Legend of Oria 1: Initial Contact (39 page)

Karen threw on her clothes, gave Oria a quick kiss raced out of their quarters and to the shuttle bay.  It took her less than 2 minutes to reach the bay where her crew and Ratface’s team were just starting to assemble.  She entered the shuttle and headed straight for the captain’s chair.  She started the shuttle’s initiation procedures and flipped on the mission screen. 

The mission screens described the current situation in West Virginia.  She watched on the overhead monitors the in-progress attack of the F-35’s and gasped when she saw Bob’s shuttle burst into a ball of fire and crash into the ground below.  She was anxious to get her shuttle moving.

Ratface and Captain John Foster checked in the last members of their combined teams.  Once Foster closed the shuttle door, he signaled Karen that they were good to go.  Karen released the shuttle from the docking locks and headed it towards the shuttle bay doors and to space.

Once the shuttle was free of the Hercules, Karen hit the throttle and felt the surge of power as the shuttle rocketed towards Earth.  In only seconds, the shuttle was moving at almost Mach 20.  Karen was amazed at the shuttle’s speed.  Karen carefully angled the shuttle to pass through the Earth’s upper atmosphere.  Without the new shielding, the shuttle would have quickly vaporized from the heat generated between the shuttle’s shields at the Earth’s atmosphere.

The pain in Bob’s leg intensified as his shuttle shifted slightly on the mountain slope.  He grimaced as the spike piercing his leg twisted and angled his view slightly upwards towards the sky.  Bob’s mouth dropped as he saw a large bolt of light and flames dart across the sky.  It streaked within several hundred yards of the Creyte stronghold and fired several
balls of fire at the Creytes.  The Creyte’s managed to fire only once at the shuttle before being destroyed by the shuttle’s attack.  It slowly dawned on Bob that the shuttle leading the attack was Karen’s shuttle, only it was significantly more powerful and quicker than it was before. 

The Ranger team halted dead in their tracks as they saw the second STAR Hawk’s shuttle obliterate the Creyte defenses.  The Rangers watched the shuttle complete its attack, land near the mouth of the Creyte cave, and a small team spring from the Shuttle’s doors initiating an attack against the Creytes following them into the cave.

Ratface and his team stormed out of the shuttle into the Creyte cave laying a wall of laser fire as they raced into the cave’s mouth.  Ratface took particular pleasure in annihilating each Creyte that dared to show its face as he led his squad into the cave in typical Seal fashion, only now they had lasers and shielding from special suits. 

Retilia and Durinea did not like the reports coming from their retreating troops.  It was clear that they would have to leave their command post.  Durinea led Retilia to a highly classified space warp gateway.  When Retilia saw the gateway, he was genuinely surprised.

“Durinea, I have only heard rumors of this device.  I didn’t think any were yet deployed.”

“This is the first one.  You’re not the only one who has had connections back home.  My brother is the lead scientist on this project.  Of course, he was willing to set us up as their test site.  It should work only once and then self-destruct.  Let’s get going before this whole place explodes.”

Durinea led Retilia into a small escape pod inside of the gateway.  Once seated, Durinea flipped a few dials and prepared the pod for flight.  Retilia watched through the pod’s window as a squad of men entered the gateway’s chamber.  Durinea just barely launched the pod as Ratface and his men fired on the gateway.  The gateway exploded into a burst of flames from the laser fire.  Ratface blasted one of chambers consoles destroying the self-destruct mechanism before it could engage.

12:00 PM: Bronson Meets with Karen and Star Hawk teams

Bronson waited anxiously for Karen and Ratface to reach his office in the Pentagon.  He had watched the entire attack from the Pentagon’s situation room.  He had a moment of fear when he watched the near destruction of his teams.  At first, he grimaced at the sight of Karen’s shuttle, but when he realized what was happening a large smile broke out across his face.

Karen led Ratface through the Pentagon and into Bronson’s office.  She exchanged the usual formalities with the General and then introduced Ratface.

“General, I’d like you to meet Herbert Milano, formally a Navy Seal Chief and now known as Lieutenant Ratface of the Azortec Federation.”

“Good to meet you, Lieutenant.  It looks like you have received a slight promotion since your Navy days.”

Ratface bit his tongue.  It had been awhile since he had to deal with military formalities.  “Yes sir.  I was just promoted by Admiral Oria in the past week.”

“Judging from your last mission, it looks like the Admiral has justifiably placed confidence in you.  I have heard much about this Admiral.  Of course, I didn’t know that he was an Admiral.  I would very much like to meet Admiral Oria.  Do you think either yourself or Major Brown could arrange the introduction?”

Ratface chuckled to himself as he responded.  “Yes General, I don’t think Major Brown, I assume you are keeping your last name, would have any problem arranging for you to meet her husband.”

Bronson roared back “Husband!  You married Oria!”

“Yes sir, and Ratface, I haven’t really given a name change any thought.  I don’t know that a name change is an Azortec custom.”

Bronson slowly let a smile come across his face.  “I guess I should wish you well in your marriage.  It doesn’t appear that you’ve had much time for a honeymoon.  At any rate, I need the two of you to fill me in on your mission and the changes to your shuttle.”

Karen felt relieved that Bronson didn’t jump all over her case for marrying Oria.  “Thanks General, in our short time on the Azortec Starship Hercules we’ve learned many things.  Probably the most important fact that we have become to realize, is the extent of danger that now faces all of Earth in the next year.”

Bronson knew something big was up.  “I suspected as much, please proceed.”

“Yes General.  The Oria we know today actually is from a year in the future.  Apparently, Azortec has a host of its own internal political problems, which will result in them permitting the Creytes to take Earth and use it as a farm planet.  As you have already witnessed, the Creytes eat humans, much like we eat cattle and chickens.”

Bronson felt a growing knot in his stomach.  “This is incredible.  If the Azortec Federation sells us out, how are we supposed to defend Earth against the Creytes?”

Ratface hated this type of meeting.  It reminded him of why he never wanted to become an officer.  “Oria’s purpose for coming here is to get us, with his help, to build a fleet of starships with trained crews from Earth.  There’s no question that Oria’s objective will be difficult to achieve.  We have less than a year to move Earth’s military 20,000 years into the future.”

Bronson felt the knot in his stomach grow a little tighter.  “Clearly, we are in uncharted waters.  I have to get ready for a meeting in the White House.  Major, do you think you can have the Admiral meet me here around 1600.”

“Yes sir.  I’ll let him know.  General, Oria is equivalent to a Five Star Admiral, and by custom in the Azortec Federation, all planets treat someone of Oria’s rank as a head-of-state from another affiliated planet.  His visit to the Pentagon of course isn’t a State visit.  Protocol is important to Azortec, much less so to Oria.”

“Very well Major, that will probably become more of a factor when we introduce him to the President.  We don’t yet have an established protocol for meeting alien civilizations.  You said he is equivalent to a Five Star Admiral.  We don’t currently have anyone in the U.S. military at that level.  What is his position inside of Azortec?”

Karen responded, “Good question.  Oria has been around over 500 years and that is a long life span even for Azortec.  In the past, he has commanded their entire military and achieved considerable recognition.  Currently, he is over one of their four quadrant fleets.  Azortec allowed him to keep his rank even though he asked and was transferred to one of the quadrant commands.”

3:00 PM:  Meeting at White House

Bronson joined the White House security meeting that had already been running for several hours.  It was his turn to brief the Security Council on the morning’s events.  As he entered the room, he sensed a more laid back and friendly atmosphere than he had the last time he sat before this group.  Of course, Helen Marshal and her clique were in control during the last meeting.

John Wilson, the SECDEF, was leading the meeting when Bronson entered the room.  “General Bronson, your timing is impeccable as usual.  Everyone is anxiously waiting your report.”

Bronson cleared his throat prior to speaking.  “Thank you, Mr. Wilson.  A lot has happened since I last stood before you in this room.  I don’t have much in the way of slides given the recent pace of events.  As everyone is undoubtedly aware, we have defeated the Creyte stronghold in West Virginia.  However, Commander Retilia is still at large.  Another piece of good news is that we have recovered Major Brown, her crew, and the shuttle.  In fact, it was her shuttle and a team of retired Special Forces men that sealed the fate of the remaining Creytes in West Virginia.”

Hosa Medina, the acting National Security Advisor interrupted Bronson.  “General, you said that Retilia is still at large.  What are our next steps with him?”

Bronson expected this question.  “Good question.  Our commando unit reported that they saw Retilia enter some sort of escape pod.  There was a flash and an explosion, but most of the pod’s launch pad is still intact.  We are currently investigating the situation.”

Medina was still not satisfied with the answer.  “General, what we need to know is if Retilia has been neutralized or should we expect another ‘West Virginia’ somewhere else.  Our constituents will demand an answer to this question.”

Bronson took a deep breath to control the feeling of anger growing inside of him.  “Mr. Medina, as I have already stated, we are investigating everything we can about Retilia’s whereabouts.  We actually have a more serious problem.  Retilia was part of a Creyte advance team.  They were preparing to conquer Earth and convert it into a farm planet.  They want to farm our people as food for the rest of the Creyte Empire!”

The room turned silent as Bronson’s last remarks sunk in.  Wilson, regaining his composure, spoke first.  “General, this is quite a change from where things stood last week.  We can concur given the West Virginia disaster that the Creytes are indeed dangerous.  I have no idea how we can defend ourselves against this threat and I feel uncomfortable putting all of our trust in Oria.  Wasn’t it only last week that we considered him a criminal?  In addition, didn’t he commit a murder in West Virginia himself?”

It took Bronson almost thirty seconds before responding.  This only increased the tension in the already tense room.  General Bronson inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly trying to remain calm. “Mr. Wilson, your explanation is a fairly accurate picture of where we stood last week.  However, let me point out that Oria is only alleged to have committed murder.  His accuser is the so-called victim’s Uncle.  This victim sexually molested Major Brown.  Moreover, he was part of a motorcycle gang that has created a crime wave in West Virginia.  Local law enforcement has ignored these crimes since the sheriff was the dead gang leader’s uncle.  Furthermore, a powerful Senator whose sister happens to be the wife of the Sheriff held off Federal Law Enforcement.  So let’s not jump to any conclusions on determining Oria to be a murderer.  Most of the other concerns were generated by Commander Retilia and the recently jailed Helen Marshal.”

Wilson snapped back at Bronson, “Enough, General.  We get your
point.  If what you say is true of the Creyte’s intentions, we most certainly will need Oria’s assistance.  You may continue.”

“Thanks, Mr. Wilson.  The Hercules upgraded the shuttle used by Major Brown.  It is much faster, improved weaponry, and has a new energy shield.  However, improved shuttles are no match for a Starship.  We need to start building our own fleet.  Oria and his ship, the Hercules, will assist us and help us get started.  My recommendation is we start a war effort against the Creytes and fully fund this development effort.”

With Bronson’s last comment, the room erupted into a series of discussions.  Everyone in the room was coming around to the same conclusion.  The United States must declare war on the Creytes and start to enlist other major powers in the world to assist in the new effort.

4:00 PM:  Pentagon

Oria agreed with Karen’s request to meet with Bronson at the Pentagon.  His only stipulation was that Karen must also attend the meeting.  Borella transported Oria in his full dress uniform to an obscure location inside of the Pentagon subway station.  On his arrival, Oria headed directly towards the long escalator, which eventually led him to the Mezzanine level.  Karen was waiting for him there at the agreed upon rendezvous point, just outside of Gretel’s Bake Shop.

Karen was genuinely excited to be with Oria again.  After all, it was her turn to show Oria around this time.  She was quite surprised when showed up in his full dress uniform.  It was slightly different from the ceremonial uniform that he wore at their wedding.  He looked sharp in his black and blue uniform.  Unlike U.S. full dress uniforms, Oria wore no jacket.  He had sharply pressed pants with no cuffs.  His shirt draped well below the belt line and he did not tuck it in.  Across his shoulder was a brightly colored sash with stripes, medallions, and other ribbons.