War Angel: part eighteen

0100 had, so far on this trip, been a time when the bridge was deserted and activity on the ship was at a minimum. That was no longer going to be the case from this moment on; of that much, Morrison was certain.

He strode onto the deck, spine straight, chin high. The career officer was filled with an anticipation unlike anything he could have imagined. His lesser days in the EAD, where he was looked down upon by his fellows for his lack of experience, were over. Not only did he command the only free ship left in the fleet, he was about to lead a crew of cadets on a journey never undertaken by humanity. “And when we come back and save the day,” he found himself thinking, “I’m going to get promoted past all of them.” He suppressed a chuckle. “I can gloat later,” he thought, taking a moment to relish the idea. “I’ll have plenty of time.”

As he took his seat in the command chair, the rest began filing in. He beckoned Almond to the helm. It would be her job to guide the ship as it exited the solar system. Park took his place at the sensor station. It would be up to him to monitor radiation levels, watch for particle streams that could disrupt navigation or other systems, and to keep an eye out for any enemy vessels between them and their destination. Sarah took a position at the weapons and shields console, the best place for her to monitor the biogel relays for power spikes or other issues that could cause a danger to the ship. Dr. Gray stood back and out of the way, a diagnostic kit in hand so that she could monitor the crew’s vital signs.

“Where is Mr. Keys?” Morrison asked, realizing he was short a crew member.

“Right here, sir,” Jack said, running onto the bridge. “Sorry, sir. Last minute visit to the head.”

“Of all possible excuses, that’s probably the best one,” Morrison had to admit. “Alright, take your position at the comm. console, Mr. Keys.”

Jack walked across the bridge and took the seat where Ben had nearly lost his life. However, as Jack familiarized himself with the equipment, he found himself puzzled by something he could not easily explain.

“Make ready for departure, Ms. Almond,” came the order from Morrison.

“Aye, Captain.”

Jack spoke up quickly. “Captain, a moment. I have something odd here.”

The older office raised an eyebrow, immediately assuming that the cadet was probably comm. ignorant. “What is it, Mr. Keys?”

“Sir, I have a message light lit here. It looks like something sent over the hyperfrequencies. Have we already downloaded all transmissions?”

Morrison shot Park a questioning look. The engineer shrugged his shoulders, baffled.

The Captain cleared his throat. “Apparently not. Can you tell when it was sent?”

“Looks like… four hours ago,” Jack replied.

Albert Morrison rose from his command chair. “Play it, Mr. Keys.” Jack pushed a few buttons, and suddenly every video screen on the bridge came to life.

On screen was an older man, dressed in formal EAD regalia. His white hair was closely cropped, his posture rigid. “The perfect example of lifelong dedication to the cause,” Sarah thought. “The soldier they hope all of us will be” Jack’s voice quickly explained why.

“That’s Admiral Kelly,” he whispered.

The man on the viewing screen began to speak. “Captain Morrison, this is Chief of the Admiralty William Kelly. Fourteen hours ago, Earth was invaded by the Omegans. They arrived in numbers, and they arrived with force. Our losses were heavy.” The older man’s voice paused, and there seemed to be an angry rustling coming from off-screen. Suddenly, a towering presence came up behind him.

“Goddamned Omegans have him at gunpoint,” Jack realized. “Not good.”

Kelly’s transmission continued, the older man looking more and more uncomfortable. “The EUG surrendered eight hours ago, hoping the cut down on the loss of life.” He grimaced. “All EAD ships were recalled under the flag of surrender. It should be noted,” his voice began to drip with bitterness, “that they had clear intelligence allowing them to account for every one of our vessels and their positions.”

The War Angel crew exchanged worried glances, the unanswered question of “How?” hanging heavy in the air.

“At this time, all ships except for the War Angel have returned. The Omegans have therefore directed me to contact you and see to it that you set course to return to Earth at best possible speed. Failure to do so will…” Kelly began to falter. Finally, the figure behind him pushed Kelly aside violently, and after a few seconds, the picture on screen stopped bouncing and moved higher, framing an Omegan.

It was the first time any of them had seen an actual live Omegan. They existed in media archives, in museums, in nightmares. Now those nightmares had been brought to life.

The creature’s reddish-purple skin glistened in the lights of Kelly’s office. Its muscular build made it look like it could tear a human being apart by hand, and while no reports of that actually happening existed, it wasn’t hard to believe, Richard Park thought. Its square jaw underlined a set of vicious-looking teeth. The Omegans were carnivores of the highest order, tracking and killing game during their time on Earth and tearing out throats to get dinner started.

“And there are a shitload of these big bastards waiting for the opportunity to start killing us all,” Sarah thought. “I wonder if we’re too late to pray?”

The Omegan spoke, grinding out its words. “You will set course for Earth and return immediately under the flag of surrender. You will rendezvous with our vessel in the orbit of the planet you call Saturn. You will do it immediately.”

“Or we will begin expressing our… displeasure… upon some of your fellows.”

The transmission ended abruptly.

Albert Morrison lowered himself into the command chair gingerly. What was he to make of his new orders?

Protocol was clear: an order from the Admiralty was an order from the highest office in the EAD. That much he knew. Morrison had been a good soldier from the moment he entered the Corps, believing that concepts such as discipline and obeying directives for the higher good made for a life of honor. It was a privilege to wear the uniform, something that most of the people trapped on his home planet would likely never understand.

And yet… he had a plan. A good plan, he felt. A plan that would help them survive, perhaps even to find help against a common enemy.

“Maybe,” he thought, “there’s already a plan back home. We surrendered, but maybe just to re-group. Who knows?” The Captain hunched over for a moment, placing his head in his hands as he deliberated. Finally, he rose up, discovering that every face on the bridge was staring at him.

Gina broke the silence. “Your orders, Captain?”

Morrison looked at the faces of his charges. They were scared, that much he knew. “Hell, so am I,” he thought, filled with bitterness.

“Set course for Saturn, Miss Almond,” he said in a flat tone.

The crew of the War Angel erupted.

War Angel: part seventeen

Morrison laid out his plan for the War Angel’s extra-solar journey to the group. “So again- we should find water and other potential life-maintaining chemicals and foodstuffs once we’re there. Should we find potential allies, so much the better.” They nodded assent. “Look, I know this is a leap of faith. There are no guarantees about anything. But the one thing I’m sure of is that we have nowhere to go here.”

Jack raised his hand. “Are you sure, Captain? What about Titan and Europa? Water there…”

The Captain held up his hand to cut Jack off. “A couple of the Omegan ships are still in the outer reaches of the system, including ones near Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Looks like they left them behind to clean up any EAD resis… us. They’re looking for strays.”

“We can take down a B-class with the War Angel, Captain” Jack replied.

“And some day we will, Mr. Keys. Many of them, I hope. But not today.” Morrison pulled the details of their journey up on the screen. “Now, I have to tell you: this will not be easy, and by the time we get there, none of us will feel very good. We’ll be slightly malnourished, and lack of muscle activity due to slowed metabolism will be dragging us down. Over the last thirty-six hours, we’ll resume normal feeding and sleeping schedule, because we’ll be heading into the unknown on that end and will need to be at our best. But once we get past the heliopause, we’re all going to have to shut it down. Understand?”

“Can we really do this, Captain?” Gina asked. “Is this ship capable of surviving the trip through the interstellar medium?”

Sarah felt a surge of excitement. “You bet your ass we can. The new shields we’ve installed should cut through that radioactivity like a hot knife through butter. If you’re going to sail into the wind, you’d better have a boat built to last. And this old tug, thanks to all of us, is exactly that.”

“Okay. You all know the plan, and you all know your parts in it. Let’s get this ship ready to make history. Finish all preparations, and meet on the bridge by 0100. Dismissed.”

The group filed out of the mess, no one uttering a word. Each set off to tackle their assigned duties meant to get the War Angel prepared to leave the solar system. Sarah, Gina, and Richard each felt slightly giddy about the prospect, Park in particular, as his first thought upon learning of the invasion had been precisely this: run. Find safety. See if the Omegans had enemies willing to join the fight.

Jack Keys did not join the others in their enthusiasm.

“Only cowards run,” he thought. “Only cowards abandon the helpless. Four billion people are on that planet, a gun pointed at them, and we’re just leaving them there to die.”

That was what bothered him most, Jack realized. If the Omegans did indeed want something, and they did manage to get it, they weren’t going to bow politely and take their leave of the planet. No, they would make sure that Earth suffered for its previous victories against them. They would destroy every building, salt every field, burn every man, woman, and child… there would be nothing left. The crew of the War Angel, so desperate to go home, would find there was no home to return to. It could happen in three years. Or it could happen tomorrow. Time, Jack pondered, is not something they were blessed with in abundance.

“No,” Jack thought, his anger rising, “I do not like this idea of running. At. All.”

War Angel: part sixteen

The five non-incapacitated members of the War Angel crew gathered in the mess, and from the moment each walked in and saw Richard Park’s demeanor, they knew that what they were about to hear was going to be extremely unpleasant.

“Captain,” Richard began, “permission to begin?”

“Granted.”

The young man cleared his throat and began his briefing. “Using some untested scanning techniques that I worked out with Jack, I have been able to get a good look at the inner solar system and what we’re facing. Umm. Well, it isn’t good, guys.”

“Nobody thought it would be, Mr. Park. Continue.” Morrison said, trying to calm the boy down.

“I couldn’t locate a single EAD ship in the air. When the surrender call went out, either every ship was already earthbound or…”

The silence hung heavy for a moment. “We get the idea, Rich,” Gina said softly.

“Enemy forces, however, are plentiful.” He paused, bringing up an image on the room’s vid-screen. “Scanning counted fifty B-class Omegan battle cruisers. Some of you will know this- I didn’t, so I had to look it up- the B-class cruiser has a complement of 1,000 warriors and 200 individual fighter craft.”

Jack raised his hand and the group turned its attention to him. “For historical perspective, the First Period invasion force was comprised of fifteen B-class cruisers. Of course, you have to bear in mind that force was aided by something even worse, the RGC. Oh, and that we weren’t nearly as technologically advanced as we would be by the Second Period…”

“Second Period,” Sarah said, cutting him off, “the Omegans arrived with a force of 30 B-class ships and without the RGC.”

Morrison chimed in. “Right. Without the threat of the RGC, which was damaged quite heavily by EAD forces towards the end of the First Period, the fight was a little more fair.”

“Guys…” Richard tried to interject.

Gina jumped into the conversation. “Sure- that’s why the Second Period only lasted eight years. Still, plenty of people died in those eight years. And afterward, things back home got weird. My history teacher made us write a paper comparing and contrasting EUG before and after the Second Period, and frankly it was kind of scary.”

“Guys…” Richard tried once again.

“That’s basic human behavior, Gina,” Wilma said. “Those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it. After the Second Period, very few people were left that had survived the First Period. Victory in 2110 seemed easy. There was no hardship, a very limited occupation. Most of the battles took place in the sky. It bred arrogance.”

Richard pounded his fist on the table. “Guys!” The picture on the screen behind him changed. The broad scan was gone, replaced with something that looked like a nightmare. It was huge, silhouetted darkly against Earth’s moon. The curved bottom, examined closely, looked to be made of twisted metal; dark intestines spilled from the insides of Hell’s blacksmith. The sides were covered in machinery and cannons. The top… the top was most fearsome. Structured flat, the top contained a lengthy series of chains and hoops that ran from stem to stern. Sitting alongside the apparatus were dozens of robotic arms and numerous dark shapes.

“Holy shit,” Morrison said. “Is that…?”

“The RGC.” Jack whispered.

The Rail-Gun Carrier, as it had been so aptly named by Earthers during the First Period, was the most fearsome weapon humanity had ever seen, making the nuclear bomb seem almost antiquated with its ability to do damage. In 2018, the Omegans had prefaced their first invasion by using the rail gun to make their initial assault during a meteor shower. Fifteen cities and over a hundred million lives were lost. The planet was softened up to the point that the Omegans had basically walked in and taken over without a fight. Every resistance cell that cropped up and fought back over those twenty years always knew they had a larger battle on their hands: how to beat the Omegans and do so without driving them to use their superweapon again.

After victory was achieved, the people of Earth placed a premium on occupations such as engineer, in part because of the worry and threat represented by a weapon like the RGC. There was no guarantee the Omegans would be gone forever, thus preparations had to be made to ensure that the RGC would never be used against humanity again.

For a little over one hundred years, that protection held true. No more.

“Where is it now, Mr. Park?” Morrison asked gently.

“I pulled this image from a newsfeed that captured a shot before its satellite went down. At this point, it was not far from the moon; this isn’t forced perspective, the thing is just that big. If I had to guess, I would say that it has to stay a certain distance away from anything with a strong gravity well; something that large is over-powered as it is. So maybe… 175,000 miles outside Earth orbit.”

All energy in the room deflated. The news only continued to get worse and worse.

Morrison’s features scrunched up as he felt a headache coming on. “How bad is the damage?”

“Well, that’s where it gets strange, sir. From everything I have been able to capture and decipher, the ship hasn’t fired the gun. No impacts reported planetside, at least not before satellites went down.”

Jack spoke up. “So they’re holding us at gunpoint.”

“Which means they want something,” Sarah added.

The Captain pushed himself away from the table. “The Omegans don’t want anything! They’re conquerors! They used us for slave labor, drained resources… and they were all too happy to use the damned gun to help them do it.”

Jack stood and locked eyes with Morrison across the table. “Clearly,” he said, mulling over his words, “things have changed. The Omegans are as adaptable as us. Their technology has evolved, or they’d have been spotted before they rounded Mars. No,” Jack said with a sudden conviction, “this is new. And the fact that they haven’t fired that gun gives us hope.”

“Well, we’re not going to have to worry about it for a while anyway,” Morrison said. “Over the next eleven days we can take the time to study the data that we have, figure out troop placements, all of that stuff. And we can leave a sentry beacon here to do what Mr. Park has been doing, and when we get back- if we get back- we’ll use that data to make a plan.”

The group looked at Morrison with a quizzical eye. “I’m sorry, Captain,” Gina said, breaking the spell, “where are we going, exactly?”

“Where no human has gone before, Ms. Almond.”

War Angel: part fifteen

Gina found Richard sitting and staring at one of the main computer terminals in the depths of the ship. “You look lost, Richard. What’s the problem?”

Startled from his reverie, he straightened himself in his chair. “Oh. Ah. Nothing. Just watching as the scanning data processes through the computer. I’m doing what I can to get a complete readout on the solar system, so it’s taking a while.”

“Richard?”

“What?”

She placed her palm on the side of his face and gave him a gentle pat. “That isn’t what you were doing.” He started to protest, but she cut him off. “Rich, I know you’ve been crushing on Kate pretty much forever. Must be eating at you, what happened earlier.”

He nodded at her. “She’s going to be okay, Rich. I promise.”

Richard snapped. “How can you possibly say that?! How can you even suggest that any of us are going to be alright?!”

Gina took her hand from his cheek, and then suddenly returned it in the form of a vicious slap. Stunned, Richard nearly fell out of his chair. However, as quickly as she had released her aggression, Gina’s demeanor returned to peaceful and caring.

“Richard, what do you feel right now?”

“Pain! Pain and anger! What the hell was that for?”

“A reminder. We’re not dead, little Clover. As long as we feel, both emotionally and physically, we’re alive. Alive is good. Alive gives us a chance.” She reached for his head again, and his head jumped back, fearing another slap. Instead, she placed her hand under his chin and forced him to look her in the eye. “One day earlier and we sound the alarm on the apocalypse before it happens. That’s going to eat at me for as long as I live. All I can hope for,” she paused, “is that I carry that with me for a very long time instead of a very short one.”

“Okay,” he said. She released his chin, but he maintained eye contact. “Gina, should I tell Kate how I feel about her? Isn’t that the sort of thing you do when the world is ending?”

Gina backed up and away from Richard, trying not to burst out laughing. “Are you kidding? Now?” She cracked and began to giggle. “God, no. She might cut your dick off just for entertainment.” Backing out of the computer room, she offered her final advice on the subject. “You might want to wait a few months on that one. Minimum.”

Leaving him behind, Gina decided to wander back to her quarters. “Don’t worry Richard,” she thought. “It isn’t like any of us is going anywhere.”

“And most of us aren’t getting laid, either.”

Wilma looked up from her microscope to see Morrison standing in front of her. “What can I do for you, Captain?”

“I have a plan, doctor, but I need some info from you before I can be sure it’ll work.”

Gray pushed herself away from the lab bench and took off her gloves. “I’m all ears.”

“What’s our food situation doctor?”

She ran her fingers through her hair. “I’d say we have about seven days on standard rations and supplementing with the hydroponic material. Give or take.”

“Any possible way we could make it stretch to eleven?”

“It’d be cutting it close. Maybe if we cut a meal each day and instead took an IV instead. I’d been thinking about solutions for Mr. Drake in that direction as it is.” Suddenly her curiosity kicked in. “Wait. Eleven days? You have a destination in mind where you think we can re-up on supplies?”

Morrison looked almost smug. “Oh yes, I do indeed, doctor.”

Wilma stood up from her chair and began pacing around the room. “We might also try longer sleep periods. I could prescribe sedatives that reduce metabolism.”

He held up his palm, cutting off her train of thought. “That might not work. The early part of the journey will be incredibly rough, and we’ll be fighting some nasty radiation pockets on the way. Everyone will need to be at their sharpest.”

Realizing what he was suggesting, Wilma stopped in her tracks. “Holy shit. We’re making a run for it?”

“For now,” he said. “But not forever.”

The comm. in Jack’s room chirped. “Jack, this is Richard.” Sarah undraped her arm from Jack’s chest, allowing him to roll towards his nightstand and activate his unit for reply.

“Go ahead, Richard.”

“All scanning is complete. I’m setting up a briefing in the mess; how fast can you get down here?”

Jack rolled away from the comm. and cast his gaze at Sarah. Her face betrayed no emotion, merely a quiet calm. He had never seen her look so placid before, and suddenly he found himself frightened by what might be going through her head. Kate had snapped almost instantaneously; what if Sarah was going to snap, too, but it was simply taking more time? He mouthed the words “how long” at her, not making a sound.

Sarah propped herself up on her side and scratched her head. She took a long moment to think, then finally flashed her open palm at him three times. Nodding, Jack turned back to the comm. and said “Fifteen minutes.”

“Roger that,” Richard said, and the channel closed. Jack plopped back down on his back, taking a deep breath. As he did, Sarah rolled over and sat on top of him. She caressed his chest, and then pointed at herself. Jack raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was going to say. She then pointed at him, paused, and repeated the gesture. He nodded at her, and then she held up her hand and showed him all fingers but her thumb. He raised his torso up to hers and met her lips with a fiery kiss.

“One more go-around?” he thought. “Why not? Think this one’s just for her though…”

War Angel: part fourteen

Sarah and Gina sat quietly, consuming the leftovers still sitting out from that evening’s dinner rations. They began with their own plates, Gina’s having never been touched, and eventually moved on to finishing everyone else’s foods. Spying one piece of bread left in the center of the table, each eyed it with barely repressed desire.

“Flip a coin for it?” Sarah asked.

Gina swallowed the piece of lettuce she was slurping into her mouth. “Oh, come on. You know that’s mine.”

“How so?”

“Hunger is a manifestation of grief and anguish at our current situation.” Sarah nodded at her. “That said, there are other forms of hunger that arise in a traumatic scenario, and of the two of us, only you have a readily available source for relieving that hunger. Ergo,” she smiled gently, “in order to best sate my own hunger, all I have is that piece of bread right now.”

Sarah’s jaw dropped for a moment; then she collected herself. Richard had told them earlier than everyone was onto the two of them, so Gina’s response really shouldn’t have been surprising, all things considered. And as much as she wanted to deny or defend, the truth was the truth. The young woman took her napkin from her lap, wiped her face and lips, and stood up from the table.

“Want to know a secret?” Sarah asked. Gina nodded, her curiosity piqued. “My callsign- Supersonic- not because of my aeronautics background.”

“Really?”

“Nope. Given to me by a lover. We were having one particularly incredible night, and I let out a… noise… that stunned the both of us with its ferocity.” She began to feel wistful. “After that, his goal was always to get me to ‘supersonic’.”

Gina laughed. “Wow! Must be an amazing man.”

“Absolutely. And better for me, he’s on this ship.” She turned around and started walking out of the mess.

“Gotta go- I’m hungry. Enjoy the bread.”

Richard Park replaced the front panel on the ship’s comm. controls and gave a small fist pump. “Yes! That should do it. We are definitely in business.”

“Umm, a question occurs to me,” Jack said. “You say they won’t be able to trace us, which is great, but what if they have other ships out patrolling the system and scanning for EAD remnants? How vulnerable are we right now where we’re sitting? I know we have to keep some line of sight to run this, but after that, what’s our best bet for hiding?”

Clover scratched his chin and thought about that for a moment. They’d been assuming the invasion was completely Earth focused, but having subdued the EUG and the EAD, perhaps the Omegans would be searching out pockets of potential resistance. No question, the War Angel would be vulnerable to scanning at their current location. Or even worse…

“I don’t think that’s our only risk. In fact, I can think of one more basic scenario that could put us in even deeper shit…” His train of thought suddenly derailed at the sound of footsteps. The two men turned their attention to their approach, and soon saw Sarah came around a corner junction.

“Hi Richard, Jack.”

“Hey,” Richard responded, “How’s Kate? You and Gina get her back to her room okay?”

“She’s resting comfortably. Thanks for asking.” She turned her attention to Jack. “Richard, are you at a place where you can spare Jack for a while?”

“Well, we have the scans up and running, and data should start flooding into the main computer within the next few minutes, and then we’ll need to start parsing through it and…”

Sarah cut him off. “All things you can take care of alone, yes?”

Richard shrugged. “I guess so. I mean, it’ll take longer by myself but if, you know, there’s something else Jack needs to do, maybe we can work on that together…”

“Unnecessary. Thanks Richard.” She turned her attention to Jack. “Let’s go.”

She turned on one heel and began walking away. Jack eyed Richard and shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll see you later, Rich,” he said, and began following Sarah.

Morrison pored over the maps on his screen, making sure that he was precise in what he was about to tell his crew. Pluto was currently near its aphelion, and they might not have a better opportunity to get a jump on going extra-solar and passing through the interstellar medium and outside of the heliopause. One of the few things that Earth had discovered was that the Omegans came from somewhere within the Oort cloud, science having pierced its veil enough to discover that it held planetary bodies. Thus, that had to be avoided. However, the planets that had been discovered within the binary system of Alpha Centauri- those were fair game. Evidence suggested that at least one held the promise of water and the capability to support carbon-based life at one point.

That, the Captain thought, would be where they run. With the tachyon drive, they could get there within eleven days. It was a longshot, of that there was no question. But within their own solar system, there was nowhere to run. There were no supplies to be found.

Perhaps in another part of the universe they would find other life that was friendly, and they could begin to determine a way of removing the Omegans from their home once and for all. It was a good idea. They had the technology to make the journey. He could sell it as a chance to not only survive, but to make history, to do something that had never been done by a human being before.

Goddamned if it wasn’t even inspiring.

“I can make this work,” Morrison thought. His head began to swim with pride.

Sarah collapsed onto Jack’s chest, both heaving and gasping for oxygen from their efforts. As much as he had always found Sarah to be a robust and enthusiastic lover, there was definitely something different about her today. Indeed, she had barely made a noise- unusual enough considering the nickname he had given her- choosing instead to repeatedly bite into his shoulders so hard that she drew blood. As she rolled off of him and onto the sheets next to him, he realized that wasn’t the only way he had been wounded. His back felt irritated by the fabric, and he knew that she had left her mark there, as well as across his chest.

This was a new Sarah, Jack thought. And he found himself liking her very much.

The room remained silent for a few minutes as the pair got lost in their thoughts. Jack wondered if he should say something, anything, to break the quiet hanging over the room. Was now the time to start talking about today’s devastation? Could he offer words of encouragement borne of his great-grandfather’s journals? Earth had twice faced down the Omegans and twice was victorious. Surely that counted for something. Or should he do something traditional, something that men in his position had done for centuries when faced with behavior from their women that they didn’t comprehend?

“Yep,” Jack thought, “that’s the right move.” He reached over onto the nightstand and took a long drink of water from a half-empty glass. “Sarah, I lo-“

She quickly rolled onto her side, draping her arm across his upper thigh and taking hold of his cock. Startled, he stopped talking, and as he did, she began stroking him with intensity and intent. “What do you say, cowboy? Shall we go for three?” she asked.

His biological response answered for both of them, and he mashed his lips into hers and rolled her onto her back.

“Clearly,” he would think later, “that is not what she wanted to hear.”