so important, remembering where we came from. Don't you,
Sam?'

'Absolutely.
Well then. It looks as if you have it all under your belt, Sandy.
Goodnight.'

'Goodnight,
Sam.'

Chapter 63

The race was
on! Five stingers kicking up desert dust as they tried to outrun
the seven ships. The stingers had the lead but the much faster
ships were gaining on them. Gunther had turned around first as the
others continued on towards the Base. Two of his six missiles shot
out of the front of the stinger, grey plumes trailing behind the
rear fins as they homed in on the nearest ship. The ship's captain
was the first to react and his missile snaked out from the
underside of the ship. It was a first-class shot and it found one
of the stingers missiles in mid-flight, the ensuing explosion
ripping the sky apart as it destroyed the bolt of death.

The second
missile curved an arc through the air and smashed into the
underbelly of the following ship. Such was the blast that nobody on
the ship survived the landing as the remaining parts of the craft
disintegrated into scrap being hurled into the air in all
directions. Gunther had no desire to hurt or kill anyone, but
saving the last humans from Earth outweighed anything else. He
turned the stinger around and took off after the others. He was
stopping for nobody.

The Base was
minutes away and Staples reached it first, dropping his stinger and
racing to the door. He was one of few with the access code and the
retina recognition. The single small door inset in the main door
opened and he entered as the other stingers were left outside.

Gunther was a
hundred yards out as the leading ship let out a stream of laser
fire and he had to zigzag his stinger to avoid it. The laser caught
the rear of the stinger which died underneath him, and he rolled
away as it crashed.

'Hurry,' cried
Bridget, just inside the Base.

Gunther was
running hard, and behind him he heard the stinger explode. Two
ships were firing their laser cannon at him and one missed him by
an inch as he dived head-first through the smaller door, Staples
slamming it shut behind him, and they heard the hissing sounds as
the laser melted the top layer of steel.

Up in the laser
cannon turret of the Base, Willis made it clear that those in the
ships didn't have it all their own way. He picked his targets
carefully, knowing that those in the ships were once his comrades
and friends. He winged two ships before the others flew beyond his
range.

'Yeah. Come
back when you want some more.'

'We've no
time,' said Gunther to Bridget. 'I need to contact the Goliath
before this place is overrun.' He opened up the communication
channel to the Goliath. 'This is Major Otto Gunther. Come in
Goliath. Can you hear me? Thus is Major...'

'Major Gunther.
This is Captain Jacobs. It seems forever since we last spoke.'

'Indeed.
Captain. Are you alone?'

'Yes. Just
taking a stint on the radio.'

'Ok. Listen. I
haven't much time. Has Sam Clifton told you about the alien
threat?'

Jacobs sat in
stunned silence when Gunther had told him that. 'I...What? Repeat
that please, Major Gunther?'

'You weren't
told?

'Forgive me.
I'm in shock. This is the first I've heard of this. Aliens?
Intelligent beings?'

Gunther said,
'It looks that way. They somehow get inside their hosts and take it
over. Not just the body, but the mind as well. This is how they
survive.'

'Incredible.
I'm trying to get my head around this. What I can't understand is
if you told Sam, why hasn't he told me?'

'Actually, I
think I can understand why not. I told him it is possible somebody
on the Goliath is already aware of the aliens. General Loretti
certainly was. She was plotting to use them so she could gain
control of Earth. Maybe Sam Clifton wanted to try to find out whom
he could trust before confiding in anyone.'

'But I'm the
captain.'

'Your rank
doesn't exclude you.'

Jacobs said, 'I
suppose it doesn't. Yes. It explains Sam keeping the information
secret from me for now. Major Gunther. Do we look out for their
ship? We have no weapons on the Goliath.'

'I know. They
must have some kind of ship, but they have possibly been aware of
this mission for years. I think it is highly possible that they
have landed somewhere on Spero and are waiting for you to
land.'

'We already
have landed, Major.'

Gunther gasped.
'What? Captain. Tell me I didn't hear that. You have already landed
on Spero?'

'We had no
choice. The terraformers weren't working and we took a shuttle down
to restart them. That worked but we have to spend a year or so on
the Goliath waiting for Spero to be habitable.'

'And you saw no
evidence of the aliens?'

'None. But we
could hardly see our own feet. The volcanic cloud covers the entire
planet. The storm which still rages blocks out any chance of us
scanning the planet from space.'

Gunther said,
'Perhaps they are waiting until the Goliath lands so they get all
of you, including the babies. Captain. Please be careful. I'll not
be able to communicate with you after this.'

'Understood.
I'll find Sam and tell him of our conversation.'

'Good luck,
Captain.'

'You too,
Major. Thank you.'

The call ended
and Jacobs sat alone.

Chapter 64

'What do I do
when they come back?' said Willis. 'And they
will
come
back.'

Staples shared
the cannon turret with Willis, staring at the screens, watching the
skies for the return of the ships.

'We should be
on the same side,' said Staples. 'I don't want to kill them.'

'There's
already been too much killing. I'm not sure they will share that
point of view though.'

'I'll see the
major and ask what he wants us to do.'

Willis said,
'Don't take all day about it. When they come back and start
shooting at us, I'll be inclined to reply in kind.'

Staples found
Gunther drinking coffee with Bridget and Salamandra in his office.
He helped himself from the pot and said, 'Willis is on the cannon.
Neither of us think we should be shooting at our own people.'

'So we do
what?' asked Bridget. 'We just give ourselves up?'

'It is an
option,' said Gunther.

'You think?
Have you forgotten what they were about to do to me? Kane loves
torturing people. She sees me as a traitor and she'll have some
long and painful things in mind to use on me.'

'I'll not let
that happen,' said Staples. His heart felt heavy as he looked at
Bridget's lovely face. He'd had no opportunity to express his
feelings for her and here with her father close by this was not the
right time or place.

Salamandra
said, 'Information. If we tell Kane all we know, there would be no
reason to torture any of us.'

Bridget said,
'Kane doesn't need an excuse. She'll love hurting me for the sake
of it. And there is nothing Giles here can say or do to stop
it.'

Gunther sighed
and said, 'I'm open to suggestions. Damned if I see...'

A familiar and
deadly sound echoed throughout the Base.

'We're under
attack,' said Staples. 'I'll go join Willis.' He looked at Bridget
wondering if he would see her alive again. He almost said something
but the roof above their heads shook with the battering it was
getting. Cursing under his breath, he ran out and rushed up the
steps to the turret. Willis had taken the decision for the others
and was blasting away at the attacking ships.

'They're out to
finish us off,' said Willis. 'Ok. If it's a damn fight they
want...'

Staples almost
grasped Willis' arm to prevent him firing the cannon, then thought
of Bridget and the fate that would befall her and most likely all
of them. 'Go for it, Nathan.'

Willis wasn't
listening. He was already gritting his teeth as he blasted the
nearest ship. 'Watch out! It's coming down on top of us.'

They got down
below the cannon as a ship crashed right above their heads, missing
the cannon turret by just yard.

'Too damn close
for comfort,' said Staples. 'Is the cannon still working?'

'One way to
find out.' Willis pulled himself up and wriggled back into the
firing seat. 'Here comes another one.'

The ship did a
fast fly-over shooting at the turret with its laser, then rolling
away as Willis returned the fire, just missing.

'Mind if I have
a go?' said Staples.

Willis got out
of the seat and Staples took his place, both hands on the twin
triggers, eyes on the screen looking for any signs of a ship.
'They've backed off.'

Even though
there were no ships around, something was shooting at the thick,
toughened glass.

'Where the hell
is that coming from?' Willis yelled as another barrage of shots
struck the turret.

'No idea but
the glass can't take much more.'

The dome of
glass started to give up against the laser. Staples swung the
turret around looking for the attacker but saw nothing. 'I can't
see a ship.'

A section of
the turret vaporised with the constant hammering, and they had to
dodge away to avoid being sprayed with molten glass. A shadow
crossed the remaining glass and through the hole a hand held laser
fired on the already compromised dome. Staples and Willis tried to
get their own hand-lasers from their holsters as they tried to stay
away from the streaks of power raining down at them. Before they
could aim and fire back, a boot kicked in the one side of damaged
glass and they could see General Su Kane above them, making this
her personal fight. Willis yelled in pain as a shot pierced his
shoulder and he dropped his weapon. Staples pushed him out of the
way to get a shot at Kane and he exchanged fire, then he got in a
lucky hit and Kane dropped onto the glass and smashed through it,
falling heavily on top of both men.