Escape to Earth-The Legacy of a Conqueror (15 page)

Allison stared at her panel a moment longer and looked up, “This is frustrating. It would have helped to have a simulator to work on before we were handed this Rubik’s Cube.”

Chris shook his head and remained silent for a few moments and then said, “All right, we’re going to make multiple runs between Earth and Eden. We’ll continue the process until we can do it without looking at our panels.”

“That doesn’t help us operate the weapons.”

“No, but you have to learn to walk before you run. We’ll use it in the void and normal space and then we’ll try using the new drive to go in and out of the Skip Barrier.”

“You’re flying the ship, what am I supposed to do while you’re doing that?”

“I could make some suggestions but we both need to know how to fly it. I’ll fly it to Eden and you’ll fly it back. Then we’ll swap and do it again.” Allison threw up her hands and nodded. Chris looked at his panel and found the coordinate keyboard. He typed Eden’s coordinates into it and gripped the steering wheel. He squeezed the trigger under his right index finger and the ship blasted away from Earth at a speed that was previously impossible. “Allison, call out the percent of power being used by the various systems.”

“You’re at five percent now.”

“Going into the void.” Chris pressed the dark blue button on the center of the steering wheel and the ship immediately entered the void. “Boy that was quick!” He pressed the right pedal under his console lightly and the ship accelerated like a bat out of hell. He raised his foot and the ship slowed. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I’m going to make a turn and see how she responds.” Chris turned the wheel slightly and the ship immediately started a turn. He smiled and turned it more. The ship made a hard left turn and he was turned a hundred and eighty degrees as the gravity compensators issued a small whine. He turned it again faster and the pod reversed course faster than he could imagine. “These steering thrusters are amazing!”

“Eleven percent.”

Chris maneuvered the small ship for an hour getting a feel for its capabilities and then smiled, “Let’s see what she’s got. He pressed the right pedal and he had to make a radical turn from running into the bright light of a star. He whipped the ship back and forth and in less than a minute he was out in open space between the Milky Way and Andromeda. He pressed the pedal all the way to the floor and the distant speck of light named Andromeda grew at an enormous speed. He pressed the pedal under his left foot and the ship decelerated as fast as it flew. Andromeda hung in front of them and Chris was amazed.

“What’s wrong?”

Chris shook his head, “This ship might be more than a human can handle. It’s like putting a piece of sophisticated machinery in the hands of an infant.”

Allison shook her head, “If you’re having that much trouble with your superior reflexes, I don’t know if I can handle it.”

“We could always do it for you.”

Chris sighed, “I know, Barbie, but I suspect if you’re going to be handling anything it will be the disruptors, cannons, and guns.”

“You’re probably right. That system is really something else as well and getting the speed down on the turrets as they swivel isn’t easily done.”

Allison shook her head, “Alley, can you fly this ship?”

“Yes, but we’ve decided that we should divide the weapons between us and each of us operate a system.”

“Which on are you handling?”

“I’ve got the guns and cannons.”

“What about you, Gene?”

I’ve got two of the disruptors and Barbie has the other two.”

Allison shook her head, “The disruptors must be a bear if each of you are handling two.”

“I suspect we’ll get better over time but Trevor and Amanda have outdone themselves on this one.”

Chris looked at Allison, “It’s your turn. We have plenty of time. Let’s do this until we feel comfortable with the controls.” Chris stood up and Allison sat down in the command chair. Chris had to admit she did much better than he thought she would the first time. It took two weeks before they could fly the ship without having to look at their controls.

Chris smiled, “I guess we can go home and take a break before we shove off.”

Allison looked up from her console, “What about the weapons?”

“We won’t be operating them. The computers will handle them.”

“What happens if the computers are knocked out?”

Chris stared at her for a long moment, “Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“If the computers get knocked out, pretty much all the controls will go with them.”

“This ship has manual overrides. We could still operate it.”

Chris leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling with an expression showing him attempting to keep his patience. “Allison, activate the manual override on one of the disruptor modules and turn it ninety degrees.”

Allison’s expression changed and she pressed a button on her panel. She grabbed the small round knob on the panel and began turning it. Twenty seconds later, it completed the one-quarter turn. She looked at him with a contrite expression, “I guess you’re right about trying to operate them manually.” Chris gave her an ‘I told you so look’ and she said, “But that doesn’t mean we can’t fight the ship.”

“Are you always this much of a perfectionist?”

“When it comes to living or dying, I am.”

Chris stared at her and leaned back in his chair. He thought about the issue and said, “Before we even think about using the weapons, I need to see if I can fly this ship manually.” Chris activated the manual overrides and gripped the steering wheel. He moved the ship forward and it responded quickly. It was when he attempted to turn that the ship responded like trying turn a bolder rolling down a hill. “The steering thrusters aren’t nearly as responsive. I can turn it but not very fast. I’m going to have to press the thruster controls and hold them down as I turn the wheel. That will take some getting used to.”

Allison nodded and looked at her panel. “So we have good straightaway speed but need a lot of room to turn.”

“Until I can get a grip on the thrusters, yes.”

“Then we’re going to have to fight the ship like the old jet fighter pilots did.”

“How so.”

“We fly directly at a target and open fire when we’re in range.”

“That leaves us wide open to attacks from the rear and sides.”

“If we can fly at full speed, I doubt anything can get to us from the rear.”

“But we can’t fly at a target at full speed. We’d be past it before I could fire the weapons. I also have to get it lined up in the target sight.”

Allison thought for a moment and nodded, “You’re right.” She looked at the four little knobs on her panel and said, “What about this. If we’re forced to do this manually, I’ll turn one disruptor directly toward the bow, and the other three toward the sides and rear. You will fire the disruptor pointed to the front and rear and I’ll handle the two pointing to the port and starboard.”

“The scanners won’t be operational.”

“We’ll just have to fire using our tactical helmets. They’re not connected to the ship. You’ll have to move the ship up or down to get the target acquisition site on what you want to hit.”

“Ok, let’s give it a go. What are we going to use for a target?”

“Take us back to Earth and we’ll go through the asteroid belt and fire at rocks as we pass through them.”

Chris activated the power systems and skipped into the Milky Way.

• • •

The ship went through the field of asteroids and targeted smaller boulders. Chris shook his head, “I can’t fly very fast and avoid hitting them.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. You’re moving faster than the pods did when they attacked the ships outside M-84.”

“You’re kidding me?”

“No, you’re doing quite well, however, we won’t have a force field to protect us.”

“But we will have the silver coating and it can take a huge amount of punishment.”

Allison smiled, “I didn’t think of that.”

Her eyes narrowed and Chris said, “What?”

“Take us outside the belt for a minute.” Chris turned the ship and exited the asteroid belt and brought it to a stop. “Check and see if the black cloud emitters still work.” Chris pressed a button on his panel and the black mist surrounded the ship. Allison smiled. “Now fly at the speed you were just traveling and see if the cloud stays around us.”

Chris pressed the right pedal and the ship moved forward. He looked outside the viewport and the black mist was still there. “It’s sticking to us but it won’t do us any good if we can’t see through it.”

“Stop the ship.” Chris brought the ship to a stop and Allison pushed a slide on her console.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m manually extending some of the antennas.” She waited for a moment and then put on her combat helmet. She remained silent for three minutes and then said, “Put on your helmet and go to the scanner program. In the receiver subroutine there’s a choice to select external sources.” She watched him put on his helmet and after a moment said, “Do you see it?”

“Not yet.”

“It’s the second from the bottom.”

“Got it.” Suddenly, Chris saw everything outside the ship. “How did you think of this?”

“Like you said earlier, I’m somewhat of a perfectionist. I studied our helmets for the better part of a year, learning everything it can do. The antenna still receives impulses even though our computers won’t receive their signals; our helmets can link with them. This eliminates us having to use our eyes to see our targets and really increases our range.”

Chris chuckled, “You really are amazing. Let’s try it again and see how we do.”

The rocks being hit on their second pass through the asteroid belt were doubled. Allison shook her head, “It takes a lot of concentration to fire just as a target enters the sight.”

“It’s easier head on and to the rear. I just have to move the ship slightly to line them up.”

“If I tell you right or left, roll the ship slightly in that direction, it’ll help me get a shot at targets to the sides.”

“The control knob should move the disruptors enough for you to aim them.”

“I’ve already been doing that but a slight movement left or right will make it a lot easier.”

“Let’s do it again and see if I can do the roll and keep a target in my sights.” Eight hours later, they decided that they were not going to improve beyond their current skill.

“Are you ready to go home?”

“I guess. I can’t think of anything else.”

“We’ll plan to leave in three days. Take a break and go see your family.”

Allison’s expression changed slightly and she said, “I think I’m going to stay on board and see if there’s something I’ve missed.”

Chris saw her expression and wanted to say something but decided it might not be the right thing to do, “I’ll see you in three days.”

• • •

Chris was sitting on the beach watching Michael build a huge sand fort. That boy was incredible with his sand toys. He leaned back in his beach chair and looked at the gulls circling overhead. He kept seeing Allison’s expression in his mind when he asked her about her family. He looked at Michael and then lifted his wrist unit. He scrolled through the contacts and pressed a button. “Good morning First Commander. How may I be of service?”

Chris looked at Alice Gomez and smiled, “Alice, I need some personnel information on Admiral Allison Simmons.”

Alice had been with Fleet Operations from day one and no one knew the computer system better than she did. “What is it you need, Sir?”

“I want to know about her family.”

Chris saw Alice’s smile disappear. “Sir, she has no family.”

Chris was shocked by the revelation, “Why is that, Major?”

“I don’t have to look this up. Her father was a wounded veteran of the Iraqi War. He refused to leave Earth.”

“Why?”

“To begin with, he wasn’t chosen to go early, Sir. His disability eliminated him. Even when the ships were opened for those that weren’t selected, he refused to go. He felt that he would not be able to help the colonists because of his disability and would only be another mouth to feed. His wife would not leave him and both of them decided to force Admiral Simmons to leave and go with a family of friends. The Admiral was forced to board the colony ship, Sir.”

“How old was she?”

“Twelve, Sir.”

“Any brothers or sisters?”

“No, she was born before her father shipped out to Iraq. They didn’t have any more children after he was brought back.”

“How do you know about this, Alice?”

“I was on the ship when she was brought on board. I saw the family hold her against her will and carry her on board. I’ll never forget her extreme sorrow. She ended up curled in a ball and wept all the way to Eden. She never accepted that family and entered the Navy as soon as she came of age. I kept an eye on her and as she moved up in the ranks, I was really proud of what she had accomplished.”

“What about the family that took her to Eden.”

“That’s not hard to figure out, Sir. She blamed them for taking her from her parents. That’s why she never accepted them.”

Chris nodded, “Thank you, Alice.”

“She’s really something special, Commander. Her scores on the aptitude tests prior to joining the Navy are the highest we’ve ever seen. Those that know about her are proud of her. Her parents did a good thing forcing her to go.”

Chris ended the call and sighed. This explained a lot. She was fighting every day to be someone her father and mother would be proud of. Her world became one big competition. Now he understood her anger at not having control of the ship. The only time in her life where she wasn’t in control was when she was forced to leave her parents. He shook his head and pressed his wrist unit again, “What are you up to?”

“I’ve brought the ship back to Trevor to see if he can’t improve speed of the manual override systems before we skip out.”

“So you’re here on the island?”

“Yes.”

“Well why don’t you come down to the beach and watch Michael built a fort big enough to defend the planet.”

Allison laughed out loud, “Now that I have to see. I’ll be right down.” Chris smiled and thought that maybe she didn’t have a family but he could take the role of being her brother. Eve was a great step-sister and Allison would be someone his family would like. She arrived and went straight to Michael and ooo’ed and ahhhh’ed.