Escape 2: Fight the Aliens (20 page)

“Good to hear,” Jane said, looking to the right of the Engines chief. “Long Walker, would your Zipziptoe people join our alliance?”

The eight-legged, ground-hugging form of Long Walker resembled a segmented worm. Each foot had ferocious claws on it, while the front leg pair were uplifted and the fleshy leg-hands held out. Three fingers and a thumb adorned the end of each leg-hand. The fleshly head was most striking. It had a circular mouth filled with dagger-like teeth clearly made for latching onto prey and munching. At the top of the wrinkled head were two black eyes. Those eyes looked his way, then to Jane. “Captain of this ship, my people are long-lived and we can survive most any injury,” he moaned low. “But we are peaceful. There is much natural violence on our world. However, we enjoy distant traveling. Perhaps our people could do as I do, and work as crew on the starships of other alliance members?”

“That could work,” Jane said. “I like your suggestion.” She looked further right. “Wind Swift, would your Cheelan people be willing to join our alliance?”

Their Life Support chief turned from her station. She resembled a  kangaroo covered in silver scales. She had two arms with long scaly fingers on each hand, two strongly muscled legs, a yellow abdomen, red eyes and a thick tail that served as a third balance point. She rested her four-fingered hands on a leather skirt that reached to her knees. She swung her horse-like head to face Jane. “Captain and liberator of me from my former cell, my service is promised to you and this ship,” she barked. “As for my people, they have a modest space industry. We have visited our two nearby moons and a water planet lying near our world. We have orbital complexes above our world. As you know, I am a doer. I worked in our asteroid belt, finding the ores needed to support our society.” She blinked. “In ages past we fought among ourselves. We grew beyond that and focused on conquering our star system. But we know how to fight. If our spaceships were fitted with lasers and Magfield drives, we would fight any invader! And if you share this Alcubierre stardrive with us, we will travel the stars with you and any other species!”

Jane smiled at the kangaroo’s enthusiasm. She looked right to where the flying squirrel who was their Navigator now stood before her function pillar and holos. “Lofty Flyer, what about your Aelthorp folks. Would an interstellar alliance interest them?”

Lofty Flyer lifted her brown-furred arms, stretching the skin flaps that ran from her arms down to her knees. She looked upward with eyes closed and mouth open. “Ahhh,” she chittered. Their crewmate turned her pug-nose face toward Jane and blinked yellow eyes. “Yes! Oh, do ask us to be part of this alliance! Our clans will surely join your effort! As you know, our people have spacecraft and have visited several worlds of our system. We fought in the past. We are willing to fight in the future, in defense of freedom and the right of every people to live as they choose!”

In the comlink holo, both McAuley and Poindexter smiled at the antics of their natural born flyer. Jane looked down to where their second transport pilot sat. “Builder of Joy, do you agree with Lofty Flyer? Will your people join our alliance?”

“Yes, oh yes!” the male Aelthorp chittered eagerly as he leaned forward from his pilot seat to the right of Jane. “I loved flying through the clouds of your Earth! Such a wonder! And your forests of Siberia are beautiful!” He looked up at Jane. “Captain of our travel, I agree with the doer, our people will join this alliance!”

“Captain,” called Bright Sparkle from the right of Bill’s station as she stood up and faced Jane, a naked human-like woman whose body would inflame any normal male. She put her thumbs in the belt loops of her shorts as her color bands and spots ran riot. The speaker/vidcam unit on her left shoulder spoke. “We Megun will surely join this alliance of star peoples! We fought the giant creatures on our jungle world in order to survive and to thrive. We now travel through our system and control devices and technology which repaired this ship so you could return home to your Earth.” She gestured at the true space holo at her station. A green, blue and white image of Earth filled it as they orbited 200 miles above Colorado. “Your world is a wonder. I hope to visit its lands and people some day. But first, we must destroy this Market world that sent Diligent Taskmaster to enslave you!”

“I say the same,” came from Learned Escape, the nearly naked male Megun who resembled Arnold Swarzenegger in his youth. The man’s color bands and spots also swirled and changed as he spoke through his shoulder unit. “Survival is what I taught our young people on our world of Harken. Survival in space is but an extension. I offer my piloting services and my survival knowledge to this alliance of star peoples!”

Jane’s expression went command formal. “Thank you Bright Sparkle and Learned Escape. I did not intend to preempt your right of expression. But my lifemate and I loved our time on your world of Harken, valued highly the Megun people who helped fix our ships, and we were very impressed with your society’s technology and cultural unity. Any alliance that includes the Megun in it is an alliance that will always prevail!”

Both Megun smiled, then sat at their function posts. Jane looked at the generals in her comlink holo. “I believe an alliance of star peoples
can
happen. We will likely have five species willing to join with humanity to fight this slave-taking scourge.”

Poindexter smiled, then moved from casual to command manner. “Jane, the words of your . . . star peoples greatly encourage me. After you destroy this Market world, will you travel on to these star systems and propose the alliance to them?”

“If you wish us to,” Jane said, her manner attentive. “We can return home to Earth if that is the wish of you and the president.”

The black woman looked aside at McAuley. Who took the hint. “Captain, it does seem a good idea to establish this star peoples alliance sooner than later. Going out to the stars of your crew makes sense. Which raises an issue.” The big Marine looked to the Air Force chief. “Harriet, someone from the administration should travel with our fleet when it heads out. Any ideas?”

The woman frowned thoughtfully. “A diplomat from State is
not
what is needed here. While some at State are veterans, none of them have any knowledge of outer space. Or Aliens.” She brightened. “We could suggest to President Hartman that she send Chester on this trip. He has done a fine job being liaison to our space-going subs. We will need a new CNO if he goes.” She looked at her vid screen image of the
Blue Sky
bridge. “Vice admiral, you interested in staying in space for awhile?”

Bill looked over at the stocky man who sat to his left. The admiral had a wife and three grown children who lived at their home near Naval Station Norfolk. Being absent for months was normal for any Navy member. But did the man want to end his career as a make-do interstellar diplomat?

“Sure,” the admiral said, giving Bill an ASL hand gesture that meant
Count On Me
. “My wife Sharon is used to long absences by me. She will keep watch over our kids and grandkids. And after seeing these . . . crew
people
from other stars, I have to see their worlds! I joined the Navy to travel and see far parts of our world. Traveling to other stars is just another Navy jaunt to me.”

McAuley chuckled briefly. “Typical sailor.”

“A fine manager he is,” Poindexter added, looking at the admiral. “Chester, say hello to the president when you land on the South Lawn. I will call her. By the time you exit onto the lawn, she will have made her decision. Either you stay ground-bound, or you get back onto that giant dreadnought of the stars and head out!”

“Sounds good to me,” Richardson said, looking pleased.

“We are happy to have Chester on this ship,” Jane said warmly. “He has become a welcome member of my crew. I am sure he will do a fine job representing the President of the United States before the leaders of other star peoples.”

Poindexter gave her a thumbs-up. “Well said, Jane. We here watched everything you did since arriving above Peterson. Your battles out past the Moon, and here above Earth, were excellent use of the forces under your command. The timing of the pod boardings was perfect. Surprise was achieved. The six ships were captured intact, which surely saves the Treasury billions in trying to build copies of the Collector ships.” The woman paused, looked aside as an aide handed her an iPhone. The message on it made her smile. She looked up. “Captain Yamaguchi, the new chief of staff for President Hartman asks that you folks arrive soon. And both of you, be prepared for a nice surprise upon your arrival.”

What the? Bill had wondered at the very warm behaviors of the two members of the JCS. But the black woman had moved beyond command casual. What surprise could include the two of them. Jane had noticed the change also, judging from her raised eyebrows.

“Harriet, thank you for those words. Bill and I tried hard to do what we thought would most harm the Buyer society when we went into battle at Kepler 443.” She sighed softly. “Turns out we needed to do more here, at home. I’m glad we succeeded. And I am very glad for the loan of your special forces people. They made it possible to capture six ships rather than three. They are brave people.”

“That they are,” McAuley growled, his square-jawed face almost smiling. “Carry out your orders. Go see the president. Drop off the prisoners on Mars. Then go and kill every Market world space station and Buyer compound that could be used to send Collector ships against Earth!”

“I will. We will,” Jane said. “Paul, thank you for your support. And Harriet, please let my comrades at Peterson know that I think often of them.” She looked ahead. “Navigator, set vector for the part of the eastern seacoast known as Washington D.C. Engines, move us down from orbit. Power, maintain full energy flows to all systems of this ship!”

And with that they headed off for an afternoon rendezvous with the President of the United States.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The landing on the South Lawn of the White House went well. Well, that is, if you didn’t count nine trees killed just below the Rose Garden, a smashed water fountain at the lawn’s south end, a hundred feet of smashed fence on Ellipse Road and a squashed pine tree on the east side of the upper Ellipse park. Six pairs of landing jacks did major damage to carefully coiffed green turf in both lawns. The public, used to easy access to Ellipse, complained loudly behind the new fence that blocked off Ellipse Road and which enclosed the entire Ellipse. Park Service people handled the folks outside the fence. Secret Service agents with rifles walked the inner perimeter of the Ellipse fence, making clear it was now part of the White House grounds. But they made it, with the nose of the
Blue Sky
resting just twenty feet from the pillars of the South Portico of the White House.

Behind him the command pedestal lowered to deck level. Jane stepped out of her command seat, finished pulling off her vacsuit, and looked his way. “Bill, you might want to get rid of the remains of your vacsuit.” She looked around, catching the attention of his crewmates. “Everyone, remove your vacsuit. We are no longer in active combat in space. This time, I want you all with me when we leave this ship, and I want you to breath the fresh air of Earth!”

Bill pulled off the remnant of his vacsuit’s left sleeve, pushed back the helmet, opened the front of the vacsuit along its sealer line and felt glad to be rid of the damn thing. While the suit was high tech safety in vacuum, he hated being enclosed. Give him some nice surf, a big wave, some rocky hills to climb and a swamp to tromp through and he could be happy. But he had his doubts about the fresh air, this being downtown D.C. Still, the South Lawn was bordered by scores of trees on the east and west sides. No doubt Lofty Flyer and Builder of Joy would love being among those trees. That is, after they met the president, who he suspected was planning a politico event. He looked to his wife, who seemed impatient.

“Jane, do we wear our pistols? Carry our taser tubes?”

She frowned, looked at Chester who gave a Who Knows? shrug, then acted. “Wear your .45.” She reached to the back of her seat. “I’ve got my Browning Hi-Power. The rest of you can carry taser tubes if you wish. While this is a very secure place, with guards everywhere, I do
not
trust to fate. Better to be prepared in case some crazy jumps a fence and runs at us wearing a suicide vest.”

He grabbed his backpack, pulled out his Federal Ordnance 1911A1 semi-auto, jacked a round into the chamber and put it into the holster he had strapped to his waist. The gun partly disappeared against the mottling colors of his NWU camos. Her Browning was visible against her ABU camos. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the taser tube he’d carried onto the
Seafloat
. He handed it to the admiral. “Chester, carry this taser rifle. You’ve seen our training holos. It’s perfect for non-fatal takedown of nasties. Range is a thousand feet, at least.”

The Chief of Naval Operations looked surprised, then pleased as he accepted the white tube. “Thanks, Bill. I will carry it with me. Your captain is right to never trust to fate.”

Bill nodded, then noticed how much Jane’s pistol showed against her ABU uniform. “Captain, meeting the president is super special. Think we should detour to our habitat and put on our dress uniforms?”

His wife gave a sigh, then a quick smile. “You are right. I am active duty and you are reactivated, like all your buddies. No active duty service member shows up for a formal meeting without looking their best.” She looked past him. “Right, Chester?”

The vice admiral still wore his Dress Black formal uniform that he had arrived wearing. The man smiled easily. “Captain, you are quite right. Hartman is the commander in chief for all of us. We should look our best.”

Jane nodded. “Agreed. We detour to our habitat room before we get tasers for these folks at the pods chamber.” She waved at them all. “Follow me!”

♦   ♦   ♦

Seven Aliens and three humans moved down the ship’s midbody ramp to where it exited just up from the South Lawn’s shallow water pool that now was covered by the middle of the ship’s hull. Four men and one woman dressed in Secret Service black suits greeted them. A bald agent looked at his and Jane’s pistols, then spotted the white tubes carried by Chester, Bright Sparkle, Learned Escape, Time Marker, Long Walker, Wind Swift, Lofty Flyer and Builder of Joy. Wind Swift was the closest of the group.

“Hey, no weapons allowed on the White House grounds!” the agent said, reaching out and grabbing the scaly kangaroo’s left arm.

“Violence opposed,” hissed Time Marker as his nimbus of yellow electricity jumped out and zapped the arm of the agent.

“Owww!” the agent cried, dropping to one knee as he grabbed his arm.

“Enough!” Jane yelled as three of the agents pulled out submachine guns from under their coats. “We are here as guests of President Hartman. Everyone you see here is an active duty member of the United States Armed Forces or an ally! We are at war. Regulations require us to carry lethal arms when on duty. Take us to the South Portico, or we leave and you explain to the president why we left.”

The woman agent, a redhead whose hair was tightly wrapped to one side of her head, and the only one who had not pulled out a weapon, stepped forward and reached out to the zapped agent as he stood up slowly. “William, we do not initiate violence. We end it.” She faced Jane. “Captain Jane Yamaguchi and guests, please follow me to where the president is waiting at the foot of the South Portico.”

Bill moved to the left side of his Alien crewmates, while Chester moved to the right side. They convoyed the group as Jane led them on a march across newly mowed green grass. The afternoon wind rustled through he leaves of the nearby trees, the Sun shone pleasantly warm for a September day in D.C., and Long Walker the worm sniffed the black dirt dug up by his foot claws.

“Healthy soil,” he moaned gutturally. “Quiet sky. No lightning. No storms. I like.”

His two flying squirrel buddies almost danced as they walked, so excited were they to be on land and among trees. “Joyful is this place!” chittered Lofty Flyer.

Bright Sparkle looked his way, her supermodel face smiling happily. “Your world is beautiful, my Bill,” said her shoulder speaker/vidcam unit as the color bands on her bare skin moved in chromatophoric language. “Seeing from orbit is not the same as walking under your blue sky. No wonder the captain named our ship as she did.”

“It
is
a beautiful world,” Bill agreed. “Worth defending. Worth living on. Worth taking care of.” He noticed there was a crowd of sixty men and women gathered in a half circle before the microphone podium that stood in front of an expectant looking Melody Hartman. “Uh, be aware that some humans think uncovered skin, like your bare breasts, are not for public display. Ignore them.”

She blinked green eyes, her shoulder length black hair swinging naturally as she walked like an Amazon goddess among mortals. “Why do such people still live? On our world they would be dead. We speak with our skins. Covered skin means early death.”

He nodded as they came closer to the crowd. “It’s a foolish attitude. But just wanted you to know that some humans believe that way. Not the majority, thank goodness!”

She looked ahead, her bare arms swinging. Beside her walked the Adonis figure of Learned Escape. “You and Jane have no such belief. Many times have you visited the Water Pool Chamber of our ship without any skin covering at all. A healthy behavior, in view of how the skin of both our species needs sunlight to create chemicals for our biochemistry.”

“It
is
healthy to sometimes go without clothes,” he said.

Bill slowed as Jane slowed. Ahead of them the half circle of formally dressed people of various ages and both genders parted to open a pathway to the president. Who wore the same yellow and brown suit dress outfit they’d seen in the holo. But her hair had been newly coiffed, she wore a white pearl necklace and her brown leather shoes sparkled with inlaid semi-precious stones. The five Secret Service agents who had escorted them now peeled off to either side, moving to stand watch among the trees that fringed the grassy area below the portico. He noticed there were three network video crews standing behind and to either side of the president. Clearly their arrival had become a ‘live news’ event.

“Welcome!” called Hartman in a loud soprano. “Welcome to Captain Jane Yamaguchi, to Executive Officer Bill MacCarthy, to Vice Admiral Chester Richardson and to the seven ship crew members from distant stars. You are all welcome here, in America and on this world of ours that you so recently defended from attack by slave-taking Aliens!”

Jane stopped ten feet back from the president and her podium. Bill and Chester spread out to either side, leaving his wife surrounded by their Alien crewmates. She saluted smartly.

“My commander in chief, I thank you! We fought to protect Earth, to protect the Constitution of the United States and to capture Alien ships for future protection of America,” she said loudly.

“Be at ease,” Hartman said, her manner that of a natural born politician who truly enjoys meeting and greeting unknown people. “Call me Melody.” The president looked around the people gathered behind Bill and Jane’s group. “For those of you who have not followed the video talking heads lately, before us are seven people from five worlds out in distant space.” She gestured to where Sparkle stood next to Bill. “Their names are Bright Sparkle, Learned Escape, Time Marker, Long Walker, Wind Swift, Lofty Flyer and Builder of Joy,” she said, pointing to each of his crewmates as she spoke their name. “They are the crew of the American starship
Blue Sky
. That is the ship that now sits on the South Lawn. That ship has now been joined by six other starships that these people, with the aid of our special forces, recently captured.” The woman sobered. “While we mourn the dead of Kiev and our hearts go out to their families, these people and their allied ships stopped very nasty Aliens from killing other human cities.” Hartman fixed on the Aliens before her. “For your service in defense of humanity, I thank you!”

His crewmates made responses as was natural to them. Sparkle and Learned said “Thank you” from their shoulder units. Other crew barked, moaned, hissed and chittered their appreciation. He, Jane and Chester remained at parade rest stance. They were on live worldwide video display and he was not about to do something that would disappoint his sister Joan back in Denver. Jane and Chester surely had friends looking on.

Hartman nodded as the last of the crew finished their responses. She looked his way. “Before I take these people into the White House for tea and cookies in the Blue Room, I have a duty to perform as this nation’s commander of its armed forces.” Behind her a Marine now stepped forward holding something in his hand. A second Marine honor guard also stepped forward to stand behind the president. “Chief Petty Officer Bill MacCarthy, step forward to this podium.”

He swallowed hard. Around him the crowd of people went quieter than before. Did his wife know what was about to happen? She kept her eyes fixed forward, showing proper attention to the person mandated by the Constitution to send her into battle. He moved from parade rest stance and walked forward to stand before Hartman. Who now moved out from behind the podium and up to him. She reached out to her right and accepted a small blue box handed her by the nearer Marine guard. Her brown eyes fixed on him.

“Reporting as ordered,” he said briefly, having learned at Coronado the less said meant the less chance of saying something wrong. He gave her a quick salute, then stood with arms at his side.

Hartman smiled. “Mr. MacCarthy, for extraordinary heroism in the boarding of the enemy starship now named
Seafloat
, while in great danger, at great personal risk to yourself you forced entry into the Command Bridge of the starship, thereby drawing laser fire on yourself from the Alien commander. That action allowed three special forces team members to enter from the roof of the bridge and to render senseless the Alien commander. Which action resulted in America gaining control of that starship.” She opened the small blue box and pulled out something shiny as best he could tell from his peripheral vision. He was not about to take his eyes off of his commander in chief. “In recognition of your extraordinary heroism during a time of war and in combat against the enemy, I hereby bestow the Navy Cross on you.”

Chills swept over him as Hartman pinned the bronze cross pattée to the left side of his Dress Black jacket. He could not remember the last SEAL to win the Navy Cross, but only a few had earned it. Most of them were dead now, or dead when awarded. He saluted again, hoping his drill bosses at Coronado would approve of his form.

“Thank you!” he said firmly, still fixed on the face of Melody Hartman.

Who smiled as she stepped back. “Do you wish to say a few words? It is permitted.”

Bill almost licked his lips but didn’t, recalling this was all live on video camera. Whatever he did or said here would outlive him. He smiled back. “I only wish to say many SEALs have done more than I did. But I thank you for this honor.” He lowered his hand and went to parade rest stance.

“Admirably succinct,” Hartman said as she stepped to one side and faced the gathered crowd. And his crewmates. “Captain Jane Yamaguchi, step forward.”