First Contact (Galactic Axia Adventure) (7 page)

The rest of their small team became silent as the implication of her statements sunk in.

“What do we do now?” someone asked.

“Simple,” the woman said with a smile. “We figure out how to unlock these signals. Then,” she said with an uncomfortable pause, “we figure out how to answer their call.”

∞∞∞

 Onboard the giant mothership for the sector, Commander Tess was also trying to make a decision. No matter how she figured it, there was always some aspect of the situation that was unacceptable.

If she waited for reinforcements from Regional Fleet Command, the chances were good the Red-tails would have moved or dispersed. That was a gamble she didn’t care to take. Such a force could strip a planet in days and leave it nothing but a burnt cinder. But on the other hand if she moved now, she would have to pull virtually every available ship from their posts and leave the closed planet without its protective shell. Either way there were risks involved.

After mulling over all possibilities for several hours she knew what she had to do. Commander Tess felt the weight of her command heavy upon her shoulders. Since she was the most knowledgeable about the situation, the Galactic Axia would automatically place her in command. This was a decision that she couldn’t pass upstairs.

Leaving her office, the commander went to Tactical and verified what she had deduced from her own display in her office. Information confirmed, the commander jotted down a few figures. Then she approached the trooper on duty at the comm center. He could tell by the serious look on her face that his next signals would have serious consequences for many people, including them.

“Trooper, I need you to send a priority message,” she said upon reaching his station. She handed him the coordinates she’d jotted down.

“Signal all of our ships, including watcher and picket ships, to rendezvous at those coordinates in twenty-one hours. Tell them to prepare for battle.”

As the commander turned and headed back to her office, the comm operator tuned his equipment for sector-wide broadcast. After a few moments, he started notifying all of the ships within their command area of the new orders. In short bursts so as to minimize detection, Commander Tess’ orders were targeted to each ship in question. Though interception by the Red-tails was unlikely, the comm operator knew his business and worked accordingly.            

Within the hour, ships throughout the sector began leaving their normally assigned duty stations. The holographic map onboard the mothership showed the protective globe around the closed planet disintegrate as the watcher and picket ships vectored away toward the new coordinates. Commander Tess watched silently and found herself praying to the Unseen One—
Keep us in the battle against evil and watch over the innocent
, she prayed as she looked at the holographic image of Maranar. Without its protectors, it looked like a ripe fruit hanging out in space.

∞∞∞

HasselFarm>gss.bv.er

Deagle>gss.fss.rodar

Dear Son,

I guess it’s about time I sit down and write my weekly missive. I just looked at the calendar. You’ve been on Rodar almost eleven months! Hope things are going well with your classes and flight training.

Everything is going well as can be expected here. Dad is being a “major hassle” pacing the floor. The weather is still a little too wet to plant, and he’s anxious to get on with it. The equipment has been sitting ready for a week now and there’s nothing else for him to do but get in my way! If he keeps it up I’ll dress him in an old sack dress and floppy hat and take him to one of my ladies meetings down at the temple!

Speaking of that, I’ve been busy with our new community club. We meet on a rotating basis at the member’s houses every two weeks. I just found out that I’ll be hosting it the meeting after next. We’ve had a lot more of the wives coming lately. Cabin fever seems to be epidemic this spring! Now if we can just stay organized well enough to get something done.

I visited with the Sabeti’s yesterday. Del-Robert is now almost two (Can you believe it?) and into everything. He does seem to want to help his Mama though, which is good. Her second pregnancy is going well and she’s due in another eight weeks. By their actions you’d think that every woman up and down the road from the Sabeti’s was expecting a baby! Guess that ‘grandma gene’ is starting to kick in along with the spring fever! (No that wasn’t a hint! I just like babies!)

Daren is getting around well and says that his cloned leg feels just like his old one, except without the pain. Didn’t make any sense to me either! He chucked the cane finally and it’s strange to see him without it. He’s gotten pretty active with the local shooting club and has qualified as one of the range instructors.

Oh, by the way, Rosemary told me they’re planning to build a new barn as soon as the planting is done. Daren found serious dry rot and insect damage in the support timbers of the old barn and it’s too far gone to save. Robert suspects that the bugs got into it when it had all that garbage from Dorn piled against it. Maybe this barn-raising will keep Robert out of my hair for a while. (Dare I hope?)

Well, I better close and send this. Write soon and tell us how your check ride went. We’d also love to hear when your graduation is scheduled. We’re very proud of you! Don’t doubt the decision you made to transfer to the Watcher Service. We’re anxious to hear from you!

Love, Mom and Dad

Delmar looked up from the computer screen and stared out through his rain-streaked dormitory window. It was well past sundown at the base and it had been raining heavily since mid-afternoon. The euphoria from receiving his captain’s plate was finally starting to wear off. Getting a letter from home made him realize just how long he’d been on Rodar. Eleven months! It bothered him that he’d lost time with all the studies and flight practice.

With a sigh, Delmar printed the letter and added it to the collection in a desk drawer. For the first time in months he found he had time hanging heavy on his hands. All his final tests were completed now and he’d passed handily. With the check ride success there was nothing between him and graduation, except time. An evening devoid of his normally intensive study session stared him in the face.

Contemplating alternatives to staring at the wall, Delmar decided that action was better than doing nothing. He changed into his rarely worn civilian clothes and headed down to the chow hall. Figuring that it would be easier to make a decision if he had a full stomach first, Delmar thought he just might run into a friend or two to help pass the time.

At least the food is better here
, he thought as he went through the serving line. He still remembered the initial trials and tribulation with the food synthesizer at the computer school on Mica. It had been a relief upon arriving on Rodar to discover that what he ate was actually prepared by human hands. Granted, what was offered still had the look and texture of institutional food, but at least the color was correct!

Taking his tray, Delmar crossed the room to his usual table by the windows. There wasn’t much to see outside at this time of night but he still preferred the sense of openness the windows provided. After transferring his plates to the table, he glanced through the window and saw that the rain was starting to let up.
A good omen for those flying the next morning
. He realized that he wouldn’t be among them tomorrow.
Funny I should feel that way,
he thought. He had always thought of graduation as a fulfillment rather than the uncertain beginning of a new phase of life.

Delmar had offered thanks to the Unseen One and was just started to dig into his beef and noodles when someone approached his table. He glanced up to see Leatha Mordon carrying a tray toward him.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked as she stopped on the opposite side of the table. Delmar, his mouth too full to politely answer, gestured toward an empty chair. Leatha set her tray down and transferred her plates to the table.       

Delmar was surprised to see Leatha in civilian attire. In all the months on base, he’d only seen her in class where all service personnel wore their utility uniforms. The blue of her sweater and slacks matched her eyes and accented the light color of her hair.

Delmar waited respectfully while Leatha sat down and prayed. As soon as she finished, he resumed eating by shoving a large bite into his mouth. Of course, Leatha immediately chose that moment to make a comment.

“Sure is a surprise to see you here,” she said as she spooned condiments onto her dinner. “If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time since you came to Rodar.”

“Mumuff?” was all Delmar was able to get out around his bite. Leatha looked at him and smiled.

“Take it easy and finish your bite,” Leatha replied. “I shouldn’t talk to you with your mouth full. Wouldn’t want our best pilot choking to death.”

“The reason I’m here is because for the first time since I came to Rodar, I don’t have anything to do,” Delmar answered honestly. “I’d usually be up to my ears studying right about now.”

“It showed in your grades,” Leatha replied, cutting into her pork chop. “Oh, by the way! Congratulations on receiving your captain’s plate.”

“Thanks,” replied Delmar, embarrassed by the sudden attention. “How did you do on your check ride?”

“Not as good as I would’ve liked,” Leatha said with a frown. “That run on the range really threw me.”

“I know,” Delmar agreed. “That R-45 was pretty rough.”

Leatha’s eyes suddenly grew large. “You were up on the R level?” she asked incredulously.

Delmar blinked and realized that he may have inadvertently slipped. “That’s what the examiner threw at me,” he answered, trying to imply that he hadn’t done well. “What level did they have you run?”

“H-17,” Leatha answered. “And I only scored a sixty-four. I still don’t see why they’re putting us through all these extra requirements. All the civilians have to do is be able to fly and land the ship safely.”

“I wondered about that at first too,” Delmar agreed. “But then it occurred to me that in doing survey work, we’ll be in situations much different from the average civilian pilot. I guess they want us to be able to think on our feet. After all, there’s a lot of unexpected things out there,” he said, waving in the general direction of space. “Even in the areas that have been thoroughly explored, we won’t be able to depend on others being around to help us if we get into trouble.”

“Guess so,” Leatha answered.

“Take a look at that last scenario in the simulator. They gave us a continuous series of unlikely, and frankly impossible problems.” Leatha blushed at the reminder. “In fact,” Delmar added, “the only reason I think they stopped it was because you were about to blast a hole in the roof of the simulator.”

“I wondered about that,” Leatha said with a smile.

“By the way, where did you come up with that idea?”

“I read about some trooper trainees using it in the field somewhere,” she answered. “They used it to rescue trapped crew members from a crashed ship.”

Delmar realized with a start that she was referring to the incident during his final training flight many months ago in basic training—a training exercise that came at a high price. Their unexpected run-in with Red-tails had cost the trainees the lives of eleven of his friends and very nearly his own.

“So how did you do on your check ride?” Delmar asked, trying to steer the subject away from reminders of his painful past. “You still haven’t told me.”

“My landing was a little rough, so I only qualified as a pilot,” she said with obvious disappointment. “I was hoping to make captain, but I guess I had a case of nerves after my experience on the range.”

“Hey! Everybody’s nervous when an examiner’s onboard,” Delmar said, trying to encourage Leatha. “Besides, you can always upgrade later.” Leatha seemed to brighten at the suggestion.

“That’s true,” she agreed. “Have you heard anything about ship assignments yet?”

“No not yet. All I know is that it’s scheduled to take place after the actual graduation ceremony.”

“What kind of ship are you hoping to get?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t really care, just so I get a good ship.”

“You’ll probably get a scout or patroller,” Leatha mused. “It would only make sense with your training in survey.”

“What kind of ship do you hope for?”

“I want something with lots of firepower,” Leatha replied with surprising tightness. Delmar was taken aback by her sudden intensity.

“Why?” he asked.

Leatha appeared to stare into space for a moment. “Because I have a score to settle.”

“Care to tell me about it?” Delmar asked carefully. He knew by offhand remarks that Leatha had direct experience with Red-tails but he’d never heard the details. Those few times when he heard the subject brought up, Leatha deftly changed the subject with a few flippant remarks. But this time she was different.

Leatha didn’t answer for several seconds. She continued to stare into space and seemed to have forgotten that Delmar was there. Finding himself starting to fidget, Delmar was about to fill the awkward silence when Leatha finally spoke up.

“It was about a month after basic and I was on my first duty posting,” she began with a distant look in her eye. “I was stationed at one of the supply bases for the picket ships out on the rim. Life was pretty interesting at first as I got into my new assignment. I was even starting to make some new friends among the other Ladies-of-the-Fleet posted out there.”

Leatha smiled at the memory. Then her face darkened. “Then the attacks started,” she said in a whisper. “There was no warning. One of their transit tubes opened and the sky filled with enemy ships. Since we were a forward supply depot, we were flooded with a continuous stream of damaged ships with dead and dying crews. Red-tail ships were everywhere!” she said, her voice low so it wouldn’t carry across the dining room. “The picket ships were hard-pressed to keep track of the incursions, much less try to repel them.”

Delmar thought back to stories he’d heard during basic. After it was all over and the details analyzed, the Galactic Axia determined the Red-tails had tried to overwhelm the Axia’s defenses by the use of exerted pressure. By over-taxing the entire defensive net, they hoped to drain the Axia’s resources, creating weak spots through which they could employ more specific attacks. Only by mobilizing reinforcements and the fleets available from the independent planets was the Axia able to outlast the Red-tails. Although these incidents had occurred nearly five years ago, it was still causing repercussions throughout the entire service. Suddenly hearing Leatha’s voice shook him out of his own recollections of history. Delmar struggled to hear Leatha’s hard, quiet retelling of the attacks.