The Red Leopards of Zaxon B (Galaxies Collide Book 2) (26 page)

David Bland stared through the cockpit windows, the blackness of space seeming to fuse with his mind as the small transport craft continued along its crippled trajectory at high speed. Having been flying in a set straight line for nearly twenty four hours, he had become resigned to the idea that they would probably never be found. The Trevakians were now becoming further away by the minute and concentrating on their own survival, not looking for small craft that if even remembered or known as missing, would probably be dismissed as crash landed or destroyed.

He stared up at the distant stars…so peaceful and bright through the deep blackness of space. Smiling to himself, he wondered if lifeforms existed there…if the atmosphere could sustain life…the thoughts now making him smile widely. Some seventy two hours ago, he would not even have considered the idea…grinning, he considered he would now be on the M25 motorway in traffic going home if nothing had happened…now that world had changed and changed for good.

Leaning forward, he stared upwards in awe at a bright star shooting across the heavens, the trail seeming to sparkle across the blackness, the beauty breath taking. He slumped back in the flight seat, his eyes scanning far into the distance as the small transport craft swept forward. Two planets were clearly visible, both well away to either side from the projected flightpath as David smiled further, his ironic sense of humour enjoying the unpredictability of fate. The pilot and he would continue on in their metal hulled coffin, slowly absorbing all the craft’s oxygen supply until they eventually slumped asleep over the controls…never to awaken. In the grand design of life or existence it would not change anything…no one would know or care as the craft swept forward endlessly, eventually hitting something or being found….two anonymous skeletons lying within.

Rubbing his hand through his matted hair, he pondered what the potential beings that eventually opened the metal coffin would think…developing ideas as to where the two strange skeletons or remains had come from…what had even brought them to this place. David stared back at the stars with tears of futility welling in his eyes, the lights twinkling in the distance, so beautiful yet so deadly and lonely.

Hearing the muffled clanking and hammering from the cargo compartment, he smiled to himself again, the pilot attempting to rectify some of the damage caused and alter the crafts trajectory. He stiffened as some of the lights began to flash across the cockpit, his eyes staring at the strange symbols as his body pushed up from the seat, turning to call the pilot, ‘Come to the cockpit…something it happening!’

David could hear the muffled sigh and muttering under the flyers breath, his tolerance of the human virtually exhausted as the pilot gritted his teeth in irritation, ‘I am busy!’

David shook his head in frustration, the Trevakian’s stubbornness becoming intolerably irritating, his voice rising, ‘Stop piddling about and get in here!’ He stared at the flashing lights, the visual display powering up and beginning to flash.

Shuffling in the rear cargo bay, another sigh and some swearing in a foreign tongue and a helmeted head swept through the centre door, the pilot’s grease covered face glaring at him, ‘What is this piddling? What stupid human word is that?’ The man sighed, ‘We would have been better making an alliance with the enemy…your species are idiots!’

David grimaced, his anger rising as he gestured in frustration at the controls, his voice stern as his face flushed, ‘What do those lights mean then soppy? That the ice cream is defrosting in the rear freezer! They just started flashing…surely it is a sign!’

The pilot’s eyes widened as he glanced across the main control screen, the controls he had switched to standby to control energy usage now powering themselves up automatically. The flyer stared at the controls, seemingly mesmerised as David continued, muttering to himself, ‘Bloody Arrogant Trevakians…come to earth boasting about their superior weaponry and dragging us into a war they are losing…so much for better weapons…’

The man turned slightly, his voice harsh, ‘Shut up you! This is serious…’ He slowly lowered himself into the pilot’s seat as David scowled at him, his teeth gritted, the Trevakian running his hands across the screen instinctively as he drew a deep breath.

David leant forward, staring incredulously at the pilot, ‘Really? You are very rude…there is no need to talk to me like tha…’ His voice tailed off as the pilot raised his hand impatiently for him to be quiet, the Trevakian turning to stare at him, the flyer’s eyes sparkling with excitement.

Slowly the pilot spoke, his words hushed as if conveying a secret, his eyes staring widely at David as adrenalin surged through him, ‘The instruments indicate power surges…there is something out there, probably a ship…and it’s watching us!’ Then his eyes narrowed, becoming almost confused with inquisitiveness, ‘What does this human word
soppy
mean?’

Admiral Shadian slumped into his seat on the bridge of Alexion One, staring wearily through the viewing window, the command centre illuminated in an intermittent red warning glow. The darkness of space seemed to engulf him, distant flashes continued across the upper atmosphere of Zaxon B as the remaining Trevakian fighters fought desperately against Morgon craft. The outnumbered silver vessels had now withdrawn to fight within the reaches of ground fire and support from the crippled space station.

Glancing at the screen in front of him, he sighed with exhaustion as the numerous red flickering lights indicated the damage alarm systems across his station, his head slowly lowering into his hands.

Across the bridge, the four tired controllers frantically ran their fingers across their screens, closing airlock doors and automating fire control systems as emergency crews desperately ran from one deteriorating situation to another, attempting to seal the stations scorched and perforated hull.

The fighting continued above, Morgon shock troops attacking on levels 68 to 82 as the Trevakians fought for their lives…and their station’s survival. Engineers were working frantically on a transporter fault, attempting to reconfigure the machine to engage on lower power and by-pass the safety measures. Knowing full well that successful operation of the machine could potentially bring the urgently needed reinforcements to assist the defence of the station and planet below.

Shadian raised his voice in irritation, ‘How long for the transporter?’

The female voice of his second in command shouted back, ‘Perhaps only a few minutes Sir…we will engage when ready…’

The admiral shook his head, ‘Let’s pray that is the case…we have little time left!’

Wary that a figure was now stood before him, the admiral glanced up, his tired red eyes taking in the dust covered light blue uniform of one of his intelligence officers, the man clearly on edge. The commander’s eyes widened slowly, forcing a smile as he stared at the soldier, indicating for him to talk.

The young intelligence officer saluted wearily, his fist rising to his chest, dark lines under his eyes, ‘Sir…we have resumed our covert listening to the enemies communications…most of our systems are damaged or off line, but we have intercepted one Morgon message.’

Admiral Shadian nodded slowly and warily, seeing the officer before him was concerned, his voice croaking, ‘One message only? Go ahead…it can’t get any worse…’

The man stiffened, raising his hand to his earpiece, ‘We are disseminating it now, but we have the first part of the communication already.’ He turned slightly to the side, his tone low, ‘Give me the contents we have translated so far please.’ The intelligence officer nodded as the voice spoke in his ear, his face becoming grave as he turned back to face the station’s expectant commander, ‘Sir, the enemy communication code has been broken…which is strange as they usually use a more complex signal…I think we were meant to break their code, to know what they are doing…’

The commander shook his head in frustration, ‘They are playing with us then…what is the message?’

The intelligence officer gritted his teeth, ‘The Morgon’s have sent what we believe to be activation codes through their covert channels. It’s source is near, they have a cloaked command station in the vicinity which we cannot locate. The covert transmission method they have used is old, something we have not seen for some time, but still universal to their forces on all planets…their receiving operators should all understand the signals.’

Admiral Shadian pursed his lips irritation, ‘Did you get a directional heading on the communication or is it a general release? Please tell me they do not have any more forces on Zaxon B…they already outnumber us by probably over four to one…’

The intelligence officer glanced across the bridge, his eyes moistening with emotion, biting his lower lip, ‘Sir, I have to report the directional targeting of this communication was far out of this galaxy…perhaps the simplicity was used to ensure the integrity of the message…the target was across the next galaxy and will be received by most of their forces in this one...’ He sighed, shaking his head in despondency, his eyes lowered, ‘The message was sent towards a planet called Earth…the home of our new human allies…’

Thank you for reading this book, I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as I did writing it.

Please investigate the following adventures currently available or in production/planned from the author:

World War Two (historically accurate with fictional characters):

Bloody Iced Bullet                                          Bloody Rattenkrieg                                          Bloody Kessel                                                                               Bloody Stalingrad (Trilogy)

Bloody Kharkov                                                        Bloody Kursk                                                        Bloody Italien                                                                               Bloody 1943 (Trilogy)

Bloody Normandie                                          Bloody Falaise                                                        Bloody Aachen

Science Fiction:

The Last Marine in the Galaxy                  The Red Leopards of Zaxon B                    Galaxies Collide: First Contact

Planet Genocide I                                Zaxon B: The Final Struggle                            Planet Genocide II

Fantasy:

Army of the Skeletal Prince                  Blades of the Undead

Crime Drama (Action and Dark Humour):

Bloodied Hunger                                Bloodied Insurgents                            Bloodied London I

Bloodied Intoxication                             The Man behind the Smile              The Hong Kong Scotsman

Historical Drama (Adventure and Romance):

The Last Highlanders                                 Voyage of the Highlander             

With the desperate battle for Zaxon B continuing, the military struggle and initiative across the galaxies seem to slipping from the Trevakian’s grasp. With two Morgon warships now leaving the stricken planet, Alexion One has discovered the primitive activation codes passing them in space are heading for the location of human earth…
Planet Genocide I
continues the story as earth frantically tries to re-arm and join the galactic struggle before the momentum shifts irretrievably in the Morgon’s favour. Time is running out…

I would like to thank four of my colleagues for their voluntary assistance with this project.

Kara Reed has offered continual encouragement throughout the previous book and the current projects. Listening to ideas and offering ideas on alternatives or additions to existing plot lines. This has been of considerable assistance and I am very grateful for the ‘on-call’ facility that emerged for me to express ideas and twists as they came to mind.

Sally Kemp has offered many ideas and sat politely listening to the ramblings as I formulated ideas and incidents in my mind. Patiently offering advice and never displaying frustration and impatience as I bounced from idea to idea. This has been immensely helpful and reassuring.

Kevin has helped with plots and offered structured ideas, including changes in direction or alternatives. Never complaining when I developed other ideas or rang/texted at inhospitable times. He provided an inspirational level of support and motivation during my bereavements and for that alone I will be eternally grateful.

Chris Calloway was instrumental in encouraging me to start writing, although he may regret this now as I seem unable to stop! He has assisted with formulating motivational planning and structuring and has encouraged me throughout, for which I am very thankful.

Motivating others is always something to be proud of and the above have enabled me to continue when I have struggled at the most challenging times.