Gray Panthers: Battle for Earth (19 page)

"Please give me a status report on the ship Sub-Lieutenant,” Paulsen requested.

"We have fires under control, the reactor cooler is off line and we are at risk of it detonating like a bomb.  The reactor was three decks up from where the cowardly bomb of yours went off.  The reactor room is too radioactive to enter even with suits.  The external controls are not connecting to the reactor either, and the ship could explode at any moment."

"Nike, did you receive that?"

"Yes, the droids on the exterior hull do not show any such problems with the reactor; I will have them shut down the reactor from there.  The ship has emergency power that will last for another 48 hours.  I am shutting down the reactor now."

The bridge crew was startled as power ceased and emergency power came on.  They quickly ascertained they no longer had any control of their ship.  Paulsen grabbed the Admiral by his top shoulder and simply told him to evacuate now.  The ship was going to be used for target practice in five minutes, regardless of if there is a crew on board or not and that she was getting off now.  The admiral looked at her first in shock.  Then his eyes narrowed as he reached under his uniform tunic.  He began to pull out a short knife as he advanced toward the major.  He did not get the knife clear of its scabbard before a dozen bullets tore through his chest.  The major grabbed the Sub-Lieutenant as he stood in total shock before her, watching the floor fill with his admirals’ blood.  "Give the order to abandon ship now.  The ship will be destroyed in minutes and we all have to get off now!"  Paulsen shouted, trying to get through to the frozen officer.  He finally snapped out of it and grabbed a small orb.  He then began to talk into it, ordering abandon ship, every man for himself.  Paulsen was relieved when she heard it repeated through the ship’s speaker system.  The Sub-Lieutenant then looked at her with pure panic in his eyes as he shoved by her on his way to get off the ship.  The remaining bridge crew was right behind him.

   "Nike I guess I finally made an impression.  The ship’s crew, they are now evacuating.  Can the droids see if there are any scuttling devices or other nasty surprises?"

   "Good job major.  It looks like you got there in the nick of time.  They had just finished repairs and were ready to leave, with you and your troops as passengers.  Remind me to never play poker with you.  I will be sending a droid crew over to act as a prize crew.  The cargo ship has already been evacuated.  Continue to clear the ship as we deliver you a crew."  Commander Bad could not help but smile as he returned the microphone to the hook, and then picked it up again.  "Attention all hands, job well done.  We will go down in the history books for the first space battle in Earth’s history and two against one at that!  We had our cherry picked hard, but we kicked ass!"

Gray Panther head Quarters

10 January 2128

   "Mr. Daniels, we have a problem,” Grub stated flatly.

"Go ahead Grub; I was only trying to sleep for the first time in three days,” Dan replied groggily.

"I have been reviewing the records from both ships.  It appears they were only a forward element.  Their job was to give an initial evaluation of our planet to the rest of their fleet on its way to Earth.  They were going to recommend landing locations and where to find the best treasure.  It appears they launched two years before the rest of their fleet.  They were confident they would find no serious opposition and wanted to get the first chance at any loot.  The rest of their fleet will be here in two years to begin collecting slaves and setup a station on Earth.  The remaining fleet consists of primarily cargo ships and transports with only a few warships for a total of thirteen ships.  The ships we captured were able to send a message saying they were in contact with our shuttle, and that was their last transmission out.  They have an emergency device that sends out their ships log in the event of disaster, but they never sent anything due to battle damage.”

"Damn!"  Was all Dan said as he accepted the report that instead of a great victory he just had an initial taste of what was to come.

Be sure to read Book Two in the Gray Panther Trilogy, Earth’s Revenge.

Characters

Flem Race, Subterranean technologically advanced race that adhere to a strict code of pacifism.  The entire race evacuated their home planet to avoid subjugation to the Libra Race.  Previously
,
as members of the League of Planets
,
they were protected, until the Libra showed the league to be a paper tiger only.

Libra Race, Believe it is their destiny to oversee the universe, to ensure all are equals, without fear, the only problem is that they are in fact set to rule the universe for the sake of power itself.  Those opposed to them believe their motto should be "Obey, Comply, or Die"

Jacka Race, Patriarchal society consisting of ten Clans.  Entire economy is based on serving as mercenaries.  Culture demands strict honesty and honor, respects courage. 

Daniel "D2" Daniels, age 70.  Commander of GP and owner of GP Industries

Abdul “Abby” Bahadur, age 60.  GP head of production. 

Brent Sanders, age 80.  Tavern owner on the run for murder for 30 years.

Sigmund "Siggy" Goldstein, age 90.  Senior partner Law firm Goldstein and Goldstein

Juanita Jorge alias Maria Lopez, age 20.  Executive assistant to Dan Daniels

William "Black Jack" Black, age 98.  GP Ground forces Commander.

Butch "Butcher" Bad, age 72.  GP Space Forces Commander

James Young, age 30.  GP OPFOR commander

From the author:

I thank you for reading Gray Panthers Battle for Earth.  I would like to hear any feedback you have.  If you have suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  While I love reading and writing military science fiction, I am the first to admit my science is light and the military heavy. As a veteran of over 21 years in the Air Force that’s bound to happen. And for the fiction, well, I got a lot of practice filling out vouchers from going TDY!

    The next book in the trilogy will be Gray Panthers Earth’s Revenge.  I expect it to be finished around August 2015.

Thank you again for reading my book.

David Guenther

[email protected]