Craggy 2: Another Last Flight for Craggy Page 13

  Cragg stared up defiantly at the huge man in the black uniform. 'No need to salute, officer.'

  'I didn't.'

  'And don't think that didn't go unnoticed,' said Cragg, jabbing him in the chest with his finger. 'I need a buggy. That one will do.'

  'Hey. No you don't.'

  'I beg your pardon, officer...?'

  'Sergeant Vickers.'

  'And I am Commander Dixon Cragg.' He forgot to add retired. 'I'll have you know, I have just received orders directly from Commanders Potts and Forbes to coordinate with our ground shooters. Now, be a good chap and move aside. Better still, you can drive me. Chop, chop. We haven't got all day. There is a war on, you know?'

  This time, the big sergeant did salute. 'Yes, Sir. This way.'

  To the other officer, Cragg said, 'Carry on. We'll take it from here.'

  'Yes, Sir.' He too saluted as Cragg, chauffeured by the sergeant, drove away.

  Chapter 64

  Anna and Bob Graham were also busy. Two of her technicians were still drowsy from enjoying too many beers at the party. She, Bob and a third technician were running communications and radar. Bob had often stood in for a sick technician, so knew the job like the back of his hand. The restored satellite was behaving impeccably.

  'Bob. Anything?'

  'Our ships are out of our radar range. I have their coordinates, so I can look out for anything coming from that direction. Any Varlindran ships, including ours, will give off bigger signals than either The Eye or the freighters. I'll be ready for them.'

  Anna knew they were the first line of defence for anything reaching Mars. It was their responsibility to alert the ground cannon the second anything hostile was coming their way at the same time to make sure their own ships weren't fired on. It was a big job, but they knew they were up to the challenge. All they could do was to be vigilant, ready to react instantly.

  Chapter 65

  It defied logic and any known understanding of physics known to humans. That didn't mean it wasn't very real. It wasn't even a tunnel. It was...a big black empty ball. Armour Dillow's plan to hide behind it to pounce on anything coming out of it wasn't a realistic option.

  'It isn't moving,' said Breeze. 'It's just sitting there.'

  'Change of plan. Retreat to twenty thousand miles. Surround the thing.'

  They all backed off, taking just four minutes to make that distance and position facing the strange impossible ball.

  Dan Carter stared at the peculiar black harbinger of death. 'I was expecting...I don't know. When you said tunnel, Sir, I fully expected this to be stretching out across the universe.'

  Dillow nodded. 'I expected much the same thing. I've actually been inside one of these, which had been trapped under Mons by Korlyn. I think I'm beginning to understand it a little.'

  'You are?' said Breeze.

  'When we first saw one of these, we wrongly thought black hole.'

  Carter said, 'No. That couldn't be possible.'

  'I know. But, I think the Varlindrans developed a state of energy they can control and use the curves of space for ultra fast space travel. Maybe even faster than the speed of light.'

  'The very possibility of that is still conjecture,' said Breeze.

  'To us, yes,' agreed Dillow. 'These people are way ahead of us. They may have not only solved the mystery of faster than light travel, but can actually use it practically.'

  'But that's still a ball,' said Carter. 'Not a tunnel. Perhaps they don't travel through it, but travel in it.'

  Breeze and Dillow looked at each other. Breeze said, 'Carter's right. They're not coming through it. They're already here. Inside it.'

  'Damn,' said Dillow. 'And all we can do is hope to get them when they decide to come out of there.'

  Carter asked, 'Can't we just shoot inside of it?'

  'I don't think it would do much good,' said Dillow. 'Physical things can go in and out of it. You, me, a ship. But when we tried to transmit radio waves inside one, we got nothing.'

  'One way to find out,' said Breeze. 'Shoot the damn thing.'

  Dillow said, 'Captain Flare.'

  'Sir.'

  'Take one short burst shot at that blackness.'

  Flare fired the laser cannon and a red trace hit the blackness dead centre. It was deflected off again, unable to penetrate.'

  'Shall I try again, Sir?'

  'No, Flare. See? That energy is so powerful, our lasers can't penetrate it. Same as the radio waves.'

  'In that case,' said Breeze. 'They can't shoot at us, either.'

  Dillow agreed. 'Hopefully. So. All we can do is wait for them to come out all guns blazing.'

  Chapter 66

  The woman in body armour looked suspiciously at the big security officer who dwarfed the man in the suit. 'Craggy. What are you doing here?'

  'Hi, Sandy. The commanders asked me to make sure you guys are ok. Everything ready to rock and roll?'

  Sandy Beach took hold of the laser on its swing mounting which was set in concrete and tried to shake it.

  'Nothing rocking or rolling here, Craggy.'

  'Excellent. Just as it should be.'

  'Any news on what's happening?'

  'I'm not aware of anything, Sandy. Your radio working ok?'

  'Fine.'

  'Hmm, hmm. Good. Excellent. Now, and the commanders specifically wanted me to clarify this with all you shooters, you don't fire until you're instructed to. We need to make sure the target is not one of ours.'

  'Fairly bloody obvious that, Craggy.'

  'Excellent. Good to see we're on the same page. Right. Stay alert. Carry on.'

  'Err, yeah. Ok.' Beach looked at the sergeant who just shrugged at her.

  Cragg said, 'Off we go, sergeant. We've a lot of ground to cover.'

  After an hour of driving around, Cragg was satisfied everything was as it should be, and instructed the sergeant to return the buggy.

  'Excellent, job, Sergeant. I'll make sure Commander Dillow gets that in my report.'

  'Ok. I mean, thank you, Commander Cragg.'

  'Carry on, Sergeant.'

  'Yes, Sir.'

  Cragg walked back inside the Base, only to bump into Forbes.

  'Craggy. What have you been up to?'

  'Me, Sir? Just following your instructions. I'm pleased to report the shooters are all ready...err... to shoot.'

  'I already thought they were.'

  'Glad we're on the same page. Well, Sir. Pleased I was able to help. If you'll excuse me, I'm off for a beer.'

  Chapter 67

  Fourteen crews on fourteen ships, stared at the big black ball of death only twenty thousand miles away. All were thousands of miles from the blackness, but their screens showed a magnified view of it. It hadn't moved. Dillow had them all change seats every thirty minutes to keep them alert. The ship next to The Eye was the alien ship with his daughter and Stella Wayward on board. He could imagine Fawn with her hands on the laser cannon triggers, and Stella poised to get some extreme speed out of the ship.

  He tried to think what was going on inside the blackness. What would he do if he were in there, planning to attack? Could he even think as they thought? In a way, he hoped not. He had killed a few in the line of duty over the years. But what these creatures had done, he knew he was incapable of doing.

  He had seen the evidence with his own eyes; the cold blooded slaughter of innocent beings, young and old, without the slightest remorse. And now they were here with the same intentions.

  Dillow also realised that the blackness could not be judged by size. There could easily be one ship or a thousand inside that thing. He really felt like a knuckle dragger compared to the creators of this technology.

  He was thinking all these things, when one ship flew out of the blackness. But it wasn't like anything they were expecting. It was a ball. It exited the blackness, no obvious signs of propulsion; its surface covered with small, mirror like circles. Propulsion system or not, it was fast and tiny. Dillow guessed it to be about two yard
s in diameter. Its makers were small, but he figured not that small. It flew several thousand miles from the blackness, stopping as instantly as if slamming into a wall.

  'It's a probe. Flare. Kill it.'

  Flare took careful aim and fired, but the probe was already racing back to the safety of the blackness. Flare continued chasing it with the laser cannon. Seconds before the probe reached the blackness, she got lucky, but only scoring a glancing blow. A small part of the probe flew off, and the probe wobbled, regained control and vanished inside the blackness.

  'Shit,' said Flare. 'Sorry, Sir.'

  'Are you kidding? A flying target that small from twenty thousand miles? Damn fine shooting, Captain.'

  Breeze said, 'True, but that thing has now told them we're waiting outside.'

  'Get ready, people. Things are about to get interesting.'

  It seemed an interminable wait for the inevitable, but come it did. Four ships, similar to the one Fawn Dillow commanded, burst simultaneously from the blackness, at unstoppable speeds, in four different directions.

  'Fire at will. Fire at will.'

  The Varlindran ships were as fast as they were deadly. One freighter disintegrated before it even got a shot off.

  'Get after those ships. Take them out, take them out.'

  Thirteen ships chased four Varlindran ships, both sides lashing out with whips of power. Only one ship under human command had the speed of those four ships.

  Fawn Dillow knew that. 'Go, Stella.'

  Stella wayward had the ship flying so fast, it ran rings around everything else. The Varlindrans knew this was the one to take out more than any other. The others were slow. They could wait their turns. Dillow was blasting at them, as they twisted and turned, her shots, their shots, missing by milliseconds.

  'They're chasing us,' yelled Stella.

  'Yeah, let 'em. Get them away from the others.'

  Stella headed for Phobos, the Varlindran ships on their tail, firing and being fired on. 'I'm going to do a fast loop around Phobos, come out behind them. Get ready, Dillow.'

  Stella almost misjudged the manoeuvre and had to spin them out of a crash course, hurtling back from behind the tiny moon. One of the Varlindran ships took a large chunk of Phobos off it, and Dillow let rip with blasts from her own cannon. Now they were doing the chasing. The four ships suddenly fanned out in different directions, about to double back on themselves. Dillow concentrated on one, fired a steady laser stream and caught the ship as it rolled. Stella had to fight the controls to avoid the debris smashing into them.

  The next fastest ship was The Eye and it was gaining on them. 'Nice shooting, Fawn.'

  'Thanks, Dad.'

  'Now get the hell out of the way. I don't want to shoot you by mistake.'

  'Stella. Hide us behind Deimos and let my dad play.'

  Stella took advantage of their speed and got them behind the ugliest rock in the solar system. The Eye, flown by Breeze, with Captain Flare in charge of the cannons, was a good match for one Varlindran ship, but not three. It scored one hit, just a scratch, but it was enough to have it scurrying back to the blackness. This meant there were thirteen ships against the two undamaged Varlindran ships. The damaged ship plunged into the blackness.

  'Sir?' said Breeze.

  'Go after it, Breezy.'

  Not knowing what they would find, Breeze took The Eye into the unknown, and there found...nothing. She slowed right down.

  'We're here. Where did that ship go?'

  'That's not what bothers me,' said Lance Dillow. 'That over there. Now that worries me.'

  Coming directly at them from the far side of the blackness, were eight more Varlindran ships.

  'Get us out of here, Breezy.'

  Breeze did just that, with eight ships right behind her, all firing their laser cannons. 'Time not to be here,' said Breeze.

  Flare was already at the controls of the rear cannon, and she hit ship one as they burst out of the blackness. The Varlindran ship also came out of the blackness, but it exploded as it did so. The other seven ships flew out of the blackness, only to find the freighters ready to take them on. All ships were at maximum speeds, bolts of laser energy tracing red lines in every direction. One Varlindran ship was damaged, but still just able to fly, and it took out two more freighters, one totally, one just wrecked. Breeze could see the stricken ship about to be finished off, when she yelled, 'get ready'.

  The Eye did a blindingly fast loop, and Flare finished off the crippled ship. It was becoming an even fight, with the humans giving everything they had. Then, as the battle was cranking up to another level, all the Varlindran ships raced back to the blackness and as the humans pursued them, the blackness simply vanished.

  'Where'd it go?' Carter asked.

  'Don't know, don't care,' snarled Lance Dillow. 'Let's get our injured home.'

  They homed in on the damaged freighter. 'Hello? Anyone home?'

  'Yes, Sir. Three of us alive, one injured. She needs help fast.'

  Lance Dillow shouted, 'Can you all get to the airlock, so we can collect you?'

  'Negative, Commander Dillow,' called back a frighteningly young sounding female voice. 'That side took a direct hit. We are relying our suits for air. And something is burning on here.'

  'You take care of the fire, we'll get you out of there. Just sit tight.'

  'Where the hell are you going, Sir?' asked Breeze.

  'Out of here and over there. Why?'

  'You can't space walk with all this going on.'

  'Watch me. Get me closer.'

  Chapter 68

  Space Security Commander Lance Dillow stood on the lip of the outer airlock, a safety line secured to his belt. Before leaping across to the damaged ship, he looked to see if the blackness had returned, although being between the two ships, his view was reverely resticted.

  'Breezy. You see anything out there?'

  'No, Sir. I still think you're a crazy bastard.'

  Dillow laughed. 'Part of my charm. I'm going over.'

  Dillow propelled himself off The Eye and hit the ship, finding something to hold onto. 'Can you hear me in there? Hello? Anyone?'

  His helmet radio crackled, and he could only hear somebody, hardly able to speak.

  'I...Jeez. Please. Get us out of here.'

  'I'm on your ship. What's your name?'

  'Rosy. Rosy Thorne.'

  'Nice. What's going on in there, Rosy?'

  'A fire. We put...We put it out, but it keeps starting again. For God's sake, help us.'

  'Try to keep calm, Rosy.'

  Frantically, Dillow was at the airlock. That whole side of the ship was damaged and an attempt by someone on the inside to open it had failed. With only his bare hands to work with, Dillow tried to prise the outer door open.

  'Maybe this will help.' Dillow hadn't seen Dan Carter until he'd appeared at his side. He was carrying a length of steel, about one yard long, six inches wide and one half inch thick. 'Part of a shelving unit. I thought it would come in useful.'

  'Good thinking. We gotta get the doors open fast. The space vaccum will put the fire out.'

  Carter rammed the flat end at the edge of the airlock door. The first attempt failed, but the next powerful thrust jammed the steel into the join. Together, the two men worked the lever; all the time trying to block out the screams from the youngsters inside. The lever started to bend, but the door budged. Just one inch, but enough for Dillow to get his fingers in.

  'You lever, I'll pull.'

  With Carter forcing and twisting with the lever and Dillow using his brute strength, the door gave. It was enough for the smaller Carter to squeeze inside. The inner airlock door was undamaged, and Carter hit the control and there was a groan as the electric motor tried to work the door open. Carter hammered on it, yelling, 'Come on, you son of a bitch.'

  It was enough, and the door opened. It was pitch black inside, with most of the electrics fried. The fire had been extinguished the second the door opened. Carter could see two pe
ople on the floor and neither were moving. Another, a girl, was collapsed in a chair.

  'Are you Rosy?'

  'Yes.'

  'Can you move?'

  'I...I'll try.' She yelled out in pain. 'My arm. It's broken.'

  'We have to get you out of here. Come on. That's it. Commander. One coming out.'

  Dillow was on the outside, waiting for the girl. Knowing she had at least one broken limb, he grabbed hold of her belt with one hand and hauled them along the line with the other.

  'Stay in the airlock. We'll get the others.'

  He had just made it back as Carter was helping an unconcious young man out of the airlock. Dillow grabbed the man and Carter went back inside. Dillow now had two in The Eye's airlock and was heading back for the third.

  'Sir,' said Breeze. 'The blackness. It's back.'

  'Shit! Carter...'

  'I heard. On my way.'

  Breeze said, 'Three enemy heading our way.'

  Fawn Dillow yelled, 'We'll hold them off. Dad. Move it.'

  Carter and Dillow pulled and pushed the limp body into the airlock of The Eye and Dillow hit the red button and the airlock was sealed.

  'Breezy...'

  'You stay put and hang on. I'm heading for Fawn.'

  Stella and Fawn Dillow got their ship between the blackness and The Eye. Dillow spraying anything that moved with her laser cannons. She annihilated one, the ball of flame going out in a second. Every freighter surrounded the two ships, and they exchanged fire, then the two Varlindran ships bolted for the blackness which promptly vanished.

  'Yellow bellied chickens,' screamed Fawn Dillow. 'Come back here. I wanna kill ya.'

  Lance Dillow jabbed Carter in the ribs. 'She's my daughter,' he said, proudly.

  'Sounds like such a sweet girl.'

  'Just don't piss her off. Let's get these inside.'

  Carter opened the inner airlock and with help from the other side, got the injured strapped onto bunks. Dillow and Carter buckled in their seats.

  'Home, Breezy. Everybody home.'

  Chapter 69

  Paramedics and fire crews were on standby as the eleven surviving ships landed. Forbes and Potts were there.