Starstorm (Starstorm Saga) (22 page)

After twenty minutes, a knock came at the door.

“Come in,” said Jack. Trey entered the room.

“Well, Jack, I don’t know about you, but I’m headed out to find some of our fellow pilots and maybe join in some of that trouble that the clerk seemed so worried about”

“Let’s go,” said Jack hopping up. He was eager to see more of the colony and to have a little fun. They started down the hall, but halted when they heard Commander Kelley’s voice calling from behind them.

“And just where do you two think you are going?”

“Well, Commander...” said Trey,“We were just going out to....find some of our fellow pilots.”

“You two aren’t going anywhere...” said April, “…without me.” She cracked a smile on the last part and they headed out. This time she reached the driver’s seat first and Trey was remanded to the back seat.

“I know this town a lot better than you two so hold on.” She then pulled out of the parking area at a speed that put Trey’s speeding to shame.

There was a fantastic club many times larger than the Saratoga’s Recreation Room. Inside were games, music, food, and all sorts of entertainment. Not surprisingly, they found a large number of Space Force pilots there. Most were very young Ensigns or Junior Grade Lieutenants. They were being rather rowdy, much to the proprietor’s dissatisfaction. The music was loud, but except for the pilots there weren’t many people there. The three of them sat at a table and ordered their drinks. They arrived minutes later. A live band was playing a Galactic Cats rock song called
Denver and the Falling Star
. Many people were playing the various games around the place. Trey lifted his drink.

“To our friends who couldn’t be here.”

Jack and April both drank to that.

Suddenly another group entered the place. They were also pilots, but they wore the black uniforms of the Martian Colonial Defense Force not the dark blue uniforms of the Space Force. Trey recognized one of them as an old friend.

“Well look what the cat dragged in,” said Trey and went over to greet him leaving Jack and April alone at the table.

There was an awkward moment of silence. Both were thinking the same thoughts, though neither one had courage to express the feelings they’d begun to have for one another. April had resigned herself to the fact that she really liked him.

“So Jack why did you join up anyway?”

Jack smiled.

“I wanted to fly. At first I wanted a nice civilian job. I thought I’d fly a nice liner through friendly space. But there’s not many openings for non-military space pilots. And then of course there was Red. He made it seem like life out here was a constant adventure. Apparently he was right.”

“I know what you mean about there not being much besides the Space Force,” said April. “When I was a child, I dreamed of being an explorer. I never had any notions about the military. I studied to be a scientist. But the number of qualified scientists wanting to go on space expeditions is a lot larger than the actual number of expeditions sent out. I wanted to get into space. The Space Force offered the best choice. So here I am, helping that old war horse direct fleet operations when I’d much rather be exploring a moon or something.”

They both sipped their drinks for a few more silent moments. Summoning his courage, he turned to her.

“I’ve heard that the Martian surface is beautiful when seen in person.”

“It is,” she said, “I’ve been out there several times.”

“How about we take a walk out there, together.” At first he thought he’d gone too far. But she smiled.

“We’ll see if you can keep up with me.”

Chapter Nineteen

A
kdon walked down the main corridor of the Krusha on his way to the simulator room where Kaydan was busy training Red to fly the Tortalus. Everywhere his crew was still steadfastly making repairs. He had just inspected the reactor room which was finally back in working order. Much of the ship’s exterior damage would require a space dock to repair. As far as he could tell, that would be a while. He had still not accomplished his mission of capturing the Earth. Once the planet was secure, he would transmit news of his success to headquarters. They in turn would dispatch permanent occupation forces. Those, however, would take months to arrive. Until they did, he and his forces would have to hold the Earth.

The more information Akdon got about the human home planet, the less optimistic he was about taking it. It was much more advanced than he had been led to believe when he was ordered to undertake this mission. He was starting to think that the forces he carried in his fifty massive transport ships would be insufficient to capture the Earth. Kaydan was convinced of that, and had insisted on sending for re enforcements. Akdon, however, still refused. Although asking for help was not admitting failure, it would still be viewed by his superiors as a sign of weakness on his part. Akdon was very close to becoming the next member of the Junta, the military council that governed the entire Zidian Empire.

I will conquer Earth with the forces I have available. Even if I have to bombard the surface of the planet to oblivion from orbit!
Akdon told himself he would conquer Earth. But first he had to deal with the remnants of the Human fleet.

Akdon entered the simulator room to find Kaydan observing a battle between several holographic ships flying around the high ceiling. The ceiling itself was covered by a holographic projection of space. Next to Kaydan, Red Styler was wired up in a large metal chair. A large helmet was strapped to his head.

“Greetings, Commander,” said Kaydan. “As you can see, the human is proving quite promising in our Tortalus system test.”

Akdon raised his head high to better observe the battle going on above. A holographic image of the Tortalus fighter was engaged in a heated battle against several holographic Star Swords.

“He’s piloting the hologram with his mind. It is no different than if he were piloting the real thing,” said Kaydan.

“Are you sure you can keep his loyalties suppressed.”

“As I said, Commander, I doubt I can suppress them indefinitely. I am confident, however, that I can keep a tight hold on him for the time being.” Akdon watched as Red ruthlessly destroyed the holographic Star Swords. This seemed to reassure him that Red would perform as required.

The simulation ended and Kaydan removed the helmet from Red’s head and unstrapped him from the chair. Red stood up but was visibly dizzy and disoriented. His hand went up to his forehead and he winced in pain.

“The controls are a strain on your mind,” said Kaydan. “It will take time for you to adapt.”

“So how did I do?”

“Very impressive, Styler,” said Akdon. “Now, return to your chambers and get some rest.” Red then left the room followed by his guards.

“Will he be able to handle it?”

“Yes, Commander. His mind is quite capable of piloting the Tortalus, however, with the neural re-sequencing his mind is under a lot of extra neurological stress. It’s going to take more time for him to fully adapt. We’ll continue these sessions until he is fully prepared. What, may I ask, is our next move?”

“The humans have retreated to the interior of the Star System. We believe that they are in orbit of the fourth planet, however, interference is so high we can get no accurate scans from this distance. We will make for the fourth planet. I will send scouts ahead. We are going to need as much fire power as possible. Our casualties have been far too high. I am counting on the Tortalus to make up for our lost ships.” Akdon looked up at the blank ceiling. “Replay  Styler’s tests.”

Kaydan activated some controls and the holographic battle replayed itself. When it was over, Akdon nodded approval.

“I want the Tortalus fully operational by the time we reach Earth. Make sure the human is ready.”

“He will be, Commander. That I assure you.” 

Akdon began to pace the floor. “Kaydan, I believe that what we really need in the next battle is the element of surprise.”

“I agree Commander, but unfortunately our inability to use our fold-generators all but makes that impossible.”

“Our scout ships were able to open jump gates for their fighters when they first arrived.”

“That’s true, Commander. But that was in the outer system, not the inner system, and may I remind you that the interference from their sun has increased in intensity since then The interference is so intense that a standard hyperspace corridor would most certainly collapse and crush any ship passing through it.”

“A single jump would put us on top of them in seconds,” said Akdon. “If we channeled as much power as possible into the fold-system could we get enough protection for a single hyperspace-jump?”

Kaydan thought for a moment. “If we overload the hyperspace generators we may get enough power to overcome the interference for a matter of seconds but it would totally blow the field emitters. We have spares but they would take hours or even days to install.”

“There will be time enough to replace them later,” said Akdon. “If we can gain the element of surprise, we can eliminate the Human fleet once and for all.”

“Perhaps, Commander, we should also send some ships to investigate closer to the star. Some proximity scans may help to reveal the cause of the interference.”

“I agree. I will send scouts toward the star. You see to the modifications to the fold-sytem.”

Kaydan nodded. “I will make preparations for the jump. But I must warn you Commander. There is risk. Each ship will pass through its own jump gate. Any hyperspace corridor that collapses will destroy the ship passing through it.”

“The risk, Sub-Commander, is acceptable.” Akdon then turned and walked out.

Back on Mars Jack and April were still at the table when Trey returned with one of the Martian Colonial Pilots.

“Jack, this is Duke Gordon. He’s a pilot with the defense force. Duke, this is Jack Thunder.”

Jack shook his hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Duke and I saw a lot of action together a few years back,” said Trey.

“Nothing compared to what you two have been through, I’m sure,” said Duke. “From what we’ve all heard over half the Space Force has been lost to the enemy.”

Neither Jack nor Trey said anything, and Duke took their silence to mean he had got it right. “Well they told us that a couple of pilots from the Saratoga who had seen these aliens in action were going to give all of us a briefing. I guess that’d be you two.”

“It’s us,” said Trey. “We’ll be reprogramming the simulators tomorrow to show everyone what were up against. Want to lend us a hand.”

“No problem. I’m curious how well I’ll do though.”

“I’ve seen you in action before, Duke...” said Trey “...you’ll do fine.”

“I’d be more worried about them,” said Duke pointing to the rowdy young pilots at the bar. As if to underscore his remark a fight broke out between two of the pilots. Trey and Duke left quickly to break it up.

Jack just sat there holding his drink and staring into space as if lost in deep thought. April stared at his face and thought how young and handsome he looked. She also reflected that he looked tired and worn out. Not in a physical way, but a mental way.

“Are you alright Jack? Are you about ready to go?”

Jack came out of his thought and energy returned to him. “I’m fine,” he said with a small smile. “I’m just wondering how all of this is going to end.”

“Try to think positively,” she said.

About that time Trey and Duke returned, having broken up the fight.

“Well guys the night is young. What shall we do?”

“Actually Trey...” said Duke “ I thought you might like to know that one transmitter station is open for public use if you want to let your family know that you are all right. All the others are tied up with official use. I don’t know what all the folks back home are being told about what’s going on out here, but your wife is bound to be worried.”

Most of the long range transmitters on the Saratoga had been knocked out of commission since Neptune. No one had had the chance to send any personal messages. But here was a chance.

“That’s a good idea,” said Trey.

“There’s going to be a long line but I’ll ride you up there myself,” said Duke.

At that very moment, a Colonial pilot came in and said “Lt Commander Gordon your needed at the base! It’s urgent!”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know, sir, but I have orders to bring you back.”

“All right. Trey come on. The transmitter station is on the way, we’ll drop you off.”

“I’ll be a while,” said Trey turning to face Jack and April. “I’ll meet you two back at the hotel.” Trey then rushed off with Duke.

“Well Jack I guess it’s just you and me.” The way she looked into his eyes and the smile she had on her face let Jack know that they had indeed moved into a new phase of their relationship. They had become friends and were fast becoming something else. April thought things were moving fast, but neither of them really thought that they had a good chance of surviving all that was ahead of them. With that attitude neither one of them was as worried about making a mistake or getting hurt as they might have been. Now that they were alone, she reached out and took his hand in hers.

“How about that Mars walk.”

“Lead the way,” he said.

They drove to a building which connected to the edge of the bio-dome. It was an exit station. Inside were suits for walking out on the surface. It didn’t take long for them to suit up. They entered the airlock chamber and put on their helmets, then the door on the other side of the chamber opened up and they set foot out on the Martian landscape.

The night sky looked just as it would have on Earth. It was dotted with stars. Jack looked at the rocky, rust colored soil under his feet. They walked over to where a group of Mars Rovers were parked. They weren’t all that different from the Moon Rovers that had been used over a hundred years earlier when man had first set foot on the moon. They rode out a good ways. Jack noticed that they were on a trail of sorts.

“Usually people come out here just to sight, see,” said April.