Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) (82 page)

“
One
last thing,” said Jack quietly, shaking Cooper's hand for the
benefit of his family. “I'll be back from time to time, and
I
don't expect there to be
any problems.
I'm putting their safety
personally
into your hands, understand? Nod and smile Phil,” he added,
squeezing his hand a little harder. Getting the response he was
expecting, Steele continued, “Good, because I think you
realize the size and violence of the
shitstorm
from Hell
I can rain down upon anyone who hurts them, could very literally
obliterate a city.” He released the man's hand, smiled and
stepped away, “Take care, Phil,” he waved.

Fritz
heard the Invader's anti-grav generators kick on and ran past and up
the
ramp,
stopping in the doorway and looking back. "Let's go!" he
barked.

Jack
laughed at the expressions on the faces of his parents. "I knew
there
was something I forgot to tell you..."

Alité
and Jack, backed up the ramp, waving as they went. "Give `em
h
ell,
son," called his father.

"Be
careful," waved his mother, tears streaming down her face. "And
take
care of each other..."

"And
the baby!" shouted Lisa, fighting her own tears.

The
Invader lifted off the sand, the door still open. Alité and
Jack
stood in the doorway, clutching the grab-rails, leaving his parents,
sister and Phil Cooper standing on the beach near the water's edge.
"WE'LL
BE BACK!"
yelled Jack,
"I
PROMISE!"
He watched as the shore slid away underneath the Invader and refused
to close the door until the shore was completely out of sight, the
water glittering below as the sun neared the edge of the horizon,
creating a rosy morning glow.

JUMP
CARRIER FREEDOM:
THE
HUNTED BECOMES THE HUNTER

The
UFW ships Archer, Bowman and Freedom cruised through the Piralenin
System, separated by about a hundred miles from one another in a
Delta formation, the Freedom flying lead. Being Liberator Class
cruisers, the Archer and Bowman were heavy on ship firepower but
only had two light fighters apiece. The Freedom on the other hand,
now had eighteen birds, having acquired the six Cyclones from the
pirate salvage yard at Geo Zee. Had they more time, who knows what
else they may have recovered. It was certainly a place worth
revisiting for more than one reason, but that was not first on the
hit list. Among other things that weren't first on the list, would
be a visit to the UFW Blackmount Station in the Feerocobi System...
though not for repairs. Supplies, crew, pilots and more fighters
were in-route to be transferred there, waiting for the Freedom to
arrive. In her current configuration, she was fully capable of
carrying almost twice the fighters and pilots she now held. They
would probably retire the Warthogs and get some beautiful, shiny new
Vulcans... at least that's what Jack was hoping for.

Jack
Steele strolled casually up the padded corridor, headed for the
bridge, Fritz plodding along at his side. Using an electronic
notepad, the Captain was reviewing the logs and service records for
the fighters and pilots that were now running almost constant
patrols. The battle weary Warthogs were showing their age, and he
had delegated the new pilots to them for lighter duty. Even with the
upgraded electronics installed and the power plant improvement by
Hecken Noer's people, they could not come close to the performance
parameters of the Lancias or the Cyclones. The floor vibrated
beneath his feet as a pair of Cyclones were launched out into space,
which meant birds would be coming in through the stern for recovery.
He slid his fingers across the screen, flipping pages as he walked.
He watched the statistics updated live as he turned to a new page.
Nothing
sighted
was the message from the incoming patrol.

“
Bridge
to Captain Steele...”

Steele
activated his earpiece, “Steele, go ahead, bridge.”

“
Sir,
you have a scrambled incoming communication signal...”

“
Thank
you, on my way...” he tucked the notepad under his arm and
trotted up the corridor, the Shepherd pacing him effortlessly. The
bridge doors slid open as he neared, he didn't even have to slow his
pace. “I'll take it in my ready room,” he announced,
turning right and passing thru the door into his office. The lights
were low and the holochart was still on, tracking their route,
navigation notes hovering in the air near some of the lines and
points of light. He dropped the electronic notepad on the sofa and
grabbed a bottle of water out of the little fridge below the table.
Plopping into his chair behind his desk, he ran his fingers through
his hair then entered his password on the flat keyboard for the
communications service, the glass surface blipping musically as he
typed. The picture on the screen went from the blue UFW Directorate
logo to a live video screen. The InterGal News came on briefly
before being replaced by a vid-cam picture. “Lisa?”

“
Hiya,
Jack!” Lisa waved at the screen on her end in Ft. Myers,
Florida. “It works!”

Jack
nodded and waved back. “Have any problems getting it set up?”

“
Not
really, the on-screen directions pretty much walk you through
everything. Dad hooked it into the satellite dish... I wasn't sure
how that was going to work, but it does!”

“
I'm
not sure either, something about backtracking the carrier signal to
the satellite itself, and using it to transmit while the dish
receives...” he shrugged “As long as it works I don't
need to understand it,” he grinned. “Picture's not
perfect, but...”

“
But
it's not bad, either - seems to have a little delay though.”

“
Yeah,
well it's going a loooong, way,” he chuckled. “What's
the weather like today?”

“
Eighty
degrees, a couple clouds and a nice breeze. Mom and dad went out for
a walk on the beach...” She sipped a soda. “ I was
watching the InterGal News on this thing the other night, they were
talking about some of the latest Pirate strikes... are you guys
doing Ok?”

Jack
nodded, yeah, we're hunting in Piralenin right now, kind of a
detour, but it's been quiet so far. UFW has transferred us some new
pilots and birds, we just have to go get them. Probably be about
four weeks before we get there.” He took a sip of water from
the bottle he pulled from the fridge. “Any problems? Phil
Cooper or anybody else been nosing around?”

Lisa
shook her head. “All quiet...”

“
Good,
but keep your eyes open...” He could see the mottled, red
brick back wall of his office, in his home in Ft. Myers, behind her.
“Ok, one more thing you need to know...” he directed
her to the doorway of the office where an electronic thermostat was
mounted to the wall, its display glowing green, the temperature
shown on it. She had turned the communications tablet in that
direction so the camera was pointed toward her and he could see.
“See the two buttons on it to adjust the temperature?”

“
I
see them,” she nodded.

“
Ok,
don't do anything yet, just listen first. You're going to push them
both in and hold them, while repeating exactly what I say. After the
last word, which is
end
,
release the buttons, Ok? Don't say anything else.” Her back to
the comm-tablet's camera, he could see her nod. “Here we go,
push them in and hold them;
Six,
Six, Charlie, Oscar, Bravo, Romeo, Alpha, Four, Two, Seven, Sierra,
Oscar...end.”

Repeating
exactly as she was told, she released the buttons as directed. A
female voice came from the thermostat control, “Programming
command code accepted, voice pattern not recognized... please state
your name...”

Lisa
looked back at the comm-tablet with a puzzled look and saw her
brother nod. She turned back to the thermostat. “Lisa Steele.”

“
Hello,
Lisa Steele, do you wish to add your voice pattern to the command
system?”

Lisa
looked over her shoulder at the comm-tablet, and her brother nodded
again. She turned back, “Yes, I do...” The voice walked
Lisa through a set of steps before logging off. She turned around,
hands on her hips and looked at the comm-tablet, “Ok, big
brother... what did I just do..?”

He
grinned, “Just say your command code out loud...”

She
shrugged, “Ok.
All
dogs go to heaven...
”
Something inside the red brick wall at the back of the office
clunked, or was it a clank? It sounded metal and heavy making her
jump. She wanted to back up and run, but her curiosity begged her to
investigate. The bricks in the back wall showed an uneven toothy
edge on two sides as about a three foot wide section of the wall
moved evenly inward, carrying the framed painting hung on it, along
with it for the ride. The darkened opening grew deeper as the
section of the wall disappeared inside. In a brief moment, lights
winked on inside and she could see the brick wall had slid back on
tracks, the floor molding and crown molding in the office unmoved,
part of the door frame. The floor and ceiling in the next room were
at the levels of the office's moldings, the rails for the heavy door
imbedded in them. “What the ffffuuu...” she walked
forward and peered into the room. “Holy shit, Jack, there's a
whole armory in here...” The room was about six feet deep but
about fifteen feet wide, loaded with various types of firearms,
ammunition, water, dried foods, canned foods, blankets, a little
worktable built like a shelf into one end, a small flat-screen TV,
cable access, a laptop... almost everything one could need in an
emergency. From her place at the doorway she turned to look at the
comm-tablet. “You planning for the end of the world,
or
what...?”

He
shook his head. “No that's in the basement...”

“
The
WHAT?!”

He
started laughing, “Kidding,
kidding.
There's no basement. No, that's just my little zombie survival
room.” He sipped his water. “You can close yourself
inside, it has battery backup, solar power, fresh air system,
supplies and defenses. It was built to withstand most tornadoes or
hurricanes, a fire... almost anything except something like a tidal
wave. It seals pretty well, but I don't think it would seal out
something like that.”

She
shook her head, “Wow... just wow...”

“
Just
remember,” he added, “if you have to go in there, take
the comm-tablet with you, don't forget it. Unplug the laptop
connection and plug it into the comm-pad. Also, if you turn the
flat-screen on, you can get security video and audio feeds around
the house.” He sipped his water. “To close it up when
you're done, step out and say your command line again, the rest is
automatic.”

She
stepped back, said her command line and watched the door come
smoothly back toward her, the bricks fitting back together like a
puzzle piece. The action on the door locked with the same clunk as
when it opened, and it was done. She studied the wall for a moment,
blinking, trying to distinguish the outer edges of the door - it was
difficult if not impossible to notice, even if you knew what to look
for. She turned back to the comm-tablet and sat back down in the
chair. “Pretty amazing...” She shifted in her seat,
thumbing toward the thermostat. “What if someone tried to
tamper with that thing?”