America One: War of the Worlds (45 page)

The cavern was big, but so had been
SB-IV
and now
SB-V
. The larger shuttles were about three times larger than the much smaller
Matt
spacecraft that now lay all over the terrain outside, and he worked out that both the remaining shuttles could fit in the cavern, parked carefully.

“Vitalily, once you have their suits on, give them a sleeper in the neck, then attach their helmets and carry the prisoners over. Lunar can open the inner hatch. Lunar they will be asleep don’t worry. We can suit the third one inside the shuttle once we are out of here. Lunar, we need 45 minutes to load, is Michael helmeted yet?”

“Just finished Mars, getting into the docking port now, mate”
the Aussie replied.

“Lunar, open the forward cargo bay’s side door,”
asked Mars and seconds later the door opened outwards to the empty cargo bay.

The cargo bay was totally empty for battle, apart for three empty canisters tied down to a screwed down floor pallet, and within seconds Max was in the cargo hold placing the black boxes in one canister while Joey placed the ingots Pete and Mars lifted in into another. At four feet above the ground the ingots were pretty easy to lift up and onto the floor of the shuttle.

Max packed up the 15 black boxes, closed the canister and began to help pack in the ingots into the third canister.

“Come on guys lets fill up these canisters, at least Martin Brusk or Dr. Smidt will be happy to get a little treasure,” stated Max, and they all headed into the cavern to collect more. Michael Price was awe-struck by what he saw, but was pressed forward by Mars.

“This place is a treasure drove. It’s a bleeding sports stadium in here it’s so big. Are those are all gold bars over there?” he asked as he was gang-marched forward.

Within thirty minutes, and allowing for suit time for Max and crew to get back into Mattville, they carried in and filled up the two canisters and the area around the canisters with 100 silver and 25 gold ingots.

The drugged prisoners had already gone through the docking hatch one by one, and Mars, who was last in the cavern opened the cavern’s outer door and had time to climb into the forward cargo bay. Lunar closed it and readied to exit.

The crew saw the large cavern door close as they headed away, as if it was saying goodbye and knew there was no more traffic in or out.

The flight was short, less than 15 minutes before Lunar brought
SB-V
into Mattville’s cavern. Here the prisoners were carried out by Vitalily’s crew of five guys and taken up the lift, through the tunnel and into the new chamber.

Enroute VIN had given the order for Vitalily’s Russian crew from the Retreat to suit up and join the crew in
SB-V
. They were going to Ceres and only had an hour to pack up all their private belongings.

Max said goodbye to Mars once Mars had given him ten of the black boxes. The rest were heading out on the next part of the journey.

“Take care buddy, I’m going to try and get those holes filled and our subway running before you get back. Fly safe and see you soon. I hope Jonesy makes it, or I‘m going to have to run ASS. I want a report on his condition each communication, understand?”

They hugged spacesuit style and Mars entered the docking port last, and Lunar lifted out of the cavern once Max was safely in the tunnel.

A day later, and with only two of the six ships connected to
America Two
, the mother ship headed out of orbit, and twelve hours later was on her way to Ceres, two months away.

Chapter 20
 
War of the Worlds—Act Four—Ceres

Jonesy slept for a week before he regained consciousness. The first face he saw was his daughter Saturn, and he smiled when she called her mother that he was awake. At least she was OK.

“Where are we?” he mumbled to Saturn, very weak.

“In the mother ship on our way to Ceres, the
Matt
base and refueling station on the dwarf planet in the Asteroid Belt,” Saturn replied.

“My legs don’t hurt as bad as they used to,” Jonesy stated smiling as the pretty face of his wife came into his vision. He noticed that she had a black eye, and a bandage down the one side of her face. “Looks like you need a better chauffeur,” he stated accepting a kiss from Maggie.

“You need more rest,” she replied smiling. “The medics are going to keep you resting for a few more days but we’ll be close by.”

“I know, and I’ve done it before. Who has the good news and who has the bad?” joked Jonesy looking at the only two girls left in his life. He knew that the third girl,
SB-III
was no more. “And can I get a small shot of something before the bad news is spelled out?”

“Certainly not Herr Jones,” smiled Suzi as she floated in with VIN and an older looking Ryan Richmond. “Even if they allowed drinking in Bavarian hospitals, you are not in one at the moment.”

“How are you feeling partner,” smiled VIN.

“God! With all these people smiling at me, the news must be bad. You guys will turn me to drink with all this smiling crap!” Jonesy replied.

“I’m the bearer of the report partner, don’t shoot the messenger. You ladies can stay or go, up to you,” stated VIN continuing to smile and looking at the ladies around the astronaut.

“I would prefer it in private, with the boys, maybe I’ll get a drink that way,” he replied trying hard to smile back at his smiling friends. The girls nodded, they knew Jonesy would be happier to be with his partner, and Suzi had made sure that VIN wasn’t carrying anything liquid. It was a man thing!

“VIN, tell me the good news first,” Jonesy asked once the ladies had left. “Ryan you look tired?”

“Yes, the loss of four good friends but at least you and Maggie made it. And I have a miniature of JD Bourbon for you. VIN was checked by Suzi, but nobody checked me.” He smiled, opened the tiny bottle and let Jonesy suck out its contents. Jonesy tasted the sharp liquid, smiled and his pale face took on some color.

“Now I know I’m still alive, is that the good news partner?”

“Most of it,” replied VIN. “Apart for half of your brain, we all know you were never given the other half, you are OK from the waist upwards. You have a broken right arm, which will mend and is encased in soft silicone. You have two eyes, two ears, your taste buds work and Maggie is fine, as you have seen.

“I don’t need to produce any more children.” Jonesy stated.

“We wouldn’t want too many Jones in the solar system, the
Matts
especially don’t want any more of your type, and yes if you were young, you still have the possibility of more children,” replied VIN accepting a miniature from Ryan, who drank one himself.

“Well that should keep Maggie happy,” Jonesy remarked. “All this good news is getting too much, I’m ready for the bad news now, partner.”

“Remember when Suzi and I overtook you at first day we were running around the airfield, decades ago?’ VIN asked.

“Oh crap! Now all three of us can beat everybody else around the runway?” Jonesy asked. VIN smiled and nodded, his partner was always quick.

“You got another one of those bottles, boss?” Jonesy asked. “At least my legs don’t hurt so bad anymore.”

“No, but I have a Russian vodka, just one left,” Ryan replied.

“I’ll pay you back on Earth,” and Ryan let the contents of the second bottle be sucked down Jonesy’s throat.

“At least my legs won’t give me that crappy pain from the damn sleep chamber made for midgets anymore,” Jonesy replied enjoying the flavor and licking is lips. “How much did I lose VIN?”

“Both legs just above the knee. Look at the good side. You still have more leg than me, and I can still fly, and go fishing and hunting,” replied his partner.

To VIN, Jonesy just seemed to accept the loss of his legs. Maybe it was because he himself, and Suzi had been legless for so long, and he had proved to Jonesy that he had never been prevented from being part of the team.

The medic came in, increased one of Jonesy’s drips and within minutes he was sound asleep.

Dr. Smidt, down in Nevada had already been given the new order and measurements for another set of the most modern prosthetic legs.

“Max, how is the spacesuit training coming on, over?”
asked Ryan
from America Two’s
Bridge two weeks later. The ship had just gone from acceleration-mode to coast-mode at 120,000 knots, and once again the planet he was speaking to was a bright star far behind them. Both the red planet and the mother ship were travelling much in the same direction, and Ceres would be getting closer to both for a further two weeks, before Mars’ orbit began to pull it away from the dwarf planet inside the Asteroid Belt. The
Matts
had timed their arrival well, hence the reason for
America Two
to head to the tiny planet as soon as possible.

“No need for the three captives to have spacesuit training,”
replied Max a few minutes later.
“We took video feed of the three holes and the builders showed us how to place a black box inside the middle hole. It is extended both sides of the tunnel wall area, inside and out, and we are heading there once a day with half a dozen air tanks to fill the shield with air. In 48 hours, we will be able to move into the shield with a power connection, food, water and I will have my build crew to remain in the shield and fill the holes, over.”

“Have you sensed any communications between them and their guys on Ceres?” asked VIN.

“Yes, there has been contact, we can tell from our questions to them about communications but they seemed scared to tell us anything. I think they will come over to our side over time, but they can never be trusted, over,”
Max replied.

“I agree,” replied VIN. “They will travel back to Earth with us on our next flight to Mars in two years’ time. Our fuel reserves are below half, and we cannot return to Mars on the way home. Max, I need you to head into one of the other globe rooms and see if there is any sign of enemy ships still heading to Mars, or if there are more ships heading from Europa to Ceres. No rush but within a week will do, over.”

Not much was happening. The Martian Club Retreat was closed down, and its cameras showed no visits. Mattville was a busy place but quiet and safe. The three captives had been blindfolded when they had been taken into the new base, and were told that they were in the base the Matts always attacked. So far it had seemed to work.

Nothing had been seen flying on the solar-powered radar system on top of Lookout Mountain. Max had a direct link to the radar system, and there had been no spacecraft anywhere in the vicinity of the 500-mile radar range since it had come on line, three days after
SB-V
had left the planet’s surface.

It was exactly a week later when VIN received an answer to his questions.

“We have molded and fitted the first of three curved silicone glass panels to fit inside the tunnel to wall off the first hole,”
began Max on a long, now once a week report.
“Since silicone glass has a higher melting temperature than gold, we are going to get a smelter out there into a second shield, then melt a lining of gold and cover it with Martian soil to seal the holes from cosmic, X-ray and gamma radiation above the glass panel. We worked it out that an eight-inch wall of gold under a foot-thick soil layer should give us the safety of traveling through the tunnel without needing spacesuits. I headed through on our little train all the way down the tunnel to the other base while the guys fitted the panel. We have cleared the tracks and it took me an hour at a very careful speed to get there. I reckon we can do it in twenty minutes, once we have experience in running the train. The whole base the other side of the protective blue shield is back to a normal Matt atmosphere, so we can begin filling the tunnel with air from both sides once it is completely sealed in about a month. I checked the globe room. The best news, the enemy ships have all turned round. The red planet globe is still dark and there are enemy spaceships both sides of Ceres. They are all travelling in the same direction, back towards Europa. I counted 70 tiny lights heading from Ceres to Europa and 160 lights heading towards Ceres from Mars. So we know that the enemy have at least 230 enemy fighters. I cannot be accurate, but I believe that the 70 lights are about a tenth of the way from Ceres to Europa, and the 160 lights are much closer to Ceres than the other group. That is my report, over.”

Over the next day, the crew worked on the Bridge’s computers checking the estimated distances Max had given them. The enemy ships heading back from Mars were a week out from Ceres, and the flights heading towards Europa were a month out on their journey from the dwarf planet. There was no way the furthest enemy ships could return fast enough to defend Ceres once
America Two
got there. It also seemed that
America Two
had well over twice the cruising speed of the
Matt
ships, and the astronauts reckoned that 50,000 knots was their maximum speed, as they had seen all the Matt ships at this maximum speed throughout the battles.

The mother ship was still a month away from the planet, and the next report from Max in a week would be very important.

“I’m getting to like this floating stuff,” stated Jonesy to VIN and the Bridge crew a day or so later when he floated into the bridge with the help of Suzi, who was floating with him, and Maggie who was wearing metal shoes, and propelling both of them along.

“I bet floating in here is harder than flying a shuttle,” smiled VIN as his partner entered.

“You’re right,” remarked Jonesy. “No flight controls, and I have to push myself off the walls and roof, even the floor sometimes. This is certainly uncontrolled flight.”

“Today’s briefing is about Ceres,” began Ryan once Vitalily and his crew, and the security team had arrived for morning coffee. “Even though we have this large stock of ingots, we humans still need a base in the Asteroid Belt. That is where the real mining is, and we need to defend Ceres from attack once we get it. Comments please.”