The Black Planet (19 page)

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?’