Part Twenty-Two of my NaNoWriMo challenge. Total words written to date is 46,500, with 45,650 uploaded with this episode. Should have the writing all wrapped up by tomorrow, just before the cut off time.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The shuttle's take off had gone smoothly. As smoothly as can be expected for something the size of a small city. They were now several days into their voyage to Mars. A trip that would take them ten weeks in total. Plenty of time to contemplate the last few weeks experiences. Each step an obstacle that crumbled before the miracles and magic that had poured out from Emerald. Ruby always knew her sister was special. She had always felt a special type of love for her. But she was her sister, why wouldn't she? This trip had shown her something deeper though. Something more profound. Emerald hadn't just come through for her when it was needed. She had irrevocably altered the lives of so many other people also. She had watched her act with compassion and care, even when dealing with people whose intent was detrimental to their welfare. She had rearranged the physical components around them to produce an outcome. And yet still no one had died as a result of their actions. Ruby had watched her sister dismantle power structures that came to terrorise them; to subjugate them to the wishes of faceless men who believed themselves to be in charge of their little lives. And yet here they were, still on the journey, having overcome every obstacle presented to them. Ruby felt the love she had for her sister grow stronger every day.
The soldiers had been all over the Space Port. They had seen them in the waiting area. Clearly they were searching for Ruby or Emerald. Yet here they were, so those soldiers had gone home empty handed. Would they still be searching, she wondered? Do they give up that easily? Omar and Benjamin would have a bone to pick with them. Perhaps it has become personal, these army men embarrassed by being upstaged by two girls. Or was it just the one girl they were after? Ruby still didn't fully grasp how the army perceived the situation. Whatever they thought, they feared the sisters and their ability to dictate terms to the most powerful people on Earth.
Would they let them just flee to Mars without taking further action? Ruby wondered about these things. She didn't know if she should. If it were a problem then surely Emma would have a solution, she told herself. So why should I worry.
Richard had let Ruby join her in the shuttle's bridge as he and James oversaw the flight to Mars. There was a crew of twelve others overseeing the computerised flight system, allowing Richard to observe from a distance. It allowed him more time to spend with Ruby. She had begun to explain her story to him, as the opportunity presented itself. But he had noticed holes in the story, holes where Ruby had attempted to leave Emerald's presence out. How do you tell a story involving a mostly invisible child, she thought? She tried, by Richard queried some of these anomalies. It was a good story though, the sort that he liked, where authority get their asses kicked, and by a child nonetheless.
He had gone over Ruby's story several times, each time requesting further details. But there was something missing, something he couldn't quite put his finger on.
“I'm the missing part you are looking for,” Emerald told him, materialising beside Ruby. It wasn't at all what he had been expecting. The years of training had taught him to hold his nerve, but witnessing Emerald's appearance out of thin air was nearly enough to shatter that veneer of false bravado. He continued to observe silently, waiting for his disbelieving mind to catch up with the reality that his eyes were witnessing.
He pointed at the two sisters, one at a time, back and forth, as if speaking with his hands. “There are two of you,” he said, pointing out the obvious. “How are there now two of you?”
“This is my sister, Emerald,” Ruby told him. “She's my twin.”
“How was she invisible until now?” Richard asked.
“Because she is special. She knows magic,” Ruby explained, whilst Emerald watched on, allowing her sister to fill in the details.
Richard paused as he took in all this new information. “Magic, you say? The sort of magic that can capture soldiers? The sort of magic that has the army trying to find you and study you,” he asked, making air quotation marks as he said the word study.
“Yes, that sort of magic. I watched it with my own eyes,” Ruby said. “It was a lot of fun,” she added, with a wry grin.
“I bet it was,” Richard said. “I would have loved to have been there.”
“If they come after us,” Emerald started to ask Richard, “is this ship equipped to defend itself?”
He gave her a puzzled look. They had never encountered any sort of trouble out here in space. They had witnessed a few skirmishes when bounty hunters were pursuing rogue ships, trafficking humans between the two planets usually. They never threatened the shuttle though. It was a giant sitting duck in a way, but it did have a weapons system. “Who would be coming after us?” he asked, curious as to what she may know.
“The United Nation's army coalition hasn't given up on capturing us. I sense a very strong desire on their part to pursue this matter further. Possibly by sending out ships to prevent us from continuing our journey,” Emerald explained. “I don't have any specifics. Call it a gut feeling.”
“I am want to trust your gut feelings,” he said, having the heroics of their past few weeks still fresh in his memory. “You seem to have a knowledge that goes beyond anything I can understand.”
“So if they do send a ship, or more, can we defend ourselves?”
“Do we need weapons when we have you?” Richard asked, with complete sincerity.
“Your faith is strong,” she told him. “that will get us half way home.”
“Only half way?”
“To make it the full way requires action. I can help enhance and guide, but a weapons system would be helpful.”
“We do have a weapons system. Both James and myself are trained in its use, although I think we may be a little rusty. I've never had to use it. And James, well I don't think he's even fired a pistol, let alone the armory we have on this giant. He called James over to the little group, introduced Emerald – whilst leaving out the part about her materialising, leaving him to believe she had been elsewhere on the ship – and explained their current possible predicament.
“We need to make sure the ships weapons systems are all functioning. We may be needing to use them, at least as a warning,” Richard explained.
“Who could we possibly be needing them against out here?” James asked, starting to wonder why he had joined the Space Corps.
“The bad guys,” Ruby told him.
“And they're coming after us?” he nervously asked her.
“It may be a possibility,” Emerald added. “You did train in their use, right?” she asked him, trying to get his focus off his inner dread.
“Yes, we learnt their use at the Academy. But they also told us no one had ever needed to use them.”
“So, were you paying attention in that class?” Richard asked him. “Because you may be about to receive your test.”
“I'll make sure everything is functioning,” he said and turned and walked over to the computer panels which controlled the ship's weapons system.
Richard turned to Emerald, “If they come after us we will be prepared. I hope they don't, but I will take whatever actions are necessary to protect this ship and all those within her.”
“I sincerely hope they don't, either,” Emerald said. “But our experiences with the armies on Earth tells me we should be expecting company.”
Richard walked over to James and relayed further instructions. He looked over the bridge and the activity taking place within it. Nothing untoward was jumping out at him from the computer systems surrounding him. Not yet anyway, he told himself.
He rejoined Ruby and Emerald. “I've asked James to be ready to get a message through to the Mars Space Centre at the first sign of trouble. I don't want to say anything just yet, not until I am certain. We could possibly start a diplomatic incident otherwise. And I don't want to see Earth get the upper hand over Mars over this.”
The three of them sat and waited. The large bridge opened up in front of them, all visible from their vantage point. Nothing had happened yet, no sign of trouble, yet there was over nine weeks still to go before they reached Mars. Richard had made sure the shuttle was prepared. There was nothing left for them to do than continue their journey, and let the early warning radar systems do their job.
Several hours had passed without incident. James continued to oversee the functioning of the bridge, and hadn't reported anything untoward to Richard. Yet that nervous feeling remained in the pit of all of their stomachs. Something was coming, Emerald was more convinced of this than ever. “Prepare yourself,” she whispered to Ruby.
An alarm started screaming across the bridge from one of the computer systems. Richard jumped to his feet. He looked around to find the source of the noise. James and Richard both locked eyes on it together, then they looked at each other with eyes that betrayed the fear they were both feeling. James ran to the machine. “There are three space jets approaching us,” he said to Richard. “Approximate rendezvous in one hour.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Where is the weapons system located?” Emerald asked Richard.
He pointed upwards, “They are controlled from a couple of little enclosures up there. Both upper and lower guns are controlled from there. There is also a missile launch system. But I don't think we will be encountering anything large enough to warrant those.”
“Does the ship have a cloaking system?” Ruby asked.
“They haven't been invented yet!” Richard told her. “That would be nice to have, but no, we need to defend this ship by removing the threat ourselves, or scaring them off.”
“It's okay,” Emerald said. “I will be the ship's shield. You and James just concentrate on getting up to those guns and preparing for a possible attack.”
“We can do that,” Richard said, as he explained to James exactly how they were going to deal with the threat. “Are you up for the challenge?” he asked James.
“I will have to be,” he replied.
“We will remain in communication with the bridge,” Richard said as they left and raced up to the top most level of the shuttle.
“Do we stay here?” Ruby asked Emerald.
“Yes, they'll be okay. I will keep an eye on them.” They returned to the seating area at the back of the bridge, and allowed the crew to do their job. “We'll watch from back here,” Emerald added.
“Do you remember your training?” Richard asked one more time, as they reached the shuttle's defensive system.
“I think so,” James replied. “I'm sure it will come back to me quickly. Well it better, I suppose, as this is the real deal. If they attack us, that is.”
“Well we wont be handing any passengers over to them, so I assume they will attack. I can't see them coming all this way to leave empty handed.”
Richard contacted the crew member left in charge of the bridge. “How long until expected arrival?” he asked.
“Thirty minutes,” she replied. “Everything okay up there?”
“Everything is fine. We are in position. We will know once they are in range from up here with the weapons radar system. Call me when they are about five minutes from us.”
“Will do.”
“Do you think they will just fire on us, or will they open communications first?” James asked Richard.
“We are about to find out,” he said. “This is the first time anyone has encountered this situation.
Richard helped James get set up in the weapons pod, and quickly went over the commands again. He could feel the nerves rising to the surface, and was surprised by how calmly his junior was dealing with it all. He left him to strap himself in his own pod. Located several metres apart from each other, they controlled separate halves of the ship, with matching guns located underneath the ship also under their control. Let's hope these defense systems were well designed, he told himself, and not just put in as an after thought. Earth's first space battle may be about to occur.
“You should be seeing them on your radar system any moment now,” the bridge's temporary commander radioed through to Richard.
“Got it, thank you.”
“Don't fire until they first fire,” he said to James. “But once they do, don't hold back.”
“Understood, captain.”
Three space fighter jets screamed into the shuttles range. They were designed to travel much faster than the shuttle was capable of, but with a far shorter range. The shuttle had almost made it through the area they could cover, but still found itself within their range. The army high command back on Earth had given the orders to pursue once they had managed to confirm that the girls they were after did in act make it onto the ship. They were determined that neither Ruby nor Emerald would step foot on Mars. Even if it meant taking out the whole shuttle. And destroying the only viable link between the two planets.
There was no radio contact attempted from the fighters as they approached the shuttle. They had been given specific orders to fire when in range, and disable any means they had of defending themselves. Then negotiations could begin. They forgot one important thing when planning their attack though. Emerald sensed it as they planned it, and was able to have them prepare. They were not unexpected, as they believed they would be. There was no element of surprise.
The leading fighter approached, flanked by the other two, and opened fire, aiming at specific areas. It had flown in from Richard's side of the shuttle, so he opened fire immediately. This had not been expected. They had anticipated a time frame of several minutes before they could take up defensive positions. The two flanking ship separated from the leader and attempted to get themselves into a better position. Richard continued to engage the leading ship, firing a barrage of shots in it's direction. He was quick, but the ship's pilot was maneuvering even quicker. I pushed him out of position, though, Richard told himself. He will need to fly back around to try again. He took a breather, and looked over to James. “Get ready for them on your side,” he told him, watching the radar.
James looked carefully at his radar screen. It wasn't the clearest image to understand, but it told him enough to keep him informed. He could see exactly where they were now, and new he would need to be quick and tight in his defensive response. The two flanking jets roared into view, as promised by the radar screen. James let out a barrage of shots aimed at them both. They move so quick, he thought. But still we haven't taken any damage. He wasn't sure if they had been hit or not, but with a target this big how could they have missed. He kept firing, taking aim at one of them. If I can take one of them out, he thought, perhaps the other one will back off. He lined up the fighter within his range finder, trying desperately to keep him within the centre of it. He squeezed the triggers located on both sides of him, as he swivelled around in the pod, chasing a direct hit on his opponent. The double barrels fired a continual stream towards their target. The fighter took a hit, destroying the whole side of the jet. Black smoke billowed out, as it spiralled out of control away from the shuttle's massive bulk.
“I got him!” James shouted out, surprising himself with his own enthusiasm.
“Good work, James,” Richard replied, allowing him the feeling of satisfaction. A lot was riding on their success, so he needed him to stay positive. “Stay focused. There's still two more of them.”
The leading jet had circled around and positioned himself for a direct attack on Richard's and James' positions. Realising they had been expecting their attack, they changed their strategy, and decided first to take them out. The shots came in from both jets still in operation. They fired in an immense barrage at the shuttle's defensive system. Richard and James were both in a position to defend the ship, and let loose with towards the attackers. Neither the attackers, nor the shuttle were able to break through, so the jets circled back, and readied themselves for another attack.
Emerald, watched what she could from the bridge. They could see some of the fighting from their position, but not all. But she was well aware of what was happening. She became aware that the leading ship was readying his missiles to strike the shuttle. He'll have them ready for launch within minutes, she thought. Unless Richard and James take them out first. If the missiles hit their position they will wont stand a chance. Then the shuttle will be defenseless. She continued to watch, but said nothing. The jet was getting into position to attack again, at which time it will be ready to launch its missiles. She knew their guns wouldn't protect them from those. It's time for a different type of defense.
Emerald sent out a blinding light from the shuttle towards the two fighter jets. Both pilots found themselves temporarily blinded, and aborted their current attack positions. Richard and James both saw the light, and turned to each other. James shrugged his shoulders to indicate to Richard he had no knowledge of its cause. They quickly refocused themselves for the next attack, searching for the jets positions. Emerald waited for the jets to be midway through their circling around to reposition, and let out a blinding flash again. This time both pilots found themselves blinded long enough to lose sense of what was directly in front of them. And what was directly in front of each of them was the other jet. Emerald had waited for them to be facing each other as they circled around to face the shuttle again before launching her own attack against them.
Unable to see, either what was outside the jet, or even their own instrumentation, both pilots struggled to maneuver quick enough to escape each others flight path. The explosion happened directly in front of where Richard and James were positioned. They watched as the two jets collided with each other with tremendous force, sending debris out in all directions. Richard double checked his radar, but that was it. Three jets arrived, and none were now left. They had done it. He had hoped they would, but was never completely certain. And it seems they had received assistance. No wonder they wanted her removed from the picture, he thought.
Richard and James removed themselves from their weapons pods, and hurried back to the bridge. James could feel the buzz of excitement from what they had just achieved. The adrenaline was flowing through him, as he turned to Richard as said “We did it, we destroyed all those jets. It was us against them man, and we won, we did it.” He was jumping around, as his body tried to deal with the energy surging through it. “Three zip,” he added.
“You did good,” Richard said, more relaxed in his demeanour, as he processed what they had just experienced. “But do me a favour. Try not to celebrate the death of other human beings with quite that level of enthusiasm. It's a little creepy!” He gently patted James on the back to reassure him he was proud of his actions, even if he did want him to calm his celebrations down somewhat.
“Oh, sorry. I'm just happy that it is over.”
“I know you are. We all are. We can relax now.”
They reached the bridge and entered, as all eyes turned to focus upon them. The mood was subdued, but relieved, as every person in the room realised what had just been achieved.
“I will need a damage report,” Richard asked the crew member he had left in charge.
“Right away, captain,” she replied.
Richard turned to Ruby and Emerald. “Next stop Mars,” he told them.
Chapters One and Two (Part One)
Chapters Three and Four (Part Two)
Chapters Five and Six (Part Three)
Chapter Seven (Part Four)
Chapter Eight (Part Five)
Chapter Nine (Part Six)
Chapter Ten (Part Seven)
Chapter Eleven (Part Eight)
Chapter Twelve (Part Nine)
Chapter Thirteen (Part Ten)
Chapter Fourteen (Part Eleven)
Chapter Fifteen (Part Twelve)
Chapter Sixteen and Seventeen (Part Thirteen)
Chapter Eighteen (Part Fourteen)
Chapter Nineteen (Part Fifteen)
Chapter Twenty (Part Sixteen)
Chapter Twenty One and Twenty Two (Part Seventeen)
Chapter Twenty Three and Twenty Four (Part Eighteen)
Chapter Twenty Five (Part Nineteen)
Chapter Twenty Six (Part Twenty)
Chapter Twenty Seven and Twenty Eight (Part Twenty One)
This fiction is my own work, written for Steemit
Image Credit: Unsplash.com
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