Solar Star

The sun was climbing higher into the sky as the grey military shuttles finally rose into the air and hovered for a moment over the empty amphitheatre that was once the Sakkarain community. She was surprised that she felt nothing for the place that had once been her home and her world, but without O’realian it was just a collection of white buildings in a rolling landscape. She turned away from the windows and caught Major Gerrard studying her so she glared at him and he quickly looked away. She was secretly amazed at the power she now possessed and how it intimidated even the toughest military types like Gerrard. How strange to think that once upon a time she had been the one scared of her own shadow and how ironic that the person who brought her out of her shell was now the one she was hunting. Inwardly she sighed as for over twenty years she’d carried this rage around inside her, yet there was also a tiny ember of love in her heart too. It used to irritate her, not being able to extinguish it, but now somehow it was a comfort.

‘What have I become,’ she thought.

It was the young lieutenant who saved her from any more maudlin thoughts when he informed her that ‘the springs’ confirmed the last bearing of the, as yet, unidentified aircraft, as just north of Denver.

‘And it was descending,’ he added with a look of triumph on his boyish face.

Major Gerrard nodded and handed her the GPS.

‘Then they must have put down here,’ he said and showed her the schematics of the Denver Transportation centre.

She studied it carefully noting how large it was and spread over a considerable area. She had limited troop numbers and only mobile laser weapons, although she had ordered more reinforcements, but they may arrive too late. She needed to know what vessels they were travelling in and when they’d be departing.

‘We’ll set down here,’ she said and indicated a flat meadow area, which overlooked the centre, but was still three or four miles from it.

He nodded and took the co-ordinates to the pilot.

She watched him go, but her mind was on what she had to do next and that was to get some more information so she turned to Lieutenant Dewmore.

‘Lieutenant, I need to contact the authorities of this facility. I need to know two things; frstly what ships have come and gone today, their destinations and cargo. Secondly send them the image of our mystery ship and see if they can identify it, and who its Captain is and where it is now.’

She paused trying to think if she’d forgotten anything as she felt she had, but for now it eluded her. She scowled, shook her head in frustration, there was something else, but she couldn’t think of it now.

Dewmore waited, watching her intently, not quite sure if he’d been dismissed or not. She glanced at him and was surprised he hadn’t moved to comply with her orders.

‘That’s it Lieutenant, get on with it,’ she snapped angrily.

‘Yes ma’am,’ he said quickly and moved back to King at the communication unit.

King watched the exchange uneasily and was glad he had no need to interact with the Colonel.

‘Sometimes it was better in the lower ranks,’ he concluded. ‘And probably safer too.’

Dewmore reached him slightly red in the face and sweating slightly.

‘Did you hear the orders Corporal?’ he said just a little bit louder than necessary.

‘Yes Sir,’ King replied at equal volume, and then he dropped his voice and said. ‘We had better be quick or she’ll have our heads on posts by sunset.’

Dewmore gulped and nodded in agreement.

‘Yep, so let’s do it quick and do it right.’

Maclyn had a problem; he was running out of room. They had managed getting all the stores on the ship and he had noticed Ty sneaking those damned bikes back on board, but his problem now was the shuttlecrafts, the two worker bees and Sarrin’s shuttle. He just couldn’t see how he’d get them all in and he couldn’t put anything on the Red Rocket as it had already left. He sighed and looked around him trying to work out what were the most important pieces of equipment and what they could do without if push came to shove. The hanger bay was almost empty of people now, as all the crew had embarked as ordered in case a quick getaway was needed. The only ones left outside were Sarrin, Kate Samuels, Matt O’Neil and himself.

‘So what’s next?’ Matt asked.

The tall slim athletic security chief stood with his hands on his hips ready to do what was needed and he possessed an air of command and competence having spent over fifteen years in the military and his close cut blond hair a legacy of that time. His face was angular, his brown eyes deep-set and his lips were thin. He possessed a strong face, a caustic wit, and Irish charm, making him a popular member of the crew even though at forty he was one of the oldest on board. He towered over the petite form of Kate and they did look like an odd couple, or was it a threesome with the rather golden alien Sarrin.

Maclyn pulled his thoughts back to the matter at hand and if they had problems with the engines they couldn’t replace them without both of the work bees.

‘Alright,’ he said as one decision was made. ‘You two can put the work bees back on board next.’

Kate grinned up at O’Neil as they’d had a bet on what was going to be left and she had plumped for a shuttle, whereas O’Neil had said a work bee. They both got into one and started them up.

Maclyn moved Sarrin out of the way and looked at the alien.

‘I’m afraid I don’t see how we can get your shuttle on,’ he said sadly.

Sarrin’s face registered alarm, or that’s what Maclyn though, it was a bit hard to tell.

‘But it must,’ he said taking hold of Maclyn’s arm to prevent him from moving.

Maclyn frowned, he had looked over the craft and it was beautiful with it’s slick shape and unusual design was a far cry from the rather bulky crude shuttles they had on the Solar Star, but he didn’t understand why it was so important.

‘What’s so special about it?’ he asked.

Sarrin seemed to sigh. This shuttle was from his home world and was bought for him when he had been ‘posted’ to work with the Sakkarain Community and it was much more than a transportation vehicle. Its systems contained a vast knowledge of the worlds between earth and Ieesha that would be vital to their survival so without it he wasn’t optimistic they would make it safely. These humans had no idea of the dangers that faced them out there beyond the worlds they had ventured to so far. The shuttle held the key, but he was reluctant to give away all of its secrets, just as the Tan-Dalis wasn’t just a transporter so somehow he had to persuade Maclyn to take his shuttle and leave one of their own. He hesitated to use a form of mental manipulation, but time was not limitless and already one of the work bees was loaded. He had minutes left before Maclyn would decide which shuttle was staying behind so Sarrin reached up and placed his index finger on Maclyn’s temple and before he could say or do anything about it, he found himself in a white space. He felt like he was floating and at peace; there was no need to rush; there was nothing he had to do. There was just space, empty peaceful space and he floated for what seemed like hours until he saw a door up ahead which seemed to fly towards him and open for him to float through. On the other side he was in a golden space and a gentle voice told him how he must take Sarrin’s shuttle as it was the right thing to do. He didn’t remember anything else and found himself standing back on the hanger bay ordering Sarrin to fly his shuttle into the ship. He felt nauseous and leant back against the cold sides of the Solar Star until his head stopped swimming and the hangar bay stopped moving.

‘Are you okay Mac?’ Kate said, and she put her hand to his forehead.

It felt very hot, his eyes were glazed and he was sweating.

‘No I don’t feel too good all of a sudden,’ he said and she helped him to sit down before he fell over.

‘You’ve been doing too much,’ she said in concern. ‘When did you last sleep or have something to eat?’

He looked at her and slowly she came into focus, her big blue eyes filled with concern and he smiled weakly.

‘I can’t remember,’ he said. ‘I guess that’s why I feel so weak.’

He struggled back to his feet with her help.

‘I’ll get something once we are finished here.’

She nodded and O’Neil looked at her and indicated she should help him go on board.

‘Look Mac, I’ll load one of these shuttles. That’s all we can get on anyway, so why don’t you go tell Ty we’re done here,’ he said.

Maclyn did feel fuzzy and disorientated.

‘Alright, but put the new shuttle on and leave the old one here,’ he said.

Matt O’Neil smiled and nodded as it seemed even sick Mac still had his priorities right. He watched the tall dark haired man take the arm of the delectable engineer and slowly walk up the loading ramp before he made his move over to the shuttle nicknamed George and manoeuvre it into position, snugly up against the Andromedians much sophisticated version. He closed the bay doors and before leaving went to take a look around the outside of the alien vessel.

‘I’d love to have a go in you my beauty,’ he said as he stroked its sleek sides.

He took a last long look over her before strolling to the ramp and informing the bridge they were secure and ready to go.

The view over the Denver facility was as good a Colonel Nye had hoped. She stood outside scanning the hangars and runways with her high-powered glasses, but what she saw disheartened her. The area covered several square miles and unless they could pinpoint the ship they were looking for and where it was, they couldn’t possibly secure the whole area as she just didn’t have enough men to cover half of it. She was studying the approaches when Major Gerrard informed her that Lieutenant Dewmore had some of the information she wanted. She returned to the shuttle and nodded at the lieutenant to start his report.

He took a deep breath and began.

‘The tower has told us that only five ships have taken off from the facility today, four of them on regular missions, some to the colonies on Mars and the moon but the other ship has come and gone twice today and is preparing to leave again.’

She smiled.

‘That’s the one,’ she said.

Lieutenant Dewmore nodded.

’Yes ma’am, I sent them the image we had and they confirmed it. The ship is called ‘The Maybe’ and is owned and operated by a man called Tyron Kelsey.’

He handed her a visual image of the Captain and she took one look and swore before handing it to Gerrard who was equally shocked and surprised. It was the rather stupid young man they had captured with the girl at Sakkara.

‘This is Captain Kelsey?’ he asked and Dewmore nodded.

‘Yes Sir,’

Gerrard looked at the Colonel.

‘Not as innocent a man as we thought,’ he said.

He wasn’t pleased at being duped, but he had to admit the young man hadn’t appeared capable of organising himself let alone the evacuation of Sakkara. He must remember not to underestimate him again.

‘No Major and you let him get away,’ the Colonel said, her eyes blazing angrily.

He inwardly sighed as it would be pointless pointing out that she too was in that small room when the prisoners disappeared and hadn’t been able to stop them. It seemed his day was going from bad to worse; maybe he’d have a career left by the end of it, but somehow he doubted it. He decided not to try to defend himself, but to change the subject and get Nye thinking about something else. Sometimes the strategic withdraw was more advisable for survival than an attack. He looked away from her to his lieutenant.

‘Where is this ship now?’ he asked.

King handed Dewmore the newly printed ground plan of the site where all the hangers were numbered.

‘It’s in hangar four Major, which is…’

He paused looking for the corresponding number on the map.

‘Here,’ he finished, pointing to the hangar facing the runway, but unfortunately between two others.

From an attacking point of view, this was possibly one of the worst positions it could have been in.

‘Are both these hangars in use?’ he asked pointing to numbers three and five.

Dewmore hesitated.

‘Number three is, there’s a refit going on, but the craft in number five left about twenty minutes ago.’

‘Where was that going?’ Nye demanded.

Dewmore looked down at his notes before answering.

‘Mars, delivering supplies,’ he said and looked up at the Colonel.

‘Is that usual for that ship?’ she said.

‘I think so as it is a cargo ship.’

She nodded and dismissed it.

‘Then somehow we have to get ourselves into hangar five without being spotted,’ she said.

Major Gerrard suppressed a groan as he knew he’d be the one to organise it and, knowing how his luck was running, he wasn’t confident of success.

‘One more thing Colonel,’ Dewmore said softly.

‘Yes Lieutenant, spit it out.’

‘The tower also said that the ship was scheduled to leave tonight, but had now requested a different departure time.’

‘And what is that?’

’11.00 hours.’

Gerrard glanced at his watch.

‘In thirty minutes,’ he said.