SODIUM:3 Fusion (16 page)

After seven hours adrift I was elated to hear an incoming message. A rescue ship was fast approaching. My team got loud in celebration. The plan was for the rescue ship to match our speed and move in close enough for a door to door transfer attempt at getting us out. Their ship had a pilot and one crewman to handle the winch line.

The rescue Defender would be maneuvered until its rear door and ours were facing one another. Their ships computer would attempt to bring the ship within three meters for the transfer. We had been monitoring the stellar winds and they seemed to build and then ebb in an eight minute pattern. We would attempt our first transfer during the lull.

The pilot of the other ship introduced himself as Bumba. He was South African. He manually piloted his Defender to within one kilometer before turning it over to the ships computer. Within minutes the two Defenders were facing back to back while traveling at one half light speed. We again watched a timer tick away waiting for a lull in the stellar winds.

With precision timing the active skins on both Defenders shut down and the doors lifted. Rocko was at the ready with a line and winch with Tork being the first to hook up and cross. The process took four minutes.

The doors once again closed and the skins re-activated as the stellar winds again began to build. When the easing cycle repeated the transfer process began again. This time it was Raven who was then followed by Randy. As the squad Commander I felt it was my duty to go last. When the time came for my turn the stellar winds did not die down.

We waited patiently for almost three hours for the ebb but no change came. Bumba then made a command decision of his own. I asked what they were doing when the Defender began to slowly pull away.

I was told that our time was limited and that Tork had volunteered to go out on a tether in an attempt to change one of the damaged rings on the front of our ship. I thought it a bad idea to risk the lives and safety of five in an attempt to rescue the one. Tork reasoned that we would be needing the ship if it was at all repairable. We had 315 fighters looking to destroy our world.

It was a reasonable argument but one that was easily countered with why five live crewman and a good Defender were not worth risking. My arguments were ignored. Bumba brought the Defender in close before putting the plan into action. The door opened and out floated Tork with the tool needed to make the exchange for a spare ring that the rescue ship had brought to us.

The stellar winds still raged as Tork hurried through his repair attempt. With no active skin the rescue crew was taking a big risk. I felt unworthy of their gamble. Seven minutes into the ring exchange and Tork was reeled back into the other Defender. When their door had closed and the ship had moved safely away I was ready to give the new ring a try.

I applied power slowly and checked the status. The exchange appeared to have worked. I took a moment to thank Tork and again chastise him for taking the risk. But, I was glad to be heading home in my own ship. Bumba then told us to say our goodbyes because he needed to get back as soon as possible. There was much that needed doing.

I watched the green blip from the sensors as the fast Defender quickly sped away. I pushed my throttle full and watched my own speed climb at what seemed like a snails pace. If I was lucky I would arrive just before our attackers. Our Defenders were much slower with only one BHD ring but, just as the fully capable ship, they would continue to accelerate. My trip counter ticked away from more than 17 hours.

When I arrived at the base near Lake Pleasant in the Adirondacks I moved quickly into a hangar. A crew was waiting to affect repairs. I hurried away to the elevators to take me to Chamber 2 for a briefing on the fight that was almost upon us.

I hustled into the briefing room where I was met by my crew. I took note that Tork was not looking well. Just as the briefing was about to begin he collapsed. I was sure it was due to the sacrifices he had made to get us safely home.

When the medic team had him on the way to the infirmary the briefing began. Our Battle Commander, Admiral Rex Hall, strode in with a stern look on his face. We would be fielding 42 Defenders against the 315 alien fighters. It was not good odds. We would be deploying our fighters in squads of six based on a perimeter around where the alien fighters were expected to arrive.

Our newest space based coil guns were now on mobile platforms but there were only eight of them and they were still relatively slow to move. Our strategy would be to try to quickly move forces to wherever the heaviest need was.

In the few months since the carrier attack the Australians had constructed and opened a factory that was now pumping out 300 light coil guns a day. These new light guns were mobile and were being rushed to every major city in an attempt to beef up their defenses. There was also added emphasis on protecting our factories as further destruction could end any attempt at rearming ourselves for the main fleet.

When the briefing ended we had our orders. We also had a new engineer. He would be meeting us at our Defender as he was being pulled directly from training in the DSims two weeks early.

I was not happy with the current crew change but being happy was not a requirement. I would have to give the new crewman the chance to prove himself. I had ten minutes to spend before returning to the hangar. I decided on a call to the family. I wanted to hear my parents voices and I wanted the encouragement that I knew would come from my Grandfather.

My Mother had her usual worried tone. Why would I be calling after not talking to her for weeks. I told her everything was fine and to just stay on the farm and tend to business. She was of course suspicious.

I then moved on to the real purpose of my call... my Grandfather. I needed his wisdom, his support, his calm and confidence. I had no problem going headlong into whatever was coming my way. But, that did not mean my guts would not turn to jelly.

I was nervous and Gramps always had a way of putting my mind at ease. He told me that man makes mistakes. That all you can do when times are tough is do the best you can. That worrying never solved anything... action did. He ended by saying that he had complete confidence in his Granddaughter. After all, she had his genes.

The talk had been just what was needed. As I rode the shuttle towards the hangars my inner thoughts turned from worry about my loved ones and for all Mankind to ones of fight and determination. In less than two hours the alien fighters would be upon us. Earth would again be fighting for its survival. As I stepped out into the hangar and viewed all the crews, handlers and support personnel hurrying about I had a renewed feeling of strength... of confidence. We would be giving the aliens the best of what we had.

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