The Feminist Queendom Charlie’s War 35

© Beverly Taff

List of Characters.

Charlie Sage Maths and electronics genius.
Shirley Sage Charlies elderly mother
Chloe Charlie’s one time early school friend.
Josephine Flint Surgeon and associate of Chloe’s.
Mrs Jane Anston Director of Anston Aerospace.
Ronnie Garage mechanic at top of lane
Pauline Garage owner, Ronnie’s sister.
Briony Pauline’s teenaged daughter.
Billy Pauline’s middle son.
Abigail (Abby) Pauline’s youngest daughter.
‘Poppy’ Charlie’s little micro-runabout.
‘Doris’ The armoured mobile home.
‘Lady’ Chloe’s Sports Car.
Dawn Charlie’s armoured spaceship.
Colonel Wilson Vindictive misanthropist doctor.
Margaret Thomas ‘Failed’ police security guard.

Chapter 35

Margaret was the first to concede that the task was hopeless at that stage. Colonel Wilson and her remaining loyal gang had too much of a start and simply continuing to quarter the area was allowing her to put too much distance between them. She proposed that the colonel would need to find supplies, especially food. They probably had sufficient water from the debacle at the plane.

“They will also have to charge their batteries because there were no solar panels on the Ute.” Sally opined.

“Well, that will mean using a public charging point because she certainly won’t have her own connection out here.” Charlie agreed. “She’s a visitor to Oz, not a home-owner.

“I’ll get and ‘all-persons - broadcast’ out now on the police network.” Margaret Declared as she picked up the ship’s mike and tuned it to the police frequency.

Charlie did not restrain her. Broadcasting the alert could do no harm and the authorities at Learmont would have certainly done so anyway. There would be no hiding a crashed commercial jet no matter how small. Everybody listened to Margaret’s conversation and there was a collective sigh of relief when it was confirmed that the antigrav Ute had been seen heading for Perth.

“What speed do your trucks do?” Margaret asked the trooper nursing one of the triplets.

“‘Bout two hundred klicks.,” she replied in her best Australian accent.

“And how fast does your ship go?” She asked Charlie.

“You don’t need to ask. I’m heading for Perth as we speak. If that bunch are going direct, we’ll have them. Chloe, can you show the sergeant how to operate the ‘look-down’ radar? Mostly it’s a matter of recognising moving targets. Unfortunately, we don’t have a powerful telescopic camera, would that we did, things would be better.

I’ve got a pair of binoculars, but somebody will have to get ensconced into the viewing port. Don’t try to open the port, we’ll be doing about eight hundred knots that’s about fourteen hundred and fifty klicks! When we pick something on the ‘look-down’ we’ll slow down to investigate.
We’ll travel at about one hundred metres altitude with the look-down on side-scan.”

Chloe nodded her comprehension then took Margaret to the ‘look-down’ to explain.

“I’ll set it up for side-scan and that will pick up moving targets in a ten-mile-wide path along our route. The computer will probably do most of the detection, but it pays to have human eyes watching the screen.”

Margaret nodded as Chloe explained further.

“That’s the range finder; you can move that around, and that’s the bearing cursor; you can move that as well. Don’t touch this, it’s the gain button and seriously affects the ground clutter adjustments.”

“Got it,” Margaret exclaimed, “that’s like the sea clutter when we were chasing the jet-liner.”

“Exactly,” Chloe confirmed as Margaret peered intently into the hooded visor.

“We should be in Perth in less than fifty minutes.” Charlie declared, “the city sky-scrapers will show up at about fifty miles. If they’ve steered straight towards Perth, we should pick them up long before Perth.”

After setting up Margaret as a radar observer, Chloe chose the smaller of the troopers to squat into the observation space and peer through the little observation porthole.

Thus prepared, the Dawn raced towards Perth while checking intermittent targets that proved mostly to be anti-gravs travelling innocently towards Perth. The journey proved useful insofar as Margaret got some practice with the look-down radar while Sally, the smaller nursemaid got a better idea of what to be looking for as every radar target was located and she could finally spot it visually, then identify it.

They were over a hundred miles north of Perth when a promising target appeared slightly on their starboard bow. Margaret gave Sally the co-ordinates and the trooper soon spotted it.

“It’s Ute and it’s grey. Looks like the target.”

Sally had to bend awkwardly to bring the binoculars into focus and she had to ask Charlie to increase altitude so that she had a better ‘look-down’ view.

“I’m cricking my neck down here and I can’t hold the binoculars firmly.”

Charlie understood her problem so he increased altitude until Sally could hold the binoculars hard against the toughened glass of the viewing port. Eventually she spotted the white lettering on the door and confirmed it was definitely a RAAF Ute.

“I can’t read the lettering yet, but it’s too much of a coincidence for there to be two.”

“Not necessarily,” the other trooper Jacky opined. “If we’re only a hundred miles north of Perth, we’re not far from Pearce airbase, and that’s a big base. There’ll be dozens of grey Utes around here soon. She might be looking to get lost in the herd, as it were.”

Charlie nodded.

“You could well be right Jacky! Thanks. We’re less than fifty miles from Perth now. I’m going down to take a look!”

“Watch they don’t take a shot at you.” Jacky cautioned. “They’ve got automatic rifles with them.”

Charlie smiled at the girl and inclined his head towards Margaret.

“Tell her sergeant.”

Margaret took considerable delight in relating the story of the missile attack by the UQ jet out of Diego Garcia. She ended with the words now familiar to her.

“This thing's a flying tank Jacky. When we land I’ll show you where we were hit.”

“Seriously? Jacky asked, turning to Chloe who nodded affirmation.

“Well Sally and I have both got assault rifles, so they can piss off!”

“You won’t need those if they start to get trigger happy. Show them Chloe.” Charlie advised.

Chloe unclipped what seemed to look like a maintenance panel from the side of the control console and carefully pulled out a 'point five oh' sniper’s rifle. Jacky’s eyes widened with appreciation as the long barrel emerged and Chloe placed it thoughtfully on the table. Even Margaret did a double take as she looked up from the now redundant look-down radar.

“Jesus Christ! That’s bloody illegal!” Margaret declared.

“Not on my Spaceship Sergeant,” Charlie argued. “This ship is not registered in Australia or anywhere else for that Matter. Technically I have not registered my arrival in Australia, - - - yet! So, the gun is still technically in bond!”

“Well. I’m not happy!” Margaret objected.

“Oooh! I am.” Jacky whispered enthusiastically as she stroked the gun and ran her fingers up and down the barrel.”

“Can you handle that?” Charlie asked.

“Try me!” Jacky grinned as she called to Sally in the viewing bay.

“You wann’a see what I’ve got Sally. Big girl’s toys. Come and see!”

“Fuck off Jacky. I cant let go sight of this bloody ute. Charlie, can you come down lower?”

Charlie did as asked then suddenly illuminated the fleeing ute with a sun-lamp.

“Ouch!” Sally exclaimed. “Warn me when you’re gonna do something like that!”

“Sorry, it’s pointing away from you towards the pick-up.”

“Even so Captain, It’s still bloody bright! Oh goody, they’re slowing down.”

“Keep us informed trooper. They won’t be able to see your viewing port, the sun-lamp will blind them.”

“Ain’t that the truth!” Sally riposted. “So, what’s your plan Skipper?”

“When they stop or slow down enough, I’ll bring Dawn down to ground level and pin their truck to the ground. To them it’ll look like a battle tank descending on them.”

“Can’t you use the hook thing again?” Margaret asked.

“I don’t know,” Charlie replied. “If I tried to snag the back of the cab there’s no knowing what the truck’ ll do. The force required to pierce the cab might topple the truck. It’s not like the plane, the ute is quite light and the steel cab is relatively stronger than a plane’s aluminium skin. I could roll the ute over and my daughter Charlotte is still inside, - I think!”

Jacky called to her buddy Sally.

“Can you see the child Sally?”

“I think so. Sitting on the middle seat, typically aussie, kid; sun-bleached blond hair.”

“That’s her Margaret confirmed.”

“Well, you can’t hook through the back panel window, you could kill her.”

“That’s what I bloody feared,” Charlie cursed. “Somehow, we’re gonn’a have to stop them without damaging the cab.”

“Hello-ooow!” Jacky cooed expectantly as she cradled the sniping rifle in her arms. “This thing could put a bullet straight through the engine block!”

“Are you confident to do that?” Charlie asked.

“Can you open those clam-shell doors singularly.” Jacky asked.

“Yes, but you have to do it in the cargo bay.” Charlie explained. From here I can only open them simultaneously.

“I’ll show you,” Chloe volunteered as she started to open the airtight connecting door.

“You’ll need the head-phones!” Charlie called back. “With only one door, the slipstream is deafening.”

“Already ahead of you,” Chloe grinned. As she, Margaret and Jacky entered the cargo bay.

Jacky explained her plan to everybody via the earphones.

“Charlie if you bring the stern of the ship to the right of the ute, Chloe can crack open the starboard clamshell sufficient for me duck behind the still closed port door while pointing the gun at the ute. I’ll be fastening myself and the gun to the partially opened starboard door.”

“It would be easier if we did it the other way around,” Charlie observed. “I’m right-handed and it’s easier to look and work to my right.”

“Sorry Skipper. I’m left handed, it’s easier for me to shoot from around the port clamshell.”

“Got it.” Charlie agreed without hesitation as Margaret silently marvelled.

‘A man who could take advice from a woman without argument.’

‘One more nail in the coffin of the misanthropic education she had received all her life.’

‘Are there lots of men like this?’ She wondered.

While Chloe and Jacky tied safety lines to both Jacky and the sniper’s rifle, Margaret lifted one of the ‘dead-lights’ in the cargo bay and gained an excellent view of the ute directly alongside and slightly below the dawn. She turned to see Jacky wrapping the shoulder strap around her upper arm while motioning to Chloe to keep the barrel securely snared to the edge of the clamshell door.

“This must be the best mobile gun platform I’ve ever fired from. Steady as bloody rock!” Jacky chuckled as she called to Charlie to bring the Dawn slightly ahead of the racing ute.

Margaret could now see how Jacky was setting up the hit and she could see into the cab.

“They’ve seen us,” Margaret called out, “but they haven’t noticed you Jacky.”

“They will when we get slightly ahead. I won’t have much time once they realise. I’ll only get one shot, two if I’m extremely lucky.”

“The passenger’s got an assault rifle but that bitch Wilson has got an Uzi machine pistol. The good news is that the sun-lamp is still dazzling them!”

“If you let me open my viewing post,” Sally suggested, “I could take out the passenger with my assault rifle.”

“Not with Charlotte sat right beside him you won’t” Charlie bellowed. “We’ll do it Jacky’s way and just disable the engine. If you want to do anything useful Sally. Put a few bullets through the cargo bed and hit the battery underneath. That way, they’ll have no reserve charge to drive the gravs.”

“Can’t we just shoot out the gravi-drive spheres?” Sally asked.

“No! Certainly not, the sudden release of energy could toss the truck up into the air. They could even explode and kill the occupants of the ute. Besides, I don’t think an assault rifle could penetrate the spheres. But I can’t speak for the sniper’s rifle so; d’ you hear me Jacky? Strictly the engine block! DO NOT SHOOT AT ANYTHING ELSE!”

“Gotcha boss! About to fire at the engine block now, keep her steady.”

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