Solar Star

Chapter Twenty-Two

Colonel Nye’s expression was grim as she listened to Commander Peterson relay his message.

‘We fired all of our missiles at them and I believe we damaged their ship, but not enough to stop her climbing and she is now beyond our range and should reach orbit in five minutes at her present speed. We are now returning to base.’

She did not even bother to acknowledge his report or express condolences for the loss of the fighter; she was just too annoyed.

Lieutenant Dewmore looked uncomfortable as he waited for her reaction. She didn’t say anything but her face showed the depth of emotions she was experiencing. There was anger and frustration, but then a new look appeared, a look of studied concentration and finally hope. He was surprised, he had thought that any chance of stopping them now had been lost, but it seems he was wrong. She broke out of her revelry and turned back to him.

‘Get me the Commander of the planetary defence grid,’ she ordered.

For a moment he didn’t react, he was too shocked, but one glare from her prompted him into action. He fumbled with the transmitter in his haste to do as she ordered, but thankfully Corporal King had looked up the transmission code in his manual and handed it to him so he took a deep breath and punched in the numbers. Seconds later he was talking to the commander of the orbital base.

‘I have Colonel Nye here to speak with you,’ he said and handed her the transmitter.

‘This is Colonel Nye, who is that?’ she said sharply.

‘Commander Robson. How can I help you?’ came a very clipped military reply.

‘Have you picked up a craft coming into orbit yet?’ she asked.

‘No Colonel and if, as I understand correctly, this craft is leaving Earth, I will not until it has established orbit or is moving away from this planet. We monitor space not Earth!’

She was annoyed with herself, as she had made such a stupid error. Of course she knew this information but her obsession was interfering with her usual cold calculating efficiency.

‘Yes Commander, I understand that but a vessel called the Solar Star is about to break into orbit and then head into space and it must not be allowed to do so.’

There was silence on the other end, so she continued.

‘I am ordering you to target that vessel and destroy it.’

There was a faint sound like someone gasping and then a silence until finally it was broken by the Commander’s voice.

‘Can you repeat that?’ he asked, unsure that he had heard her correctly.

‘I said destroy it. Do you understand?’ she said in a cold firm voice.

‘Yes Colonel, I understand, but I need President Berryman’s authorisation to fire our weapons as they are supposed to be a defence against asteroids and meteors; they were not designed to fire on space craft.’

His voice was as equally strong and firm as the Colonel’s and Lieutenant Dewmore wished he could follow Major Gerrard’s example and walk away from this whole mess.

‘I am well aware of what they were designed for Commander,’ she said icily.‘But they are meant to protect Earth and this craft is carrying enemies of Earth who must be stopped for the future protection of this planet.’

She gave him a few seconds to absorb what she had said before adding.

’I have President Berryman’s full support in this matter Commander and you have only minutes to be ready to carry out his orders. Do I make myself clear?’

Again there was silence, which seemed to Lieutenant Dewmore to last a long time, and then finally Commander Robson replied.

‘I understand Colonel.’

Although from the tone of his voice he wasn’t very happy about it.

‘Good, keep this channel open, I want to hear how you are progressing.’

‘Aye Colonel,’ came the clipped reply.

Robson sighed as he knew all about officers like the Colonel. They ordered you to do something, then if it goes well they take the credit but if it turns out badly you get the blame. He did not know what he should do and he could not disobey an order; yet he had the feeling this was a very bad idea. He looked around the circular control room which was the nerve centre of the orbital defence grid and wondered how he should proceed. He walked along behind the banks of controls and screens at each sat a controller and thought about his options. All of them had heard the Colonels order and probably by now wondering why he hadn’t ordered them to look for the vessel. He knew he could not put it off much longer but perhaps there was something he could do to cover his back as well. He moved to his communications officer and said,

“Get though to President Berrymans office and advice them of Colonel Nye orders and ask for confirmation, Explain how urgent an answer is.”

The tall Spanish girl looked up at him in surprise but nodded and compiled nether the less. He then moved on to the earth tracking station and told the controller,

“You heard the Colonels order ensign. Scan for this ship she is so interested in.”

“Ahy Sir,” Ensign Yakamoto replied as he rotated his scanner away from space and onto the four corners area of the old United States.

Robson sighed inwardly, as he resumed his pacing and he hoped the President would get back to him before he had to jeopardise the defence grid but he knew it was unlikely; so all he could do now was wait.

Ty was stunned by Su-min’s announcement and he moved to her side.

‘Are you sure?’ he asked her.

She nodded.

‘Yes, I heard her tell a Commander Robson that President Berryman ordered him to shoot us down.’

Maclyn frowned.

‘Can she do that?’ he queried.

O’Neil answered first.

‘Seems like that woman can do anything she wants,’ he said.

Maclyn shook his head.

‘No, not that, I meant can the lasers actually hit us?’

Ty looked at his friend.

‘I guess so, they’ve hit meteors before.’

‘Yes I know but meteors are a fixed trajectory, they don’t move like a ship, so they are easier to hit.’

Black Elk smiled and joined the conversation.

‘I get it, they’ve been designed to locate and target an object that only moves in one direction at a known speed, so if we flew erratically and changed the course and speed often enough they probably wouldn’t be able to hit us.’

‘Yes, I see,’ Ty muttered. ‘But that’s only an assumption.’

‘No it isn’t,’ Dayton said loudly from the engineering console.

Ty jumped in surprise, he’d forgotten he was there.

‘Why’s that Chief?’ he asked when he’d recovered.

‘I read the engineering specifications when it was designed and in them it stated they would not be capable of hitting objects that did not stay on a regular flight path. This was because other nations at the time, believed these lasers could be turned against them from space, or against their space vehicles. So to allay their concerns it was designed to protect Earth from comets, meteors and asteroids only.’

‘But that was fifteen years ago; maybe they’ve updated them since, or added some new features we’ve not been told about.’ Ty said.

Dayton frowned.

‘I don’t believe they have, but Berryman could have ordered it, as he is an underhand individual.’

‘Yes and his second in command is damn right evil,’ Ty added.

No one disagreed with him. Black Elk broke the heavy silence.

‘Well you better make up your mind on what you want me to do as we are about to break into orbit.’

Ty nodded.

‘Right, well we can’t go back.’

He glanced at O’realian.

‘No we cannot,’ he said quietly.

‘So we have to carry on.’

Ty paused.

‘Ben you’d better make it the most erratic and unpredictable flying they have ever seen.’

Ben grinned.

‘Aye Sir, but I could do with Matt’s help.’

O’Neil was up and by his side before Ty could ask him and they huddled together as Black Elk told him what he wanted him to do. It looked like they were in for another rough ride and this time Ty thought he’d better warn the rest of the ship.

‘Su-min, open a channel to all decks,’ he said.

She quickly re-routed her board and replied.

‘Channel open Captain.’

He took a deep breath.

‘This is the Captain. We are about to break out into space, but we will have to perform some rather unusual manoeuvres so everybody strap in and be ready, it’s going to be a very rough ride. I’ll let you know when we are through it. Captain out.’

Most on the bridge were already strapped in with O’Neil used one of the emergency harnesses to tie himself to the helm, and Maclyn decided he’d use O’Neil’s now empty seat after being thrown across the bridge last time. Ty noted both engineers were already wearing their emergency harnesses and had secured themselves to a console. These harnesses were mainly used if the gravitational unit that gave the ship gravity in space went off line as they stopped you floating away. They were no fashion statement but saved you from a lot of knocks and bruises. With everyone ready all Ty could do was wait, watch and hope for the best.

‘Breaking into orbit in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,’ Black Elk stated.

As soon as he said 1, the ship dipped sharply to the right.

‘Engaging STE now,’ O’Neil added.

Ty listened for the familiar whirring sound that signified the engines were moving out behind the ship in their space travel configuration. It took only two minutes to complete, but for that time they were a slow moving target for the lasers. Black Elk was fully aware of this and so he could fully concentrate on some imaginative flying he left O’Neil to see to the engines.

The ship twisted and turned, never the same action twice as everyone held on tight, trying to anticipate which way the ship was going next in order to turn their bodies that way. The strain on them and their stomachs was beginning to tell, and the only one who seemed to be enjoying it was Black Elk, who was still smiling. Maclyn was impressed but also becoming distinctively queasy and from the look on some of the others faces he wasn’t alone and he began to wish he hadn’t eaten that sandwich earlier.

The two minutes seemed very long to them all and by the end of it almost too much for certain green looking crewmembers, but finally the engines locked and Black Elk levelled them out and O’Neil fired them up. In one breath taking moments, they shot forward at light speed heading straight for the moon and once there, they’d be out of reach of the Colonel forever. Ty already realised neither he, or the ship could come back to Earth until the Colonel was no longer in a position to pursue him so for better or worse, he and his crew were now as homeless as the Sakkarian Community. As he watched Earth recede, he wondered when he’d see her again but they still had to get to the moon so for another hour they would be in range of the lasers and vulnerable. Ty tried to relax, but his shoulders seemed stuck around his ears and he had the beginnings of a thumping headache.

There was a silent tension building again on the bridge almost as if everyone was holding their breath. Sarrin was also aware of the atmosphere and began to feel anxious too as he wasn’t used to all this emotion. Andromedians were at one time a very passionate and overly excitable race, which had led to their being many wars and conflicts on their world, until it was almost destroyed. Reason and tolerance, complied with a rising of consciousness and spirituality saved them, but it had been a close run thing. They had learnt to temper over emotional behaviour and accept it was part of them, but must not rule them although they still were passionate and loving, but without the destructive elements that can so often go with it. Here he felt his blood rising and his emotions surfacing making him suddenly realise that he liked these people very much and didn’t want any harm to come to them. He also discovered he too could dislike another being more than he had done in his whole life as the feelings Colonel Nye had stirred up inside him were feelings he had thought he’d left behind him many years ago but maybe Colonel Nye was a lesson for them all.

The minutes crept slowly by and the tension on the control platform increased with every one of them. This orbital platform was an isolated post to be assigned to, where the crew worked two months on then two months off and it could be a very long and boring time as it was rare they had to shoot anything down. Most space debris was small enough to vaporise in the earth’s atmosphere and any really large pieces had been spotted, charted and were now being watched for changes in their course in case they threatened earth. But they were now facing a completely different threat, one from earth itself and the design of the grid had built into it some limitations They would have to wait until the ship had flown past them and was heading away before they could open fire on it as they could not turn the lasers towards earth. Robson looked out into the darkness outside their view ports and saw, in the distance, another platform, one of the forty in the chain of round shaped platforms that encircled the planet and all except this one were unmanned and were controlled from this small room and it was his job to issue the order to fire on the space ship. It had never been attempted before and he was not at all sure it was even possible but unless President Berryman got back to him in the next few minutes to tell him not to he would have to open fire. He was startled when Yakamoto said,

“I have it.”

Robson rushed to his side and sure enough a ship was about to break into orbit right where it should if it came out of Denver.

“Can you confirm that’s the ship we are after?” he asked.

Yakamoto nodded.

“Yes Sir it is the only ship leaving earth from the Denver Transportation Centre so it has to be them.”

Robson sighed; he had run out of time.

“Right; calculate which platform is the nearest to where it will fly past.”

Yakamoto’s fingers flew over the controls and within seconds he had the answer.

“Laser 24 Sir,” he said turning to look up at his superior.

“Thank you. Keep track of that ship.”

Yakamoto nodded then turned back to resume his surveillance.

Robson walked to post four and leant forward to speak to its controller, an African lady called Yolanda.

“It’s going to pass close by twenty four,” he told her.

She nodded,

“I have it on screen, activating Laser twenty four.”

She pushed the arming button and the panel lit up like a Christmas tree so it was now primed and ready to fire.

“Fire anytime you think you have a chance to hit it,” he said and hoped he was doing the right thing as there was no going back now.

Swiftly the Solar Star moved towards the moon, after only five minutes Sarrin detected a pulse emanating from one of the nearest orbital platforms.

’Laser activated 291.7o,’ he announced.

Immediately Black Elk turned off their course and O’Neil dropped their speed as a brilliant flash of light shot past them on their left to about the position they would have been if they hadn’t changed course and speed.

Maclyn swore a rare occurrence for him.

‘The bastards,’ he said.

Ty was surprised, but couldn’t fault the statement.

‘It seems the Colonel doesn’t like to give up,’ he muttered.

O’realian sighed heavily.

‘I cannot believe that this woman was once Catya,’ he said sadly. ‘To have come to this.’

He shook his head too upset to continue.

‘It is not your fault father,’ Kassina said, taking his hand and kissing it.

Ty watched her and when she looked up and saw him her eyes blazed, almost daring him to comment.

He didn’t blame O’realian, he liked him and saw the pain the Colonel had inflicted on him and the community. It was Kassina he had problems with and the truth was he found her physically very attractive; it was a pity the rest of her was so irritating. He liked a challenge, but even he balked at that big a one. They locked in eye contact combat and he was damned if she was going to win and somehow he kept the pressure up until she grinned and turned back to her father.

‘No one blames you for this,’ she said.

Ty nodded at O’realian, then turned back to wait for the next skirmish. Would it be with the orbital lasers or Kassina! Even now he wasn’t sure if he’d won the last one. He sighed and tried to put her out of his mind and concentrate on their immediate survival.

On the surface Colonel Nye couldn’t stay still, she listened to the sound coming from the central room of the planetary defence grid and wished she were there to make sure they did the job properly. She still couldn’t believe the Solar Star had got so far with all the resources she had at her disposal, they had somehow slipped through the net. She felt like screaming in frustration or hitting someone, but Major Gerrard had conveniently disappeared. Lieutenant Dewmore and Corporal King waited anxiously by the comm. unit with mixed emotions; privately both men hoped the Solar Star made it and escaped the Colonel’s vindictiveness, but they were afraid of what she’d do to them if it did. They listened as the laser was fired and seconds later the miss was reported.

‘Fools,’ she snorted.

Dewmore glanced at King who returned his look of desperation as they were trapped next to this seething, hateful woman, unable to escape.

In the control room high above earth Yolanda was frustrated by the slowness of the system as it couldn’t be moved very fast and took a long time to line up on a target especially one that moved as fast as a space ship. All these limitations were making it very difficult for her as she would just get it locked on to the ship when they would change their course or their speed and she would lose them again. She took a deep breath to calm herself and tried again but this was not what she had been trained for and she calmly moved the targeting aperture and found the ship again. She held her breath as she fired the laser praying that this time she would hit them but it was not to be. Just as she fired the ship moved left and she had missed them again.

‘Laser 170.3,’ Sarrin shouted and Black Elk responded immediately, but only just in time.

The blast only just missed them and the shock wave gently rocked the ship.

‘That was close,’ Maclyn said.

O’Neil added.

‘Too damn close.’

He adjusted the engine speed again and they sped on towards the moon and another thirty minutes to go before they could hope to be safe. Black Elk swung the ship around again and took the shortest route to their destination; fingers ready to change their course the instant Sarrin detected laser activation which happened several more times. For ten tense minutes they took a wavy course which rapidly closed the gap across which they had to traverse and the longer they travelled the more electric the atmosphere became as they knew that with practise the lasers would get more accurate and a lot closer.It was Sarrin who detected a change in tactics; two of the lasers were moving to catch them in crossfire.

It was Yolanda’s neighbouring controller who suggested using two Lasers together and Robson gave his permission for them to give it a go then stood behind them as they conferred and worked out their strategy. The ageing grid was not really up to the job but, with a bit of luck, they might just hit them.

“Ready Sir,” Randall said.

Robson nodded.

“Fire whenever your ready,” he told them and watched closely as they moved the lasers into position ready to fire.

‘Two lasers positions, 192.75 and 301.95 are moving,’ he shouted, hoping O’Neil and Black Elk would understand.

They did all too well as they glanced at each other.

‘I’ll stop and then go full speed,’ O’Neil said quickly.

‘Okay, ready, on my mark,’ Black Elk replied, having already decided what he was going to do.

‘Lasers activated,’ Sarrin said.

Black Elk counted to three.

‘NOW,’ he ordered.

O’Neil cut power to the engines which suddenly dropped them downwards and Black Elk continued to move with a tight 180o turn to the right. A flash of light cris- crossed in front of them harmlessly and once it had gone O’Neil reactivated the engines and the ship rose up and again began to move forward. Black Elk repositioned them and headed on their way for the moon.

“Damn we nearly had them,” Randall said and Robson grimaced.

“Don’t lose them,” he ordered, “Keep trying.”

Both controllers exchanged glances knowing that very soon that ship would enter the moons protective shield and they could not touch it then. They had just fifteen minutes left and nothing they had tried so far had worked as they had run out of any fresh ideas. The look on Robson’s face told them he did not want to hear that so they wisely returned to their controls to try again,

‘They’re getting a bit sneaky,’ O’Neil said unnecessarily. ‘Isn’t there anything we can do to slow them down?’

Ty was thinking the same thing.

‘Yes, they’re getting too good.’

He got out of his chair and made his way to the weapons console indicating Maclyn should change seats with him and Maclyn sighed and did so. Ty took the now empty seat and strapped himself in. He smiled at O’Neil who watched him with interest.

‘You’ve had your turn Matt,’ he said. ‘Now I’m going to see if I can hit the proverbial barn door.’

O’Neil grinned back then returned to his own work as one thing was sure; it wouldn’t be long before they tried to hit them again.

Ty settled down and ran through the targeting sequence in his head, trying to remember what to do. It had been a month or more since he’d sat in this seat and learnt how the system operated and he never dreamt it would be used so soon.

‘Okay,’ he said to himself, once he’d sorted it out. He turned the small wheel with his right index finger and watched the target move across space until it located the nearest laser platform. These units were unmanned, being remotely controlled from an orbital control centre, luckily situated on the other side of Earth, away from the most likely direction of incoming space bodies.They were spherical dirty grey bodies fitted with a directional laser which were proving a bit nasty but Ty wasn’t going to let them destroy his ship.

‘Got it,’ he murmured as the target outline rested on the laser.

He flipped up the casing over the arming device and pressed the blue button, the laser was live. He took a deep breath and pushed the red button and a deadly stream of energy erupted from the rear weapon and hit the laser square on. Ty held his breath not sure if it had suffered any damage at all while Sarrin monitored the platform with the sensors and noted an energy surge and then a power cut.

‘The laser is inoperative,’ he said calmly.

Ty looked up at him and grinned.

O’Neil smiled.

‘Sweet Captain,’ he said and then added. ‘Only another thirty nine or so to go.’

Ty’s smile faltered, but only for a second, it was a victory for them, albeit only a very small one.

“They are firing,” Yolanda shouted and Robson rushed to her and focused on her screen just as the incoming laser fire hit Laser twenty four. For a moment he thought the shields had held but then there was a whining sound follower by a flash and the screen on twenty four went blank.

“The powers down,” Yolanda reported, “It’s inoperable.”

Robson swore his face set in grim lines.

“Well I hope your satisfied now Colonel,” he said under his breath.

Sarrin picked up another energy build up.

‘Laser 201.95 and firing,’ he shouted just as a light streaked towards them.

Black Elk reacted immediately but knew he was going to be too late and he was right; the laser caught the back of the left engine, causing it to start a critical overload. The ship bucked and a roaring noise deafened them all, but O’Neil had cut the power to that engine in time to stop it exploding and with no power, the most immediate danger to the ship was averted.

“I’ve hit it,” Randall cried out in triumph.

Robson looked down at his screen and sure enough the laser had hit the left engine of the fleeing ship, but within seconds they all realized it was still moving forward, all be it at a strange angel so Robson sighed,

“Well done Randall, now can you finish the job?”

“Ahy Sir I’ll get them,” he said confidently.

Robson was not so sure but he refrained from saying so and went to report the hit to Colonel Nye.

‘Engine number one is out,’ O’Neil shouted. ‘Power off, damage extensive.’

Ty cursed and turned to the helm.

‘Can you still manoeuvre Ben?’

The Native American nodded.

‘Yes, but it’s going to slow us down and give them more opportunities to get a better shot at us.’

‘I’ll try to improve our chances; you just get us out of here.’

‘Shall I eject the engine?’ O’Neil asked.

Ty shook his head.

‘Not yet, if we can save her we will. It’s a long way to Ieesha.’

‘We have hit their ship Colonel,’ Robson reported. ‘One of the engines appears to have been damaged.’

Colonel Nye smiled ever so slightly at that.

‘Damaged?’ she asked.‘Enough to stop them?’

There was a moment’s delay before Robson replied.

‘It appears not. They are continuing.’

‘Then fire at them again,’ she shouted.

‘Yes Colonel we are about to, but they are still moving away from us and will be out of range in approximately eight minutes.’

She frowned and rubbed her throbbing head.

‘Then you have eight minutes to stop them Commander and don’t waste any of them,’ she replied sarcastically.

Commander Robson didn’t like the implications as he had already suspected failure to stop this craft was going to be blamed on him and his people; whereas he was surprised they had managed to hit the ship at all. The targeting system was too slow to adapt and once fired it had to be repositioned before it could fire again. Firing on a meteor was very different as they knew its course and speed long before it was in range and could line up several lasers on it to fire together, vaporising it before it could threaten Earth. But the Colonel didn’t appreciate their problems and so he watched his controller struggle to line up on the craft again. He hadn’t bothered to inform the Colonel they had been fired on as well as it wouldn’t be accepted as an excuse. He’d met her type before, they just didn’t listen to the people who ran the equipment, and they just demanded impossible results. He sighed and hoped it was all worth it, because they now had a whole the planet’s defence grid, maybe more before this was over.

Ty lined his target up on the laser, which had inflicted the damage to the engine. Just as he fired Black Elk tilted the ship to help her fly better and Ty’s shot missed the platform.

‘Damn it Ben, I nearly had it then,’ he complained.

‘I’m sorry Captain, but I can’t manoeuvre with the engine dragging us down like this.’

Dayton had been assessing the damage and decided to act.

‘Captain I believe the engine isn’t repairable.’

Ty was surprised as Dayton believed he could fix almost anything mechanical, but if he said it was useless then he’d have to believe him.

‘Alright, eject the engine,’ he ordered.

O’Neil nodded and hit the switch which released the clamps holding the engine to the struts. Seconds later the ship juddered and then lifted as the dead weight of the engine was removed.

‘That’s better,’ said Black Elk.

Ty agreed reluctantly although he didn’t like losing that engine.

‘Laser active 190.30,’ Sarrin interjected.

The ship immediately dived to the left and the flash of blue light shot above them missing them by just a hundred feet. Once they were moving again it was Ty’s turn to fire.

‘Just keep us straight for a minute, then I can knock out that laser,’ he said.

Black Elk nodded and glanced at Sarrin, hoping he’d keep a good look out for incoming laser fire. Ty quickly lined up the target and once it was square inside the ring he activated the lock and wasted no time in hitting the red button. The beam of light sprung out of the ship and streaked across the blackness of space and he found himself holding his breath. It seemed to be travelling so slowly and he was wondering if he’d got it right when there was a flash as it hit the platform.

“Laser twenty five is damaged Sir,” Yolanda told him.

Robson didn’t reply as he did not know if he could control himself enough to. The tension on the platform was almost unbearable but it would soon be over and if he was to stop that ship drastic measures had be taken and taken now.

“Activate the entire grid,” he ordered. “Any one with a chance of hitting them is ordered to fire.”

There was a sharp intake of breath at this but no one questioned him, they just got on with fulfilling his orders.

Black Elk immediately increased their speed to as fast as one engine would go and they all waited to see if Ty had been successful. Sarrin watched the sensors and as the readout progressed, it became clear he hadn’t damaged it sufficiently to stop it firing.

‘Captain it is still active,’ he stated calmly.

‘Damn it,’ Ty said and immediately began to set up again.

Before he could fire the whole defence grid activated.

‘Oh my God,’ O’Neil said as he saw the laser cannons all start to move and point to them.

‘They’re getting desperate,’ Maclyn stated.

‘What do I do?’ Black Elk yelled.

‘Get us as far away as you can,’ Ty ordered.

‘How long now till we are out of range?’

O’Neil read the instruments as Black Elk had no time to do anything else but fly if they were going to make it.

‘I’d say five minutes,’ he said and glanced at the forward viewer.

The moon seemed very large now and once they were within its orbital range the lasers couldn’t get them, as the moon was protected from the laser grid. Five minutes to safety, it didn’t sound very long, but Ty knew it was long enough and could prove too long for them. The nearest and most dangerous laser for them was still the one he’d damaged so he started to line up again but something was in the way. He paused unsure of what he was seeing, then he realised what it was.

‘Blow me down,’ he muttered to himself.

The discarded engine was on a collision course for the laser.

“Sir there is an object approaching Laser twenty five” Yolanda told him.

Robson squinted at the screen unable to make out what it was and for a few fatal seconds he hesitated then it occurred to him what it was he was seeing.

“It’s the engine! Fire Yolanda, Destroy it.”

She tried but the power to the laser had not built up enough to use it so all they could do was watch helplessly as the engine carried on straight into the laser platform.

As it struck it and the dark void of space was lit up by a massive explosion. Everyone on the bridge and orbital station gasped and shielded their eyes from the brightness that momentarily blinded them.

‘What the hell was that?’ Maclyn asked.

‘The engine,’ Ty said. ‘It hit the platform.’

Sarrin noted something else.

‘That is not all it did Captain,’ he said.

‘Oh?’ Ty replied, an eyebrow rose in surprise.

’No it has also overloaded the entire network. The planetary grid is offline.

At the moment of impact the energy fed back sending sparks and flames from several of the screens and control panels. There were screams and panic as the acrid smoke quickly filled the room and then the fire extinguishers activated spraying there toxic fumes to add to the mix. Robson yelled trying to make himself heard above the screams and the alarms.

“Evacuate! Everybody out now.”

No one needed to be told twice and very quickly he was alone. He put on one of the emergency breathing apparatus before he informed the Colonel of the disastrous consequences of her orders. He might even enjoy it.

Colonel Nye listened to the commotion in the central control room of the grid orbiting high above them via the comm. link. She bit her nails as she anxiously waited for news of their success. There seemed to be a lot of noise and confusion and alarms sounding and she could hear people shouting and orders being given to evacuate but it wasn’t clear what was really going on. She decided to find out.

‘Commander Robson,’ she said into her comm. link but he didn’t reply.

‘Where is he?’ she muttered darkly.

She frowned. What was going on up there? Once again she wished she had a visual link as well as audio and there was more noise and voices. Once she heard Robson but over the airwaves it was impossible to know or understand what was happening. The chaos was broken by what sounded like flames followed by a scream and then people coughing and yelling; something was happening, but it didn’t sound good.

‘Robson answer me,’ she screamed.

Lieutenant Dewmore winced at the sound as the claxon continued but the sound of voices diminished until all she could hear was the alarm. She glanced at her watch and knew they had run out of time, by now the Solar Star would be entering the zone around the moon and safety. She felt suddenly exhausted and drained of all emotion and energy as it seemed that O’realian had got away again, only this time for good. Maybe it was meant to be that way and once she would have accepted that, but now all she knew was they had all failed to stop him. She was about to walk away when the radio crackled and Commander Robson’s voice filtered down to her along with the lonely sound of an alarm.

‘Colonel, the planetary defence grid is offline and severely damaged and you are responsible.’

He was barely able to keep the rage he felt under control.

‘I hope President Berryman thinks it was worth it.’

‘What do you mean? Did they fire on you?’

‘Yes, but that only caused damage to one of the lasers, whereas the engine has caused massive system wide overload and it will be months before the grid is operational again.’

‘What engine Robson?’ she shouted back.

’The ship you ordered us to fire on ejected her damaged engine which collided with laser twenty five, destroying it and causing massive power surges which have crippled our systems and now Earth has no defence against meteors or asteroids. I hope you realise what your order has cost us as you Colonel, and only you, are responsible for this disaster and I have already informed the President’s office of your orders. So he will know who to blame.

With that he cut the connection.

An icy chill ran through her. President Berryman was a weak man but no fool. He was a born politician and would lose no sleep in feeding her to the wolves to save his own neck. She realised she had not only lost O’realian, she had lost the only other thing in her life that she valued, power. She had to get away before the news broke and she was detained as now she was a fugitive too and she didn’t have anywhere or anyone to turn to. She turned away from the bewildered Lieutenant and Corporal and walked into a very uncertain future.

The Solar Star limped past the moon and with every passing moment the atmosphere lightened and a party mood began to permeate onto the bridge. Ty returned to his centre seat and everyone un-strapped themselves and relaxed as they had made it. Somehow they had survived everything Colonel Nye had thrown at them and now they were finally on their way to the rendezvous with the Red Rocket. Maclyn moved to stand next to Ty.

‘Do you think it’s over?’ he asked cautiously.

Ty smiled.

‘Yep, I finally think it is.’

He paused and then added.

‘It’s also the start of our greatest adventure.’

Maclyn frowned slightly then understood.

‘Yes I suppose it is. What do you think we’ll face out there?’ he asked as they watched their slow progress into the unknown.

‘I haven’t go a clue,’ Ty replied honestly. ‘But hopefully Sarrin does.’

Maclyn was about to ask another question when Su-min interrupted him.

‘Captain, I have the Red Rocket hailing us,’ she said.

‘On speaker,’ he answered.

‘Ty, this is Captain Silvereen.’ the familiar voice said slowly.

His way of using the comm. link always made Maclyn smile. It was as if he didn’t quite believe it worked as he spoke slowly and deliberately as if you couldn’t hear him properly.

‘Captain Kelsey here. Nice to see you Red Rocket,’ Ty replied, getting his dig in.

Silvereen always called him Ty, never Captain and it annoyed Ty immensely.

‘We monitored your engine problems. It seems you upset someone,’ he said cautiously, never knowing who may be listening to their broadcasts.

Ty got the message as Ray didn’t want the Red Rocket tarred with the same brush as the Solar Star. Well he didn’t blame him, but he needed to give him co-ordinates to head to that only Sarrin could provide. There was also the problem of replacing the engine, which meant they’d have to be stationary for at least three hours. He had to think fast to give Silvereen his instructions.

‘Yes, it seems so. Not your problem, but thanks for enquiring. Are you heading for the Mars base?’ he asked, knowing that was what they’d told the tower at Denver.

‘Yes,’ Ray replied questionably. ‘Good, maybe we’ll meet up again there,’ Ty said looking at Sarrin who nodded this would be agreeable.

‘Maybe. Safe journey. Silvereen out.’

Ty grinned as the old goat had got the message and within seconds they watched the red ship accelerated and head towards the red planet. Dayton came to the captain’s side.

‘We will need to replace that engine,’ he stated.

‘Yes but let’s get a bit further from Earth before we do,’ Ty replied.

Dayton nodded.

‘I will get on with preparations and await your orders,’ he said and without waiting for a reply turned and left the bridge taking Kate with him.

Ty shook his head.

‘He still lacks a certain charm,’ he said to Maclyn, who smiled back.

Their engineer was not an easy man to work with but he knew his job and his staff seemed to love him, which was a mystery to the rest of the crew.

O’realian and Kassina joined them and looked out on the beauty around them as it was the first time they could really appreciate it and they were both rendered speechless with its immenseness. Finally O’realian turned to Ty.

‘Captain, I cannot begin to thank you and your crew for what you have done for us. I only now realise what is has cost you but you will be welcome to join us on Ieesha.’

Ty nodded.

‘We might take you up on that,’ he said, noting Kassina didn’t look too thrilled at the prospect. ‘But we still have to get there,’ he said.

‘Yes it will be a long journey, a learning curve for us all,’ O’realian replied and looked at his daughter. ‘But for now Captain, I will get out of your way. Thank you again for your sacrifice.’

With that they both left the bridge. Maclyn didn’t quite understand and from the look on the faces around him he wasn’t alone and Ty sighed, it seemed he was the only one to realise their predicament.

‘What did he mean? Sacrifice?’ O’Neil asked first.

‘He means we will be very unwelcome on Earth for a while, especially if Colonel Nye is still around,’ Ty told them.

Their shocked faces told him the penny had only just dropped.

‘Oh swell.’

O’Neil’s typical reply said it all.

For better or for worse they were heading out into uncharted space to a planet they knew nothing about with no idea if they could ever return home. It would be the ultimate adventure and one they hoped they would survive.

Four hours later, when they were well past the moon they stopped to replace the engine. It was a well rehearsed operation and was completed in three and a half hours. Then they truly began the next stage in their journey, as everyone, passengers and crew got settled into their new quarters and their new lives.

Kassina looked out at the stars from Maclyn’s cabin window and she sighed as she stroked Magic idly. Magic purred and was very happy to be back with her. She didn’t know that they would never see earth again, nor did she care just as long as she was treated royally, fed well and appreciated she was happy. For Kassina life wasn’t quite so simple.Space was a frighteningly cold dark place and they were going to be travelling though it for at least six months according to Sarrins estimation. Six months was going to seem like an eternity and she sighed again and then turned as her father came to join her. He smiled and put his arm around her.

“It is very beautiful isn’t it?” he asked as he looked out into space.

She shivered.

“No it’s……huge and cold.”

He laughed.

“Yes it is but it is also very beautiful.”

She gave up.

“Yes father I suppose it is.”

He pulled her closer and whispered,

“Everything is going to be alright.”

He looked at her as she pulled a sceptical face and then he added,

“Truly Kassina the Gods have been with us so far. I believe this is meant to be, otherwise you wouldn’t have found Ty Kelsey and he and his crew would not have beaten Catya.”

She sighed.

“Maybe,” she answered reluctantly. “But how am I going to survive six months on the same ship as him!”

O’realain smiled as he could see a time in the not to distant future that they would become good friends but he refrained from telling her as she wouldn’t believe him anyway.

“I doubt you will see much of the Captain. He has a ship to run and we have a community to keep together. It will not be easy, split over two ships like we are. We have a lot of hard work and much to organise ourselves, so I think you will be to busy to fight with Ty.”

She hoped he was right and she had to admit he usually was. She just felt small and vulnerable at the moment and all her emotions were in a state of flux and only time would sort them out. They stood together looking out into their future and both wondered what lay ahead for them amongst the stars.