AwayTeam (12 page)

Ely's smile quivered until he was smiling no more. He looked deep into Emerson's eyes, as well. It was now or never. "I think…I think I've fallen for you, Sonny."

A sigh of relief, even though not physically apparent, seemed to overwhelm Emerson. He squeezed Ely's hand, one that reassured him. "Do you mean you love me? Is that it, Ely?"

Ely nodded, licked his parched lips, and said with as much honesty as he could muster. "Yes."

Emerson's smile widened. "Then say it. Say you love me if that's how you feel. Doesn't help to bottle things up."

Before Ely could utter the words, speak his true feelings, a klaxon sounded. Emerson pulled his hands away from Ely's. Both now concentrated on the control panels in front of them.

Ely's station was all green. It was Emerson's that had a red indicator on it, the reason for the alarm.

"Shit, what is it, Sonny?"

There was a moment of silence, frantic hands across the control panel as Emerson's brow creased and his eyes widened. More lights flicked to red. Then, more and more.

Again Ely asked, "What's up. What's gone wrong?" This time concern laced his voice and he couldn't help but think of the worst. Was the shuttle coming out of the energy field, unable to stay in the wake any longer? Or had it accelerated until it was too close to the
Mandrake's
engine flutes? Ely wasn't sure, not by looking at the readouts in front of Emerson.

When Emerson did speak, he said, "Hail Commander Okinawa. We've arrived. And we're slipping out of the energy field…the thing has changed in harmonics somehow…wait…yes, we're free. But the
Mandrake
isn't. Let me get up a view."

Ely wanted to do two things at once. Do as Emerson had asked and also see for himself what the alien device looked like now that they had arrived. A few hours earlier than projected, Ely noted.

He decided to hail the commander.

The man looked tired and still half-asleep. "We've arrived at our destination, sir," Ely began. "And we're clear of the energy field. But…well, we can't explain it, but it seems that something's happened because the
Mandrake
is still surrounded by the field and we're not."

Ely glanced at the holo-vid screen that had materialised above Emerson's workstation. It was true. The blue, electric energy still surrounded the starship. Although, not as intense as it had been before when it served the purpose of folding space. But what was its purpose now?

Emerson interjected, "We can't get to the shuttle bay. The energy field is preventing me from getting near the
Mandrake
." He spoke all of that while not looking up from his study, busy trying to turn the red lights green. Slowly but surely they did. That was something, at least.

Commander Okinawa rubbed his eyes. "I'll be there as soon as possible. Can you hail cadets, Braden and Kale, too? I do believe it's time we earned our keep as we try and figure this all out."

"Wait, sir," Emerson burst out. "I believe I know why the field is still surrounding the
Mandrake
. To me…I mean, according to the readings, it looks like it's now a holding field. See."

Ely glanced at the screen once more. "Oh my God!"

Emerson continued, his voice filled with concern, "Those objects we thought were orbiting the alien device, they're ours, sir."

The alien device was indeed massive, the thing a strange star-shaped object that reflected the distant sunlight to perfection. The metal it was made from super shiny. It had weird markings all over it, too, and if Ely didn't know any better, a large hangar toward the centre. But what Emerson had said caught his attention even more. He could now make out the orbiting objects, understand Emerson's concern. "There's the starship
Fooshue
," Ely blurted. "And there's the
Aristotle
. Hang on, wait a minute, aren't all those others the planetary defence satellites we had in orbit around Jupiter and Saturn?"

"They sure are." Emerson said.

Commander Okinawa turned off his screen. Seemed he was on his way. Ely hailed Braden and Kale.

The alien device had captured all of the military's defences for the outer solar system, an action that had netted it three starships. What was the alien devices' purpose? Was it aggressive as Braden had suggested? Or was it just gathering information? Assessing whether or not humanity was worth making contact with. Ely swallowed hard. Seemed to him like things were going to get interesting from here on in.

Chapter Fourteen

When Commander Okinawa, Braden and Kale were in the cockpit, Ely and Emerson stood to attention. There was no need to have a pilot stationed at the controls. The shuttle wasn't flying anywhere, now stationary next to the
Mandrake
.

"Are you positive we can't go into the shuttle bay, Cadet Emerson?" Commander Okinawa asked once he clicked on his portable comm panel and placed it onto the briefing table.

A schematic of the
Mandrake
came into view. Emerson studied the diagram for a moment before he replied, "No, sir, I'm not. I mean, we can go back, I don't see why not…but at the same time, we may not be able to get out."

"That's fine by me. Cadet Kale, set a course for the shuttle bay."

Kale saluted, heading for the pilot's chair. Before he got there, Emerson coughed politely into his hand, and added, "If I may suggest something I think you should know, sir."

The commander nodded. "Continue, Cadet Emerson. If I need to know it, then tell me."

Emerson saluted. "If we can't get out again, how can we help the
Mandrake
?"

"Explain."

"Well, if the
Mandrake
could get out of the field, wouldn't Captain Holloway have ordered such a thing by now?" Emerson pressed a panel on the portable comm. The view shifted, zooming out to include the alien star-shaped device and all the trapped human machines that orbited it. "Why hasn't the
Fooshue
or the
Aristotle
broken free yet, either? They arrived well before we did."

Ely could see that Emerson had a point. If the fly could get out of the ointment, then surely it would have done so by now. Seemed to him the
Mandrake
and everyone and everything else was stuck.

Commander Okinawa rubbed his chin. "Kale, belay that order. Can you hail Captain Holloway instead?"

"Yes, sir," Kale said.

A brief moment later, the captain's familiar portrait appeared on the hail screen. Commander Okinawa saluted, as did everyone else in the cockpit. Before a word could be spoken, the man said, "Commander, I need you and the talents of your men to do one more thing for me--for us."

"Of course, sir," the commander said, still at attention. Emerson could hear the wail of red alert sounding in the background. From that, he took it that the
Mandrake
couldn't free itself from the alien devices' grasp. A sign that didn't bode well.

"Your away mission has been expanded. You are to land the shuttle within the alien device and switch off, disable, or do whatever you have to, to free our ships and defence satellites from this energy field. The rear admiral has been in contact and I have apprised him of the situation. We now deem this act by the alien ship to be hostile. I repeat, hostile." The captain cleared his throat, leaning out of screen shot for a moment as someone handed him a portable comm unit. He came back into view, glancing down at the information that had been presented to him. "Captain Bliss of the
Fooshue
and captain Horace of the
Aristotle
are also in agreement. Any measure you need to take to get this done, including deadly force, can be utilized for this mission. Am I clear on that?"

The commander saluted. "Yes, sir."

"I want regular reports. Good luck. Captain Holloway, over and out."

The screen went blank and dissipated.

Commander Okinawa breathed in deep, and said, "Now, I know this wasn't supposed to happen. We were only meant to get some readings and be done with the away mission in an hour at the most. But as it turns out, not only were we in for the long haul, we're the only ones who can help. I wouldn't normally say this, but you are all excellent men." The commander paused to flick off the comm panel. "You all heard the captain, so let's get in there and do the best I know you all can."

Braden saluted, a glint in his eye. It didn't take a genius to know that he was itching for some action. Men like him always did. "Yes, sir. I would be proud to help lead us into enemy territory."

Emerson coughed again. Speaking to the group and not addressing anyone in particular, he said, "I'm afraid the forward assembly got a bit damaged. I don't think we can land--not without the support crew that are usually in the docking bay, anyway."

Kale swivelled around in his pilot's chair, "No worries. "I'll use the 'ol
barn slide
manoeuvre to compensate for that."

Commander Okinawa said, "Nothing too risky, Cadet Kale. We have to make sure we survive long enough to do any good, you know."

"No, sir. Nothing risky. I've done it plenty of times." He pressed panels on his station, his enthusiasm clear. "Although, I would suggest holding onto something. This can get…interesting."

"Define interesting," Commander Okinawa said as he sat on the nearest chair.

"Well, without forward stabilisers, we'll have to land backwards. It's either that or stay out in space…sir."

"How can we land backwards?" Ely asked.

"Good question, cadet Ely."

"Thank you, sir."

Kale looked back, a beaming smile upon his lips. "We go hell for leather toward the hangar. Then, when we're at the optimum distance, I shut off the main engine flute, power down the inertial dampeners and engage the ion thrusters. That's when things get interesting, as I have to wait for the right moment for the shuttle to be turned around yet still have momentum before I can reverse everything."

"Won't all that just cause us to spin?" Braden asked. Although, the question was spoken more to keep Kale talking than actually raising a concern about the tricky manoeuvre he was about to perform. Ely's clue to that was the wanting eyes and the brush of his face with his hand when he looked at Kale. That settled it. They were fucking.

"Not if I'm quick, it won't." Kale winked…at Braden. "The thrusters will do the manoeuvring. I'll make sure everything's all AOK well before then, giving myself plenty of time to engage the main engine and get the hell out and try again if things get a little tight."

Commander Okinawa rubbed his chin. "It all seems a bit risky to me. But what choice do we have? The captains of three starships are depending on us. Do it, cadet, Kale. But if there is any indication that things aren't as they should be, I want you to abort. At that time we will then discuss our options, including suiting up and going into the alien device with a tether between us and the infinite black our view."

Ely didn't like the sound of getting suited up. Spacesuits made him nauseous as well as claustrophobic, but the worst part was that no matter how many times they were sanitised, the smell of the previous occupant was always vivid. The odour inside most he'd been in was a disturbing combination of sweat and urine. Sweat for the sheer fact that the suit either scared the bejesus out of the previous occupant or got so hot inside no matter how much the air con was switched up. Working with such restrictive clothing wasn't easy, especially for space walks. The urine smell was present because the piss bag and attachments, both male and female, never seemed to fit right. Sure, guys who were well endowed had a bit better chance. Ely imagined Emerson having no trouble at all slipping the holding hose, or
love lip
as it was known amongst the hangar bay crew, around his monster. But as for some others, the less fortunate of the species--well, leakage and accidents happened. Ely had heard rumour of one poor guy having to stretch his foreskin around the attachment and then taping the skin so it stayed in place, just so it would fit him. But he believed that was a kind of urban legend, spoken to scare the shit out of cadet's fresh out of the Academy. It worked.

Before Ely could contemplate how girls coped with the
butterfly attachment
all spacesuits had, and the thought of removing duct tape off the foreskin after being secured for a couple of hours, Kale had begun the manoeuvre.

He was beautiful to watch. A true professional, in fact. His concentration must have been unfaltering, because his hand movements across the station were not only mesmerising, they were done with lightning speed, too.

The alien device loomed large on the view screen and the shuttles windows. More detail could be seen, the thing looked like it had been made of tiny panels, billions and billions of them. All smooth. All reflecting the little light that reached it from the sun to perfection. All having strange writings on them.

Then the hangar came into view. Like a wide open mouth, waiting for the shuttle to enter, beckoning to them.

"Hang on!" Kale said.

Ely grabbed Emerson and both grabbed a rail that surrounded the pilot's section of the cockpit. With inertial dampeners on low, the G-forces would be felt as the shuttle turned ninety degrees and as quick as possible, too.

But Kale did it.

Sure, Ely's stomach turned like he'd just been on an amusement park ride back on the
Zero Grav
rollercoasters that were popular on Mars. But in the end, the situation wasn't as bad as what he'd first thought. At least he wouldn't have to put on a spacesuit.

Then a terrible thought stuck him as Kale maneuverer the shuttle, while going backwards, into the alien hangar. What if there was no atmosphere inside this thing? He swallowed hard. Seemed getting on a suit wasn't out of the question just yet. Visions of ripping sticky tape off his dick flooded his mind, the pain worse than pulling off wound seal from a hairy part of the body.

Emerson must have had the same concern. He went to the co-pilots station and began punching panels, a schematic of the hangar appeared. The thing was massive, like a monstrous cavern made of strange metallic formations, again there were those reflective panels here, too.