Chapter 532

... Jeff let out a sigh. “From our scouts’ reports, we should have a tremendous edge on speed and maneuverability, but after Ship reviewed the recordings of the Paladins’ weapon fire, she thinks our interceptors’ shields won’t hold long against their concentrated fire. And those fucking things are practically bristling with weapons – heavy weapons. Still, with the years of training you guys have received in the last months, due to the time effect in the simulators, you’re ready if you will ever be. When you guys started the training, I could swat your butts with ease. Now...”

“You can still do it,” Arlene grumbled, “but we keep you on your toes now.”

As they coasted just above the deck, a section of the seemingly solid wall disappeared and their interceptor, in full stealth, eased through, turned its nose skyward and accelerated toward space, Arlene instructing her AI in the route they would use to check the platforms. “Too bad we can’t have Ship take out the mother ship while they’re too far out to use their Paladins or their other weapons against Earth,” she grumbled as she mentally instructed the AI to match orbits with the first weapon platform. Although she was using the AI to match velocity vectors this time, the young woman, having flown the interceptor both in simulation and in real time, could have easily performed the maneuver herself if she had chosen to do so, but the AI was much faster and always deadly accurate.

The interceptor barreled toward the first platform at many times its relative speed, which would have caused someone not accustomed to the inertialess drive to have nightmares as the interceptor approached its target. Suddenly, they had matched speeds and orbital vectors, and were almost within touching distance as Jeff initiated the data dump to check the platform’s readouts. “Dimensional power channel operating at one hundred percent. Targeting acquisition showing optimal. Stealth at one hundred percent. Shields optimal. All weapons on line. Friend or foe working properly, double-checked because it did not fire on us, although its AI detected us soon after our launch. Earth’s satellites are also showing on the platform’s board as friendly.”

“Go,” Jeff ordered even as Arlene left at maximum, only to stop shortly at the next platform, although it was several hundred miles away and thirty degrees out from the first platform’s orbit, the positions of the platforms staggered in order to give maximum coverage for their weapons. Again, Jeff’s analysis took only seconds as he repeated the process. “Go.”

Each platform was roughly twenty feet across, a skeleton network of girders and dimensional power accumulators backing its twin beam weapons and its shields. Each weapon could fire independently, if need be, but would normally fire as part of a dual system, each firing in rotation. Each platform had limited movement to facilitate its survival if targeted by an enemy. Although its weapons would, presumably, do little against the aliens’ mother craft, its concentrated fire should be able to destroy a Paladin if the system managed to lock on for a few seconds – at least, that was the theory.

In a lower orbit, the platforms would be closer to the Earth, and their concentration, therefore, denser, but that would mean that the aliens would be much nearer to the planet before the weapon platforms could engage them. The farther out the platforms were positioned, the better chance the Paladins could be destroyed before entering Earth’s atmosphere, if the aliens came within range of the platforms. But ... that would also mean that the platforms would be much farther apart, giving the aliens room to sneak between without the platforms being able to engage the enemy. A tradeoff that Jeff had to decide.

Shit, Ship needs more time. If she had a year, she could put up an almost impenetrable barrier of weapon platforms. If ... if ... if.

There was quiet for a time as the two went about their jobs, practically cocooned into the interceptor’s battle system.

Finally, Jeff broke the routine with a sigh. “I want to go destroy that alien ship so bad I can practically taste it. But ... I just can’t order an attack without being positive of the aliens’ intentions,” he bemoaned yet again. “What if I blow it apart only to find that it was a peace envoy.”

“With all those Paladins?”

“When we leave Earth, we’ll certainly go armed and ready to defend ourselves, and that will mean taking along our interceptors. Until the aliens attack Earth, or at least show that they have hostile intentions, I can’t order Ship to destroy them. Oh, hell, I know they’re aggressive, but as I’ve said before, I don’t want to be the reason for an interstellar war. I have to be absolutely certain before I order an attack.

“I suspect that planets can become easy prey unless they are guarded much better than we can guard Earth. Oh, given time, Ship can saturate the area with weapon platforms, even bigger manned stations, eventually. But for now, what about germ warfare where the whole planet is dusted with a virus or spores that could end all life here. What about an asteroid pushed to an appreciable percentage of the speed of light? No planet could withstand that, let alone the fragile life upon it. Just knowing that an alien race has discovered Earth is scary enough without even thinking about starting a war with a species capable of producing ships like the one hanging out there four lights years or so away. Earth wouldn’t have a chance against a full-scale invasion, even with Ship on our side. Again, space is just too big. While she was protecting one area, they could sneak in a missile from another direction.

“Now, get us out of here and let’s make sure all these weapon platforms are as perfect as Ship can make them.”

Jeff and Arlene were an hour late for supper, but Ann, Jennie, Melissa ... and Kei were waiting for them and soon had their food warmed up and in front of them.

“Thank you, Ladies,” the Prime said before taking each of his wives into his arms for a prolonged kiss. A blushing Kei was standing there waiting, but he didn’t let her down, giving her the same prolonged kiss he gave his wives, although he didn’t caress a breast during the kiss the way he did the others.

He did pull her down into the seat next to him while he and Arlene ate and told about their excursion. Finally, as he finished his meal, he turned to Kei. “Ready to call your mother?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“I talked to Lieutenant Mayfield in addition to discussing it with Ship. If you’re positive this is the way you want to go, we’ll give her a call. If she says yes, then she should pack anything that she can’t live without, and expect us within the hour. Is there a back door or a place she can wait for us that isn’t too conspicuous?”

Kei had the experience on the prison planet to guide her, so she knew what Jeff was talking about when he said that her mother could be picked up with the inertialess tractor beam. “Tell her to put whatever she is going to take with her nearby. Does she have a cell phone?”

“Not anymore. Father took it from her a while back.”

“Okay. No problem. I gave both Ship and Security the address you gave me. Ship has long since incorporated our coordinate system into her data banks. We can be there in minutes if your mother agrees. I’m worried that this is a lot to hit her with, but she’ll have to make up her mind quickly.”

“Mother is smart, and despite her having remained with him throughout the years, I am hoping that she has finally given up on him and will come with me. The last time I talked with her, I was suspicious that he had beaten her recently. Mother and I love each other, of course, and I suspect that disowning me in addition to the ever-increasing beatings might have made the difference. She needs to leave him before he kills her.”

“I can’t force her, Kei.”

“If Ship will put me in the compound, I will make her come. Her marriage is long over and she needs to leave before he kills her,” she snarled out with tears leaking from her eyes.

A moment later, Diana handed Kei the house phone. “Call her. Tell her to pack quickly. It will be better if there isn’t a confrontation.”

“I will go also, and if need be, I will go inside and bring her out,” Kei stated, emphatically.

Kei dialed and put the phone on speaker. A servant answered and Jeff asked to speak with Mr. Tanaka. When he was told that Kei’s father was out, Jeff asked to speak with Mrs. Tanaka. When the servant refused, Kei moved closer to the phone and called him by name, demanding to speak with her mother. When the servant still balked, Kei switched to Japanese, her personality changing as she snapped out a rapid string of words that the Matthews couldn’t understand.

“There was a long pause before a female’s voice came on the line. Jeff and the others moved to the other end of the kitchen to give Kei privacy. After more than five minutes of sometimes heated conversation, Kei, in tears, motioned to the family. “My mother has been beaten badly, but I have persuaded her to come here. However, she is afraid that one of the servants will call my father, so we need to hurry. She says she is unable to carry a bag or suitcase because of her injuries, but she thinks she is strong enough to walk to the flower garden in back. Trying not to panic, she went on, “We need to hurry. If my father receives word that she is trying to leave, there is no telling what he will do, and ... from the servant’s manner, I am afraid that he will, indeed, call my father.”

Jeff spoke over his radio, and a minute later, Security officers boiled out of their headquarters. Within seconds, an SUV was headed for the driveway. Jeff, Diana, Kei, Arlene, Kayla and Ann charged down the hallway, into an Escalade and headed toward Ship. As the Escalade slid to a halt next to the fake building, they could hear Security’s SUV coming up the driveway, its engine howling.

Jeff had opened his mind to Ship the second they were aboard, and as soon as the Security officers came through the hatch, Ship was airborne. Seconds later, high above the Retreat, they translated and were hovering invisibly above the enormous house and its surrounding walls and buildings.

A moment later, a woman hobbled out the back, stumbled and fell. That’s all it took. Jeff was at the hatch and in the same breath, Ship put him on the ground. “I’m Jeff Matthews, your soon-to-be son-in-law,” he said as he knelt to take the woman into his arms. “You will be safe with us, and he will never do this to you again. Kei is with me as well. Now, if you can, please put your arms around my neck and I will lift you as gently as I can. We need to get out of here before I wind up hurting someone.”

It soon became apparent that the quietly sobbing woman was cradling her left arm, her face reflecting intense pain. Jeff took her into his arms and lifted her as gently as he could. With a mental command to Ship, the tractor beam locked on and they were suddenly aboard.