Alien Courage (Rise of the Empress) (70 page)

As the outer doors were opening Peter saw into space,
the stars glittering and suddenly the dark side of the moon came into view. Its
massive size increasing as the doors opened fully.

“Toormis, you are free to proceed,” the
Administrator’s voice sounded inside Peter’s helmet. Peter turned the
communicator off and flew the Starfighter out of the space dock and into space.
He lined up the shuttle and pulled the remote out of his breast pocket. He
activated the remote and lights flashed on the instruments and the greenish
tractor beam snaked out from his Starfighter’s nose and locked onto the
shuttle. The beam tightened and pulled the shuttle closer to the Starfighter
then locked it in position.

Peter glanced at Traveller and saw the Administrator
standing at the main viewing port on the Bridge looking at him. Peter raised
his hand in salute and saw the Administrator raise his hand returning the
salute. Cassy appeared beside the Administrator supporting Toormis who was half
bending over. Peter cloaked the ship and gunned the engines; the shuttle left
the side of Traveller and sped towards Earth.

Peter noticed Toormis had set the navigation controls
to give maximum chance of avoiding the satellites and he settled back and
looked at Earth. He was tempted to turn the communicator on and talk to
Traveller but the transmission would be intercepted by the satellites. The
Earth glowed with a gentle greenish blue halo and the United States of America
would be in the middle of the night when he arrived. Peter marvelled at the
beautiful sight as the planet rotated and a line of darkness was spreading
slowly longitudinally around the globe. Cities started to glow in pockets at
the encroaching darkness. Clouds and swirling weather systems shone an
iridescent slivery white as the sun’s rays angled through them, a truly
beautiful sight.

The combat sighting screen of the Starfighter
glowed
a gentle green with circles of red and white. The
white starting pulsating as the system picked up the closest satellite. The
monitor screen magnified the image as the system homed in on the object. Peter
sat up straighter as he looked at it. It looked like a piece of rock and was
very small but as the image magnified further he made out antennae and a small
reflective disc. Another light flashed in the Starfighter as the communication
systems of the shuttle came on line. The instant the shuttle’s nose started to
glow with the heat from entering the atmosphere, the automated transmission was
relayed to Earth via the shuttle.  Peter smiled as he recognised it was
Toormis’s voice pre-recorded. “This is Volen
flight … Alpha…
engine failure… assist
…” and the transmission was replaced by static as
the ship entered the atmosphere.

The shuttle turned into a ball of white heat engulfing
the Starfighter which automatically
decloaked
upon
entering the gaseous atmosphere. Peter was shaken violently inside the
Starfighter; he noticed the tractor beam was absorbing more of the ship’s power
as the flight became more turbulent.

As quickly as the turbulence started it subsided.
Peter took manual control and kept the ship just under the rim of the
atmosphere. He cloaked the Starfighter and extended the tractor beam slightly
so he could visually check the shuttle. He saw no damage and ran a quick
diagnostic check of its systems, everything was working as it should then he
checked one last time the flight and navigational data. He put his finger on
the switch and as the illuminator flashed he pressed the switch forward. The
tractor beam disintegrated and the shuttle engines fired as it dropped sharply
toward Earth.

The pre-programming Toormis had fed into the ships
flight computer took control and erratically guided the ship towards its
target. Peter saw the shuttle do complete circles and spun like it was out of
control but it tracked as it fell towards the Oregon coast of the United States
of America. The shuttle spun across a mountain range and per the programming
started to emit a fiery trail as chemicals were released into the burning
thrusters. The ship flew over southern Idaho and dropped into Nevada. It flew
twice around the area of the mountain base before descending at a gentle angle;
the thrusters fired at full power and slowed the shuttle significantly just
before it impacted with a sandy patch of desert floor. The craft skidded for
hundreds of yards before finally coming to rest more or less intact in a patch
of tumbleweed.

Peter kept the crash site on his monitor and flew in
slow circles. Then he saw twin sets of lights in a long line come out from the
side of the mountain base. He magnified the image to maximum and saw many
wheeled vehicles racing to the crash site. He looked more closely and realized
they were military vehicles. He smiled and turned the ship around, and was just
about to switch the auto pilot on when something caught his attention on the
monitor.

Two sliver flashes flew out of the mountain base and
circled the area. Peter activated the combat imaging screen and the rings
glowed. The images of two Echo Class fighters flashed on his monitor with
speed, direction and a Volen identification code. The Echo’s were on a course
to the crash site.

“OH NO! Peter cursed and without hesitation dropped
the nose of his Starfighter towards Earth gunning the engines to attack speed.
He activated maximum radio and communication jamming signals as he descended.
The Echo fighters would now not be able to communicate. Almost instantaneously
the Starfighter’s weapons systems armed themselves and the combat computer had
both ships targeted. Peter selected the closest ship and locked the targeting
system. As soon as the target ship’s shields were vulnerable to the Starfighter’s
angle of approach and firepower the rings turned yellow. Peter fired and saw a
series of energy bolts leave the nose of his Starfighter and head straight into
the nearest Echo. The ship turned into a ball of flame and fell to Earth and
crashed with a massive explosion.

Peter rolled and pointed his Starfighter towards the
stars gaining altitude quickly. His targeting computer had already locked onto
the second Echo as Peter commenced his attack. The Echo was not in the same
class as a Starfighter and could not match it in a one to one fight and dived
seeking the shelter of the canyons that littered the landscape. Peter initiated
the pursuit computer and his ship dived in after the Echo and commenced chasing
it through the canyons.

Peter felt elated as he was forced back into his seat
and the Starfighter manoeuvred within feet of rock walls at speeds far in
excess of four times the speed of sound. A gigantic sonic boon exploded behind
his ship as it quickly gained upon the Echo. Peter set the fire mechanism to
auto and watched his ship gain on his target.

Suddenly his radio turned on and burst into life.
“Starfighter, discontinue the pursuit and land immediately or you will be
destroyed.
Land immediately!”

Along the ridge of the canyon a T334 had materialized
and took aim with light expansion weapons.

“Peter they will destroy you if you don’t land. You
are only alive because they want to question you.”

“Who are you?” Peter asked noticing his communications
wasn’t receiving.

“Johe.”

“We can get away!” Peter shouted, “
we
must!”

A bolt of light came from the canyon lip and exploded
just in front of the Starfighter penetrating through his shields and crippling
most of the onboard systems and blowing the ship up out of the canyon, spinning
off into the sky. The Starfighter slowed dramatically and began to tumble.
Peter fought the controls and managed to right the craft but it glided only
under emergency power. He noticed the Echo in its haste to escape had hit the
canyon wall and exploded. Peter then relaxed and took his hands off the
controls.

“Johe?”

“Yes.”

 “Will you get back home?’

“Possibly”

“Please look after the Shihone on Zion.”

“Yes, I like them too.”

“Thank you, that is good,” Peter said as he dug into
his pocket and took out the bear’s tooth
Url
had given
him and held it tightly as he jammed the flight controls forward. His
Starfighter spun violently downwards and exploded in a massive ball of flame on
the cool desert floor.

---------

Across a great ocean of Earth on a small island a
cleaner pushed his mop along a highly polished floor. He entered a small room
and accidentally knocked a table and a glass fell smashing on the floor. He
knelt beside the bed to clean up the broken glass.

It was just after dawn and the night nurse heard the
noise and went to investigate. She entered the room and quickly realised what
had happened. “You need help?” she asked.

“No, I’ve got it thanks. Damn clumsy of me. Still it
won’t disturb him,” the old man said looking at the bed beside him.

“No it won’t,”
the nurse replied sadly, “he’s been in a coma for
such a long time now. They are moving him Stateside soon. He won’t last too
much longer, poor thing. He’s a war hero you know, Lieutenant Peter Boland.”
She said leaving the room and walked back to her station.

The old cleaner stood up and stretched his sore back
after bending down. He looked at the ashen white face of Peter and sighed.
Suddenly Peter opened his eyes and looked directly at him, “Hello,” Peter said
weakly.

The old man’s heart missed a beat and he dropped his
mop. “NURSE!” he screamed running from the room.