32
Firefight
There was no way they could let them take their fighters. Fortunately they'd set up their camp away from the planes just in case they were discovered. Tam turned his buggy and made a bee-line for camp. Everything there was as they'd left it, so they put on their combat gear and headed back to the fighters. There was another ATV and a total of five soldiers milling around the fighters now. They had to move quickly as the place would be swarming with soldiers soon and they'd have no chance of escape.
Tam circled around behind and Red and Peter prepared for a frontal assault. When Tam advised he was ready, Red and Peter took out two of the soldiers with their lasers. A third soldier heard his comrades fall and looked over at them. Peter couldn't fire at him without taking a chance that he'd hit the fighter. The soldier raised his rifle to fire at Peter when Tam came up from behind and slit his throat.
The other two soldiers, who by now were trying to get into the cockpit of Peter's fighter, hadn't realized they were under assault. Peter ran toward them while Red got into his fighter. One of them saw Peter coming and screamed to his partner. They turned and fired at him. Peter fell to the ground and took shelter behind a log. They jumped down from the plane and advanced toward him. Red started his engine, rolled the fighter around, and started taxiing down the fairway. One of the soldiers began firing at the plane as it sped away, and the other one kept advancing toward Peter.
Suddenly, from their flank, Tam arose and fired at the soldier shooting at Red's plane. The soldier dropped his rifle and fell to one knee. Tam fired again and the soldier fell over and didn't move. When the second soldier turned to aid his fallen comrade, Peter got up and fired at him with his laser. The laser blast knocked him backward onto the ground. In the distance there was the sound of vehicles approaching. Tam and Peter ran to the fighter and scrambled to get inside while they still had a chance. Tam frowned as he climbed into the small supply hold again. Peter shrugged sympathetically, and then closed the cover behind him. Bullets ricocheted off the cockpit window as he started the fighter's engines.
Red was already in the air when Peter started rolling down the grassy runway. Glancing behind them, Peter saw an ATV roll up with four more soldiers. One of them had a portable missile launcher. Peter pushed the throttle forward and prayed he'd be able to take off before being blown to bits. His only hope was a misfire as there was no way to take evasive measures on takeoff. He feared it was all over for he and Tam. Then the ground began to rumble, the plane jerked and listed to the right. There was a deafening noise behind them that didn't sound much like a missile.
Peter glanced back and saw a herd of Zodilla coming straight at them. The soldier who had been preparing to launch the missile was trampled before he could get off a shot. Then the Zodilla ran over the others and knocked the ATV aside like it was a plastic toy. They were coming at Peter fast and he prayed he'd be able to lift off the ground before they overtook him. Suddenly the jostling stopped and the plane leveled off. Peter looked down and his heart leaped as he realized they were airborne. Then suddenly they were jolted. The fighter listed to the left. Peter’s helmet hit the side of the cockpit window hard. He winced in pain and the last thing he remembered was pushing the autopilot button.
He didn't know how long he'd been out, but he eventually awoke to Red's panicked voice.
"R1, do you read? . . . R1, do you read?" Red screamed.
"What? What happened?" Peter said as he began to regain consciousness. As he looked around and saw he was in the air he jerked himself upright. "Jeez, I must have blacked out. One of the Zodilla must have hit my landing gear."
"You okay?" Red asked.
"Yeah. . . . Yeah. . . . Give me a minute to get the cobwebs out of my head. . . . Man o' man my head hurts. . . . Where are we?"
Red laughed. "On our way to base, I hope."
"Oh. . . . Right. . . . Okay, did you check in with Lorin?"
"I'm here," Lorin said. "There's a refueling drone two loons away. Command wants you to refuel and go straight to base."
"Confirmed. I'll keep a lookout."
A few loons later Peter said, "Locking on drone now. Over."
"Acknowledged," Lorin said. "See you soon."
They came up quickly on the two refueling drones. Peter took the right line and Red took the left. In less than five loons they were off the drone and screaming toward the Loyalist base. Anticipation of seeing Luci began to swell in Peter's heart. Before the day was done, he'd be in her arms, he thought. He closed his eyes and in his mind's eye could see her smiling face and her hands stretched out to embrace him. He couldn't believe it, finally they'd be together—Luci and her baby, his baby. He was so happy and excited, he could hardly sit still in the cockpit. He banged the storage compartment with his fist.
"What?" Tam groaned.
"Almost there, my friend. Hang in there. I can't wait to see Luci."
"I can't wait to see daylight and stretch my arms," Tam moaned.
Smiling, Peter looked ahead at the open sea expecting to see the first of the Beet Islands approaching. Instead he saw enemy fighters up and to his right. His smile faded and his heart sank. "Rats!" he moaned. He gave them a hard look and estimated there were at least fifty of them.
“Rats? What does that mean?” Red asked.
“A rat is a rodent back on Earth that everyone hates.”
“Oh, like our skutz?”
"I guess. So, when things go wrong kids often say rats. Anyway, things are going very wrong. We've got a flock of enemy fighters coming at us," Peter said nervously.
"Skutz! I see them," Red replied. "We don’t have any missiles! What should we do?"
"Don't have a clue," Peter replied. "Base, are you there?"
"Here," Lorin said. "Drop to minimum altitude and go to stealth. You're only a fifty kylods from base."
Peter initiated stealth mode as they dropped and leveled off just above the Southern Sea. At this level they'd be nearly invisible as their planes changed colors to blend in with the sea. Lorin gave them their final coordinates and, before they knew it, they were getting landing instructions from Loyalist Command. Ahead an island suddenly appeared, the first of over 10,000 in the Beet Island chain. Soon there were islands everywhere, lush tropical ones with white sandy beaches and dark green jungles and other desolate ones with sparse vegetation and weirdly shaped rock formations. A moment later a larger island protruded up form the Southern Sea. It was highlighted by an active volcano puffing out a steady plume of steam. As they skirted the edge of the volcano, they dropped into a valley, looking for the entrance to the Loyalist base.
The jungle was thick and there was no sign of civilization. Then he saw it, a crystal city built into the side of a cliff. Peter flew past it and then dropped, as instructed, into a narrow canyon barely wide enough for his plane. He glided between the rocks and there saw an open chamber ahead. Flying through the narrow entrance, he shivered, praying he wouldn't nick one of the sides and spin out of control. Somehow he made it, and once inside a spacious cavern emerged and he saw a landing strip ahead.
His heart leaped for joy at the sight until he remembered his landing gear had been hit by one of the Zodilla on takeoff. He wondered if it had been damaged. Since he had been knocked unconscious he didn't remember if it had retracted after takeoff. Would his autopilot know to do that? Fear wrenched his gut. His shoulders tightened and his head began to throb. Could he land safely? He pushed the button to lower the landing gear, but nothing happened. Had he been flying with it down all along? The instrument light was out which meant the landing gear was still up.
"R1 to base," he barked.
"Base here, R1. You're clear to land,"
"I'm going to have to do a flyover. My landing gear was hit on takeoff and may have been compromised. Take a look when I go by and advise."
"Copy, R1. Will do," Lorin said.
As he flew over the base he looked down at the intricate conglomeration of white crystal buildings. It was a spect
acular sight like nothing he'd ever seen before. As he circled the base, he saw hundreds of fighters all parked in a row ready for a quick takeoff. He wondered if they'd be enough to defeat Videl's forces.
"R1. Your landing gear appears to be down. Can't tell how well it will hold, though. We'll prepare for an emergency net landing, just in case."
"Acknowledged," Peter said. "Hold on, Tam. This may be a rough landing."
"I don't care! Just get me out of here," Tam spat.
"Hang in there, buddy. We're almost home."
He swung the fighter around for a final approach and then brought her in. Ahead of him he saw a huge net stretched across the runway. He held his breath as the T47's wheels touched ground. The landing gear groaned, then gave way. The nose of the jet dropped, but before it hit the hard surface they were enveloped in the emergency net and quickly came to rest.
An emergency reception team got to them quickly and removed the nets. The team leader asked if they were okay and Peter assured them they were. There were two sharp thuds from the hold. Peter unlocked the latch and let a much relieved Tam out. When they’d deplaned, the emergency team drove over to where Red's plane was sitting. Red was climbing down its side looking a little shaky. As they came to a stop, Peter saw a crowd of smiling people near the door of the hanger. In the crowd Peter saw Lorin, Jake, a few other faces from the Councillor’s staff, and, looking a little out of place in her white gown, Luci.