The Feminist Queendom Charlie’s War 48

© Beverly Taff

Chapter 48

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.
Sally. 1st Oz Special forces trooper
Jacky 2nd Oz Special forces trooper.
Juliet Charlie’s Mal engineering assistant.
Laura The second mate of the Second Dawn
Kate (Katherine Bergson) The Australian defence minister.

Chapter 48.

The four slipped into their allotted seats and fastened their safety harnesses as Juliet synchronised her attack radar with the navigational plot.

“You should be seeing your duck any moment now, Katie declared.

“Got it! Fine on the port bow, d’ you want me to go straight in?” Juliet asked Charlie.

“Straight away, maximum impact speed not to exceed forty knots,” Charlie confirmed. Come up from slightly below and astern with a left hook and try to pierce the rear port engine with your tungsten-titanium nose.”

“She’s spotted us, look; she’s ignited her afterburners.”

“Match her!” Charlie replied, “and how do we know she’s a girl?”

“I don’t,” Juliet confessed, “I just presumed so, because the last one was. Two male pilots and two female pilots.”

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

The fleeing jet ejected a string of defensive flares that only caused Juliet to snort derisively.

“That’s pathetic, she thinks I’m going to use missiles.”

“Sign of the military mind,” Charlie chuckled; “no offence Katie.”

“None taken,” Katie agreed. “Military minds tend to think inside the box when making quick desperate decisions. Staying with what they know and understand. It takes very brave person to be innovative when thinking on their feet.”

“Or a very smart one,” Charlie finished.

Charlie now turned to watch Juliet’s approach and softly offered reassurance as the screen filled with fighter. At the last instant the fighter peeled away and up to port with afterburners pouring out flame. Juliet was fractionally slow to turn but the consequences for the jet were doubly destructive. Instead of a clean piercing strike like an epee, Dawn’s nose ripped into the side of the fuselage like a cavalry sabre slash.

Instantly, engine parts burst out of the fuselage and clattered explosively against the solid armoured hull of Dawn. The noise both shocked and deafened Charlie and Juliet but fortunately the shattered pieces rattled down the side of Dawn instead of striking the screen.

“She’s going down,” Juliet remarked, and as both she and Charlie twisted to peer through the underside viewing port, they bumped heads.

“Ouch!” They cursed simultaneously then laughed together as they caught Chloe and Katie trying to keep straight faces.

“You fly, I’ll look.” Charlie managed to choke out between giggles.

“I’ll have to cant hard to port to circle and search simultaneously,” Juliet protested. “You should have put more bloody windows in this thing.”

“No, keep her level then just turn nice and easy. Chloe can look through the ploughshare viewing port while Katie keeps the plot on that bigger target she was rendezvousing with.”

Chloe grumbled as she considered squeezing into the little compartmented blister on the underside behind the ploughshare.

“Sorry, Chloe, you’re the smallest I’m afraid.” Charlie apologised.

As she grudgingly squeezed into the viewing blister, Chloe spotted an orange parachute rocket free from the tumbling jet and she shouted out her news.

“She’s parachuted out and the jet’s splashed down! It’s an ejector seat and there’s orange smoke.”

“Has she escaped the seat?” Katie called.

“Yeah, it’s a textbook escape, even her little dinghy has inflated. She’s clambering into it now.”

Charlie nodded to Juliet.

“The Dawn can float. We’ll just land on the water beside her and ask if she wants a lift?”

“She’s pointing a flare-gun at us!” Chloe shouted up.

“Fat lot of good that’ll do. The glass in the blister is bullet proof and I’ve just shielded our viewing port with the safety visor. Just keep her in sight as we land on the water then we’ll talk to her.”

“Where from.” Juliet asked.

“Through the after-cargo doors, there’s nothing to be damaged in the cargo hold and we can hide behind the half open door.”

“Who’s going to do the talking?” Katie asked.

“One of you girls. She’ll be seriously stressed at seeing a spaceship landing and if she’s got a pistol, there’s no knowing what she’ll do if she hears a man’s voice on top of everything else.”

“Short straws again,” Chloe sighed.

“I’ll go,” Juliet offered. Mine’s the same voice that tried to make her divert to Darwin airport, and I sound female thanks to the bastards when I was thirteen.”

Charlie studied his friend thoughtfully.

“Are you sure? Is it a genuine token of your friendship and not some dark suicidal death-wish because of what was done to you at thirteen?”

“It’s friendship Charlie. I owe you that much for getting me out of that dead-end, fucking canteen.”

“Okay mate. I call you mate as a genuine token of our friendship. You know we have no weapons on here don’t you?”

“I’ve always known that Charlie, but I’m still volunteering.”

“Okay then, let’s swop seats and I’ll bring her down to the water. Thank god it’s a calm tropical evening.”

Soon Dawn was sitting on the water, not entirely floating because that would have enabled the downed pilot to simply step onto the submerged ramp. Charlie kept Dawn hovering but partially immersed so that the ramp was about three feet above the water. If the pilot wanted to board from her rescue dinghy, she would have to use both hands to climb up. With this safety precaution, Juliet stepped through the airtight cabin door and cracked the cargo doors open with the remote control in the cargo bay.

With the clamshell cargo doors parted only six inches, Juliet threw a rope through the gap then called to the downed pilot.

“Are you armed?”

The woman did not answer but instead grabbed the line and pulled herself to the ramp. Juliet called again.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll close these doors again.”

“Who are you?” The pilot shouted back.

“I told you earlier. We work for the Australian government. Who are you working for?”

“Who’s ‘we’?”

“That’s enough of the questions love, we’re asking the questions, not you.” Juliet bluntly declared. “Now who are you working for?”

“I’m not saying until I’m certain you’re a bona fida military vessel.”

“In that case love, you can stay in the water until an alternative authority recues you, goodbye.”

So saying, Juliet released his end of the rope and flicked it through the gap. Then he closed the clamshell cargo-doors and spoke to Charlie over the intercom.

“We can pretend we’re leaving her here and fly away at high speed just to demonstrate Dawn’s abilities.”

“It might work.” Charlie opined as he opened the cabin airlock.

“I closed it in case she had a gun, don’t want any stray bullets in the cabin.”

“Yeah. That’d be a bitch!” Juliet confirmed. “So girls, what to do with her?”

“We haven’t got her yet.” Katie observed.

“Night will be here soon and we’re the only obvious rescue facility unless she knows of a ship with a helicopter. We're three hundred miles from the nearest air base."

“She’ll have a radio beacon on that life-raft.”

“She’ll still need a chopper or a fast rescue launch and we can keep close tabs on any interfering rescue craft. Come morning, she’ll be a little more amenable I think.”

Charlie grinned. “Well, if that’s how you’re going to play it, I’m gonna’ get my head down. We’ll just put Dawn into stationary hover and wait.”

“Hey! Dear husband!” Chloe protested. “If you’re going to sleep, then I’m joining you. Matrimonial rights and all that.”

“What about us?” Katie protested.

“You’re keeping watches,” Charlie chuckled. Eight to twelve and twelve to four. Wake me up at four, for the four to eight morning watch."

ooo000ooo

“Oy, boss! It’s quarter to four and here’s your tea.”

Charlie cracked one eye open to see Juliet looming over him with a mug of tea.

“It’s as you like it, sweet and milky.”

"Thanks love," Charlie responded as he carefully extricated himself from Chloe’s embrace and sat up. Chloe simply murmured in her sleep but did not wake so Charlie risked not waking her and slid carefully out of the cot.

“These were never designed for two,” he observed ruefully to Juliet. “Have there been any developments?”

“Katie said there was some brief radio traffic but then it went quiet. Apparently the signal from her EPIRB died before anybody could get a proper fix. Only we have any idea where she is.”

“Who was looking for her?”

“Our people in Darwin heard her signal before it died and there was some traffic that sounded like that large target she was aiming to meet. I think you were right; it was a refuelling tanker but they have gone back to base. Her attitude might have changed if we revisit her at dawn.”

“What’s the weather like?” Charlie checked.

“There’s a slight breeze causing a slight chop but nothing serious. She’ll have just had to endure an uncomfortable night bobbing about on the oggin instead of a calm glassy tropical night..”

“Good. Might bring her to her senses,” Charlie reflected as he gratefully sipped his tea.

After Charlie was fully awake, Juliet carefully slipped into the other cot already occupied by Katie. Charlie grinned to himself as he contemplated Katie waking up to find Juliet cuddled up to her.

‘Well Dawn was never designed for more than two people,’ Charlie mused, ‘but nothing can happen; poor buggers,’ he mused sympathetically.

Once back in the command seat, Charlie decided to returned to where they’d left the pilot and her survival raft. Once he had returned to the exact location he waited until daylight. The life-raft hadn’t drifted far but the choppy sea made it a bit more difficult to spot and it was fully eight o’clock before he spotted it several miles downwind.

As he prepared to wake Katie she appeared at his side with a knowing smirk.

“What woke you up?” Charlie asked.

“You know perfectly well what woke me up you licentious bugger.”

“Well there’s only two cots, what was Juliet to do?”

“It was a bit of a surprise though, when I woke up.”

“Sorry about that, it was you or Chloe and he chose you. Consider yourself flattered.”

“Well truthfully, it was a nice surprise. I’ve never cuddled up to anybody since I was cut. I should do it more often.”

“Well not just now,” Charlie remarked, “we’ve got an angry fish to land. Look, she’s waving her arms!”

“Perhaps she’s changed her mind now that her EPIRB is broken. It must have been damaged when she parachuted out.”

Charlie brought Dawn to a hover directly over the jet-pilot then Katie called over the loud-hailer.

“If you’re prepared to surrender your gun, you can come aboard.”

“How do I know you won’t shoot me?”

“We are not armed. If we had wanted to kill you, we would have deliberately rammed your aircraft hard enough to make it explode. All we did was disable it.”

Katie's words began to make sense to the woman. That, and a night on waves had concentrated her thoughts exquisitely. Katie pressed her suite.

“Throw your gun in the water and we’ll take you aboard.”

After some hesitation, the pilot did as asked and Katie notified Charlie who then brought Dawn right down to the water. It was a simple matter for the pilot to step with wobbly legs, straight onto the cargo ramp. By now both Chloe and Juliet had joined proceedings and they combined to drag the life-raft up the ramp. It was always right to recover any life-raft if possible to avoid further alarms later on.

Once the clam-shell doors and ramp were closed again, the three crewmembers led the pilot into the control cabin. The pilot’s first words on seeing Charlie were, “You’re a man!!”

“Last time I looked, - yes.” Charlie affirmed. "Your eyesight's good."

ooo000ooo

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