“Nice to know,” Curtis said, “So you can see your weapon fire, but you can’t see what’s hitting you.”
“Just try not to get hit. My ship tells me that I did twenty percent damage to your shields.”
“I’m getting the same information here. Hey, why don’t we split up in teams and have at it, try some of this system targeting I’m seeing.”
For another hour they engaged in a fierce mock battle, the ships simulating damage dealt and received and giving feedback on systems damaged. By then, each had a good idea how the ships handled and how the different weapons fired. While they were discussing their moves and different attack scenarios, Franklin broke off suddenly and descended toward the surface at a high rate of speed. Curtis followed and received a warning from the ship’s computer.
Improper angle for atmospheric entry. Please adjust.
Just then, a series of lines appeared on the cockpit glass, with arrows indicating where to angle the nose of the ship. When he was at the proper angle, the lines turned green and the warning stopped. He could see Franklin ahead and followed him until he was setting down on the surface next to him a few minutes later. Within ten minutes, everyone was on the surface.
“First human on Mars, how about that?” Franklin was saying.
“We don’t have spacesuits in here, so no walking around,” Morrison said.
“Maybe we can manage that later, but just landing here is way cool,” Curtis said.
“Did I hear that right?” Kendra said, “You guys are on Mars?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of cool,” Franklin said.
“When this is all over, you’re taking me up there.”
“Got it, it’s a date then.”
“Whatever.”
“You two, get a room,” Fiona said, “We have work to do.”
29
An insistent beeping drew Kendra’s attention back to the computer just as she was getting up to stretch her legs. Large blips had just appeared where there had been nothing a moment before. She zoomed in to see where they were. Near the moon. They must have left the base there, and that could only mean one thing. She watched them for another minute. They seemed to be organizing in five large groups.
“Guys, I got something on the scanners, large ships splitting into groups, not sure where they’re headed yet.”
“Where are they now?”
“Dark side of the moon, can’t tell how many yet, maybe ten, and they appear to be pairing up...and they’re big, not like those fighters you’re in.”
“We saw what looked like large transports at the moon base,” Franklin said.
“If those are transports, then it looks like the invasion is on. I’ll try to see where they’re headed. Get airborne and get ready, but hang tight until we can see where they might be headed. If we can disable them before they get to Earth, that would be the best case.”
“We can’t just blow them away?” Morrison asked.
“About that,” Franklin said, “those foot soldiers are not voluntary. We should avoid killing them if we can.”
“Now that throws a wrench into the works,” Curtis said.
“When we were doing our little mock battle,” Fiona said, “It was taking a few solid shots to drop our shields. Should we assume these larger ships have better shields? We’ll have to drop their shields first before we can think about disabling them. What if they have fighters?”
“There’s a lot we don’t know,” Kendra said, “We should also assume that they’ll see you on their scanners when you get close, so we’ll have to see how close you can get before they notice you.”
“If they’re on the dark side of the moon, could we approach from the other side and maybe the moon will mask our signature?” Curtis asked.
“It’s worth a try. We don’t know much about how these scanners work. I don’t think they’re like radar, but that idea is as good as any. It looks like I can plot courses here and send the navigation data to your ships. Give me a minute.”
A couple minutes later a course was projected on the HUD of each ship and was also saved in the navigation computers.
“There you go,” Kendra said, “That course will keep the moon between you and their ships for a few minutes, or until they change course, but it should allow you to get close.”
Walter walked back into the room and looked at Kendra’s screen.
“You think there’s anything I can do?” he asked her.
“What did you have in mind?”
“Not sitting here on my butt watching them do all the work. I have these powers for a reason.”
“But there’s only one of you and several ships.”
“And I’m pretty strong and pretty fast...but I’ve never tried to fly in space. Superman used to do it in the comics. Maybe I should give it a try.”
“If they manage to land some of those transports, you might be needed here.”
“I know that, but what if we can keep them from landing, and what if I can help with that? I’m going up. You have any way you can communicate with me?”
“Christy left some comm devices here that I haven’t tried yet. I think they might be for personal communication. Just put this in your ear,” she said, handing him a small earbud.
When he put it in his ear, it showed up on her computer and she was able to assign his name to it.
“Why don’t you go a few miles away and see if I can talk to you?”
He left the room and a minute later he heard her voice in his ear as clear as a bell.
“I hear you loud and clear. How about on your end?”
“I got you too. How far away are you?” she asked.
“Mt. Rushmore. I’m heading up. Once I leave the atmosphere, I should know if I’m good for flying in space. If so, I’ll meet up with the guys and see what I can do when we find the transports.”
“Okay, be careful.”
Franklin was going over the navigation information on his screen when he saw something moving outside of his canopy, a familiar figure in
