Escape 2: Fight the Aliens (18 page)

“Probably,” Bill said. “I suspect General Poindexter and the folks at MacDill will be happy to—”

“Weapons Chief MacCarthy,” called Star Traveler over the helmet comlink. “The boarding tube now links the
Blue Sky
with
Seafloat
. Do you wish to return home?”

“Sure. Uh, where’s the boarding tube access? At the pods chamber or transport chamber?”

“Neither,” Soft Glow hummed briefly. “If you step out into the hallway, I will cause the ceiling above you to open. Similar openings will occur in the deck above you, allowing you to reach my hull. Which will open and grant you access to the boarding tube provided by my fellow ship mind.”

Bill looked down at his left arm. The stitching had looked good when he’d glanced at it and now the white gauze covering it was fresh and showed not a spot of blood. That was when he noticed how the clear skin of his vacsuit was absent from the wound area. While the semi-living vacsuit skin hugged tight his arm above and below the wound, as it did the area beyond Bob’s shoulder wound, still, he doubted the vacsuit would handle airless space.

“Thank you, Soft Glow. But my vacsuit integrity was damaged by the laser beam. Will there—”

“Be air in the boarding tube?” the AI interrupted. “Of course there will be normal air pressure in the tube. Both I and Star Traveler are monitoring the tube’s integrity. You will be safe while transiting from
Seafloat
to
Blue Sky
.”

“Good to know.” Bill looked up Stefano, whose face now showed a few fatigue lines. But the man’s brown eyes were bright and attentive. “Buddy, you’re now the captain of a starship. It’s your reward for risking your life.” He looked to Mohawk-girl Cassandra and heavily muscled Bob. “You two did great in this infiltration. Not your fault that some damn politico type in the White House blabbed about the three ships we controlled. If it were up to me, that person would be in jail. After being forced to visit the families of the people who died in Kiev, thanks to his big mouth.”

“Bill,” called Jane over his helmet comlink, her tone brisk. “Time to get over here. The general wants to see you in person. I promised her you would be here ASAP.”

“I’ll be there!” He reached up and shook hands with Stefano. “Hope you like coming out of retirement.”

“I do. Did,” his buddy said, giving a squeeze, then letting go. A sober expression filled his brown face. “Now me, Bob and Cassandra have to figure out how to operate and fly a ship with just the three of us!”

“You’re a SEAL,” Bill said, walking toward Cassandra. “You’ll manage. As will this Air Force gal. Hey babe. Looking forward to playing with this ship’s lasers?”

His saloon friend’s blue eyes fixed on him as she turned in her seat and shook hands. “I am. But I wonder how we will get the right side nose laser and the topside plasma battery repaired. You took them out, I believe, before you joined us.”

“I did,” he said, stepping back from the stocky woman who had spent a dozen years in the Special Tactics branch of Air Force Special Operations. “Soft Glow, can you repair the laser, plasma battery and the antimatter particle accelerator above us?”

“Yes, yes and no,” the soft-spoken AI said as it chose succinct speech over windy disposition. “The laser tube and the mobile mount for the plasma battery can be built within this ship’s Factory Chamber. But the microelectronics and quantum fabrication involved in the accelerator cannot be done by me.”

“Weapons Chief,” called Star Traveler. “My memory of the time we spent obtaining ship repairs at the Megun star system tells me those people could rebuild the particle accelerator of the
Seafloat
.”

“Good to know,” he said as he walked over to where Bob sat, looking bemused by Bill’s meandering departure style. “Hey guy,
semper fidelis
, right?”

“Yes!
Semper fidelis
to the universe!” his buddy replied. The man’s bulldog face broke into a smile. “Damn but you sure gave us one hell of an adventure!”

Bill shook the man’s hand, then stepped back. “SEALs always deliver. And thanks for tending my wound when yours had to be hurting like hell. Uh, maybe you can make a visit to a clamshell healer in this ship’s Med Hall sometime over the next few hours?”

“Maybe,” Bob said, turning to face his Navigation control pillar and the four holos that now hung before it. One of the holos was a true space holo that showed black space, the Earth below, and the shapes of six Collector ships orbiting nearby.

The holo reminded him the seven Collector ships they now controlled were orbiting at the lower end of middle Earth orbit. Time to return to LEO above Peterson and see what the Air Force chief and other members of the JCS had to say. To him, to Jane and to the 18 men and women who now controlled seven starships. The ships were surely American war prizes. What else they might be had yet to be determined.

“See you all later, once we get back home above Colorado,” Bill said as he walked past Stefano and out the entry door into the hallway. Behind him the door hissed shut. He looked up. A three foot wide hole showed in the silver metal of the hallway ceiling. A similar hole showed in the ceiling of the deck above. Beyond that hole lay the ship’s outer hull and the boarding tube. “Soft Glow, cut gravity in this part of the hallway and in the spaces above me.”

“Gravity ended,” the AI said. “Good voyaging.”

“Thanks.” Slinging his backpack over his right shoulder, he kicked at the floor below. “Jane, I’m coming home.”

♦   ♦   ♦

Bill gave Jane a kiss. She’d lowered her command pedestal seat as he came through the Command Bridge’s entry door, and the expression on her oval face showed concern, caring and love. Captain she might be. His wife she was first and foremost. It was clear she’d been worried about him surviving his foray to help out his fellow SEAL. She’d looked over his left arm, then fixed dark brown eyes on him, her expression one of relief. That was when he’d walked up to the pedestal, dropped his backpack and wrapped both arms around her. Then he’d kissed her.

“Missed you, babe!” he murmured over the kiss.

She hugged him back, blinked several times, then pulled away from his embrace, her expression going from relieved wife to command formal. While his Alien crewmates and Richardson were surely watching, the pull-back told him other folks were also watching. Likely the Peterson crowd.

“XO, glad to have you back in one piece!”

He let go of her and stepped back. Bending down he grabbed his backpack, then gave her a fast salute. “Reporting back for duty, captain. All objectives of your Stage Two plan have been achieved.” Bill walked over to his Weapons station seat, waving at Lofty Flyer, Wind Swift, Long Walker, Time Marker and Bright Sparkle, whose supermodel face was smiling at his and Jane’s love hug. The woman whose color-banded body could have made millions on the pages of any fashion mag, online or in print, was herself as much a romantic as he was. She and her Megun people were believers in open affection and friendly jumps into sensual relationships. Bright Sparkle looked past him and gave a wink at Learned Escape, her fellow Megun, whose color bands always got lively anytime he was in the same room as Sparkle.

Bill sat at his seat and looked left to where the Chief of Naval Operations had been watching his arrival on the bridge of the
Blue Sky.
Stocky, with perfectly trimmed brown hair and gray eyes that missed nothing, the man seemed pleased by his return. “Hey vice admiral, how are your two subs doing out at L4? Everything fixed?”

The man’s casual look changed to a more formal one. Another sign of watchers. “They are both properly sealed against vacuum. However, the
Louisiana
lost two crew when its auxiliary machinery room two was breached. You recall that the laser strike went deep. Shrapnel killed the two men there. Their bodies are in cold storage.” The CNO paused, his expression now pained. “Three men were lost on the
Minnesota
when its topside maneuvering room was breached. Their bodies were lost. Captains Baraka and Leonard have made up memorial plaques which they hope to place in the CIC of each sub. With my approval. Which I’ve already given,” the man said, his tone emphatic.

Did Richardson worry that someone in DOD, the Department of the Navy or at Peterson would chastise him? Bill sympathized. Losing people hurt. He knew that. The teams he had served with had lost folks over the years. “Vice admiral, I am
very
glad those captains have created memorial plaques. And both subs were vital in our battle out beyond the Moon. They helped this ship and the two transports get close enough to make some laser strikes hit home!”

Richardson’s gray eyes widened as he heard Bill’s words. Still, he was the CNO. This was war time. And he understood his duty. The man looked past Bill and back to Jane. “Captain Yamaguchi, both subs are willing to join our captured ships in LEO, when you give the word.”

The comlink holo on Bill’s right showed Jane, dressed in her Navy ABU camos, lean forward and tap one of her control pillars. “Vice Admiral Chester J. Richardson, I too support your approval of the memorial plaques. We will do the same here on
Blue Sky
and put up similar plaques in our Food Hall. So that all who serve on this ship will understand the sacrifices given by the crews of the
Louisiana
and the
Minnesota
.” She paused and sat back. “Order both subs to join us at LEO above Peterson. Which is where our seven ships are now heading, thanks to the quick work of the boarding teams on the six captured ships.”

Bill heard the admiral grunt his understanding, then heard him speak into his own vacsuit comlink to the captains of the two subs. As his ally did that, he checked the system graphic holo on his left to confirm that their seven moving neutrino sources were the only such sources in Sol system. No new Collector ship had arrived during their covert boardings. His Weapons holo at the upper left showed all weapons and power levels at Green Operational. The true space holo at his upper right now showed the image of Earth growing larger and the transport
Tall Trees
moving away from the
Seafloat
with the nine freed captives. Similar transports were also leaving from the five other Collector ships as they sent home the captives aboard them. One team member acted as pilot with the help of that ship’s AI. Those transports would rejoin the
Blue Sky
and her six sister ships after they arrived above Peterson. Which took him to the comlink holo on his right. It showed Jane. Who looked directly at him as she spoke.

“XO, for your information, the freeing of the nine captives on board the
Seafloat
, your conversation with them and your return here have all been broadcast live to Peterson, at the order of General Poindexter,” Jane said firmly, her manner command serious. “The Chief of the Air Force now joins us by holo.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The image of General Harriet Poindexter filled the middle of the comlink holo, with Jane’s image moved to the right side of the holo. The middle-aged black woman wore the command ceremonial uniform limited to her rank and to the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. Her tight black curls were topped by a formal blue officer’s hat with silver braid on the bill of the hat. Below that she wore the Dress Blue three-button Hap Arnold-style coat with silver-lined shoulder tabs and silver buttons above a silver-lined belt. Her four silver stars shone brightly. Below the coat she wore a blue skirt. Whatever shoes and hose she wore were below the edge of the display table behind which she now stood. To her right stood General Paul J. McAuley, chairman of the JCS, who wore his Marine Blue Dress A uniform and white hat. Like Poindexter, his uniform showed four stars on his shoulder tabs, four silver coat buttons and seven lines of service bars on his left breast. A blue belt cinched his waist. Poindexter’s coat, contrary to usual command uniform practice, showed her five lines of service bars, with four service medals hanging below the bars. Above her bars were the silver Expert Rifleman insignia and the parachute insignia that showed her as jump qualified. The right chest side of both uniforms carried small name tags. Behind her there stood other command level officers of the colonel and major rank, with a small bevy of captains on the distant edges of the flatscreen-filled room where satellite monitoring was done in Building One at Peterson. The woman looked straight at them.

“Captain Jane Yamaguchi, I speak for the entire Air Force community in congratulating you, your XO, the CNO, your crew and the boarding teams for the magnificent job you all did in capturing the six Alien ships that killed our space station and bombarded the CONUS,” she said, her tone formal, professional and command serious. “General McAuley also has something to say on the matter.”

The massive form of the Marine whose face too often went red when he was angry or upset carried a formality that made Bill wonder at the stand up, formal dress of the two JCS chiefs. Someone else must be watching them even as they watched the Command Bridge imagery on their display table and nearby flatscreens. McAuley fixed gray eyes on them.

“Captain Jane Yamaguchi, I second what General Poindexter just said.” The man’s thick jaw clenched, then eased into a bemused expression. “You were right. I was wrong. Your retention of the control of your ship
Blue Sky
was vital to the defense of the Constitution, the United States itself and the entire Earth. And your two stage plan for first fighting, then infiltrating these Collector starships was both strategically and tactically inspired.” The big man licked his lips. “If you ever wish to retire from roaming space, there is room for you on the staff of the JCS.”

Jane’s right side image looked briefly shocked at the confession made by the JCS chairman. Then she stood up from her seat on top of the six foot high command pedestal, locked her heels in attention stance and saluted the man. “General McAuley, thank you! Your offer is much appreciated.” His wife shifted her stance slightly, looking to the right. “General Poindexter, thank you also for your remarks. I must point out that the capture of the six Alien starships was entirely due to the bravery and innovation of the six teams we sent to board those ships. I commend the team leaders, who are Jake Slowzenski of the
Tangi Valley
, Janice Watanabe of the
Takur Ghar
, Mack Hodson of the
Rolling Thunder
, Alicia Hoffman of the
Pointe Du Hoc
, Frank Wurtzman of the
Chapultepec Castle
and Stefano Cordova of the
Seafloat
.” Jane paused, put both hands behind her back in a change to parade rest stance and continued. “Do you have further orders for me, my ship and our six new American starships?”

Poindexter also moved to parade rest stance, though she put both hands on the edge of the display table. The woman’s command presence manner became slightly relaxed. “Captain, for your information, our communications with you, and your sharing of the release of the captives on the
Seafloat
, are being watched live by President Melody Hartman at the White House. She will have something to say momentarily.” The black woman looked aside, her gaze fixing on Bill. “I see that your Executive Officer carries a left arm wound. How many of the boarding members were injured in the ship capture efforts? Did any make the ultimate sacrifice?”

Jane remained standing, her parade rest stance being the best choice for a video conference that had the president of the United States as a silent observer. “General, all boarders survived the boardings. My XO caught a laser beam in his left arm. It’s been repaired. On the
Seafloat
, Marine Special Operations veteran Bob Milley also took a laser beam in his left shoulder. On the
Tangi Valley
, Green Beret member Francis Ginsburg took a laser through his leg that severed the bone. Francis is unconscious in the clamshell healer unit of his ship. The device will fully repair his wound.” She blinked, looked around the front of the bridge, then spoke. “On the
Rolling Thunder
, Apsara Mukherjee was tasered while Andre Helushka suffered a left arm laser wound. He is functional and is now piloting that ship’s transport as it returns captives to their homes. On the
Chapultepec Castle
, Ranger veteran Chris Selva was tasered and is recovering. Uh, on the
Seafloat
, Cassandra Welsh, a vet of Air Force Special Tactics, has fully recovered from being knocked out by an explosive blast.”

The black woman who commanded the 21
st
Space Wing, the 1
st
Space Brigade, the Space Command and the entire Air Force nodded slowly. “Good to hear the injuries were modest. Though I share Vice Admiral Richardson’s sadness at the loss of five good sailors on the
Louisiana
and the
Minnesota
.” She paused, ignoring a colonel who had come close to her with an iPad he wanted her to see. “Captain Yamaguchi, once before you reported most effectively on the enemy and how we might defeat them. That defeat has now happened. America now controls seven star-going spaceships with incredible weaponry. What are your post-action recommendations?”

Ahhh
. Bill had been wondering why the Air Force general was leading this vid-conference, rather than the JCS chairman. It seemed Poindexter was still exercising her assigned duty as commander of all American operations in space. To his right, the comlink holo showed Jane stiffening as she moved to formal attention stance.

“General, I recommend that you and the JCS and DOD retain the six team leaders as captains of the starships they captured. While three of them are retired from service, I gather DOD reactivated them to active duty status.” She paused, looked Bill’s way, then turned intent. “Second, in view of the quality efforts of the people you provided from MacDill, I recommend you seek more MacDill volunteers who are willing to serve as crew on these six ships. Each Collector ship is designed to operate with a captain and four crew. At present there is a captain and two crew. Which means we need twelve more people to serve as Command Bridge crew on board those ships.” Bill looked her way and gave an ASL hand sign. Her thin black eyebrows lifted. “I believe my XO has a recommendation to add to recommendations. Bill?”

“Thank you Captain Yamaguchi,” he said, standing up from his station as the attention of Poindexter, McAuley and other Air Force officers all fixed on him. Along with the unseen gaze of the president. “During my assistance to fellow SEAL Jake Slowzenski in the takeover of the
Seafloat
, I promised its captain, a walking cockroach by the name of Diligent Taskmaster, that I would see it, its crew and the Alien crews of the other ships deposited in a dome on the surface of Mars, there to live out their years.” He paused as the black woman’s face showed curiosity. “When Jane and I first took over this ship, we allowed its captain and his crew to leave it and to settle on the Market world in HD 128311, a star system located just over 50 light years from Earth. The . . . cockroach repaid our mercy by coming here at the head of a fleet with the aim of knocking humanity out of space and capturing hundreds of humans for sale on this interstellar Market of theirs. Allowing any Alien from these ships to return home would create a danger to the security of America and of humanity.”

Poindexter frowned. “Your recommendation is sound, based on the history of this Alien and his crew. But there is no human base on Mars. How can this be done?”

Bill put his hands behind his back, assuming parade rest stance as the best he could do for the big cheeses. “General, Chairman McAuley, this ship contains an automated Factory Chamber. It can fabricate a glass dome of whatever size is needed to house the Alien crews. I suggest it be placed in the deepest canyon system on Mars, the Valles Marineris, which is located on the planet’s equator.” He paused, noticed how several captains in the back of the room had suddenly become busy at their flatscreens. He hoped his wearing of NWU Type 1 blue camos did not tick off some micromanager. “Captain Yamaguchi is the amateur astronomer on this ship. She’s told me about that place. Its deep canyon nature will protect the dome from small asteroids, while the sunlight will be sufficient for the Aliens to grow crops and small meat animals like guinea pigs. If some expert from DOD wishes to interview them, have at it.”

The Air Force chief nodded slow agreement. “Sounds fine with me. I’m sure your ship can do as you say. Uh, what is the status of the Alien crew on the six ships right now?”

Jane gestured to him an ASL sign saying
Sit down
. He sat at his Weapons station seat as she leaned forward. “General Poindexter, all Alien ship crews now occupy containment cells on their ships. Those are very secure cells that once held me and my XO. Believe me, they cannot escape. Once the dome is built, we will taser zap them, transport their unconscious forms into the dome, and allow the 30 or so of them to sort things out among themselves. Do you approve of this disposition?”

“I approve,” Poindexter said, still standing next to McAuley, both of them now at parade rest stance. The woman glanced down at her display table where an iPad was blinking a notice. She looked up, her manner now very official. “I am advised that President Melody Hartman wishes to speak directly with you, Captain Yamaguchi. We are piggy-backing her White House vidsignal on our encrypted link to you.”

The comlink holo flickered again, with the two generals moving to the left side of the holo, with Jane at the right side. In the middle there now appeared an image of a fiftyish Anglo woman sitting behind a gleaming wooden desk in the Oval Office of the White House. The woman wore a brown and yellow suit dress. Her shoulder length brown hair showed plenty of curls. Her pale pink lips were pursed. But it was the expression in the woman’s blue eyes that made Bill stand up and snap to attention. He gave her a quick offhand salute. Richardson did the same. So did Jane, who had also gone to attention.

“Captain Yamaguchi, you did a good job taking over those Alien spaceships,” the woman said in a low soprano voice. Her eyes looked right and left, no doubt viewing the six Alien crew who shared the bridge with Bill and Jane. “Fascinating the shapes of intelligence you have encountered.” The woman’s manner grew suddenly formal. “Crew people Bright Sparkle, Time Marker, Long Walker, Wind Swift, Lofty Flyer and Learned Escape, on behalf of America and humanity, I thank you for volunteering to serve as crew on the
Blue Sky
. I represent 320 million Americans, out of seven billion humans on our world of Earth. I am the leader in charge of these military people you have worked with now and earlier.” Hartman smiled a political campaign smile. “Any of you are welcome to visit Earth and to be my guest in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House. Or to spend time on the South Lawn of my residence, which may appeal to the four-legged among you.” Bill saw the yellow electrical nimbus that surrounded Time Marker grow, then shrink as the walking snake reacted to the reference to him. Long Walker’s two mobile black eyes moved atop his fleshy head, first looking Bill’s way, then fixing on Hartman. His friend’s body language said he was pleased. As were Wind Swift the scaly kangaroo, Lofty Flyer the flying squirrel and the two Megun, Sparkle and Learned, whose skin color bands flowed like several rainbows. They must have muted their shoulder speaker/vidcam units as no words came from them. The president surely noticed the electrical nimbus, as her brown eyebrows lifted slightly. Her gaze moved to focus on his wife. “Captain Yamaguchi, I am pleased with how General Poindexter, assisted by General McAuley and Vice Admiral Richardson, have supported your efforts. They have my confidence.” The two generals made no move in the comlink holo. Clearly they were used to dealing with presidents who could bite in addition to giving compliments. “Tell me, captain, is America still threatened by these Collector ship Aliens and their Market worlds and Buyer system of interstellar commerce?”

Bill swallowed hard. Talk about asking a leading question! The one thing he was certain of after being kidnapped was that the universe was a wild, strange and dangerous place. Anyone who thought Earth and humanity might now be safe was fooling themselves. In the comlink holo, Jane put her arms at her side, still in attention stance. The muscles in her pale face tightened.

“President Hartman, yes, America and Earth are still threatened by the Buyer society,” she said, her tone emphatic.