The Feminist Queendom Charlie’s War 55

© 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.
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.
Lieutenant Engadine Asi Charlie’s second prisoner.

Chapter 55

When Charlie returned from Canberra he made for Chloe’s house and explained what he had discussed with the researchers at Woomera.

“We need to develop specialist mining equipment and specialist heavy-duty space suits to find and recover more rare earth ores for the larger engines. This will involve exploration and extraction, way out there in deeper space. If you want to be useful Lieutenant Asi, we are going to need prospectors prepared to ‘space-walk’ and miners prepared to run the mines and machinery. Would you like to join the team?”

Lieutenant Asi considered the offer.

The idea ‘getting in on the ground floor’ of what would become the primary new industry of ‘interplanetary mining’ was a very attractive offer. There would not only be space suits and spaceships to develop and build, but a whole new field of solar powered excavating equipment to install on those ships. On the other hand however, there were enormous risks to life.

She questioned Charlie at length about the dangers during dinner that evening then decided to accept the offer provisionally.

“Who gets to decide if something is too dangerous?”

“The individual or individuals involved in the venture; naturally.” Charlie confirmed.

“I don’t have any geology training,” Engadine revealed, “I’m just a sky jockey, - a fighter pilot.”

“Everybody has to begin somewhere,” Chloe encouraged her as Charlie chewed thoughtfully on his meat.

Finally Charlie looked at Engadine and explained.

“One of the first things you’ll have to learn is welding. After the first antigravity shuttles are built down here at Woomera, much of the big ‘ore-carrier’ spaceships will be assembled in space.
I’m also going to build the engine factory in space. Initially I was going to build the engines at Woomera but I’m getting more and more concerned about security.

In space, it’ll be easier to weed out spies and saboteurs because all conversations are by radio and recordable. People can only plot in the private living areas which will be communal bubbles.

I’m thinking of putting the factory in a geostationary orbit directly above Woomera. A virtual city out there; another moon if you like, but always visible from Australia.”

“Sounds exciting.” Engadine replied. “I’d like to take up your offer provisionally. Where do I sign up to a contract of work?”

“A contract! God knows.” Charlie openly admitted. “As far as I know, there are no laws in deep space. I suppose people would have to sign an Australian style contract AFTER the feminista laws are repealed.

Just look at my particular position! My ownership of my ship Dawn is not registered to me or anybody else. Nor is it registered to a port or country, and I don’t know of any country that keeps a spaceship register.”

“It sounds like the wild west.” Engadine giggled, but Charlie did not reciprocate the humour.

“I think it could get wilder than that if greed is given free reign. There have been two serious attempts to manipulate me or ensnare me plus an attempt to separate me from my ship in Darwin. Only a few weeks ago, you were trying to kill me.”

“Yes,” Engadine reflected remorsefully, “sorry about that.”

“I don’t need your apologies,” Charlie snapped back, “I need your explanations, who hired you, what organisation do you seemingly still belong to, and how did you get the Chinese to lend you their most advanced jets?”

Charlie’s sudden change of demeanour alarmed Lieutenant Asi, as she realised that Charlie still had not forgotten the security issues affecting Australia. She realised there and then that Charlie was employing the – iron fist in the velvet glove – tactic.

“I’m going to have to tell you aren’t I

“You’re still, technically a prisoner of war.” Charlie answered flatly.

His words sent a shiver through the lieutenant’s frame but she still tried to advance her argument.

“Australia is not at war with China.”

“Listen Lieutenant, there are two crashed Chinese jets being recovered right now from the Queensland rain forest. Both of the dead pilot’s rotting remains are being checked out right now by an army forensics team. Both of the corpses are men, but not Chinese men!”

“Why has it taken them so long?” Engadine asked.

“For some reason, their emergency crash beacons were de-activated, as where yours. I don’t know why, but there was obviously some secret and potentially suicidal aspect to your intrusion. Like the old Kamikaze attacks of World War Two.”

“You must have known where they crashed. There was no need to have left them to die.”

“I didn’t ‘leave them to die’ as you put it. They were flying so low that they couldn’t bail out. I watched both planes crash at high speed and nobody could have survived the fireballs I saw. That was evidenced by finding the scorched corpses both sitting in the cockpits of their planes. According to what the search teams found; the ejector seats were not working either. So somebody was happy to see them dead.
Strangely, your ejector seat worked and that tells me that you might have had some additional objective or task to fulfil and I think that might have involved me or my Spaceship Dawn.

How do I know you still aren’t planning to kill me, after you’ve learned the secrets of Dawn?

I might warn you though, there are no electronic or dead tree records of my Anti-gravity engines anywhere! The only record is in my head.”

“Yes, I’ve been told that,” Lieutenant Asi confessed, “but after I was brought to Chloe’s home. That is your talisman, your ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card. You refuse to tell anybody.”

“Can you blame me? At least it protects me peaceably, no guns, bullets or violence.”

“You were violent towards my jet,”

Charlie let out a squawk of derision.

“What! After you and all the other three intruders had fired missiles at me? Dawn doesn’t even carry missiles or guns. I think that’s called self-defence. And don’t accuse me of murdering your two companions. Whosoever sabotaged their ejector seats killed them.”

“But you knew where they had crashed!”

“Of course I did but there were too many unanswered questions like why didn’t they eject. Consequently, I didn’t reveal the crash co-ordinates until the Australian equality bill was passed and ratified.” Charlie revealed with a soft menace to his voice.

“Before that, I might have been charged with attempted murder under some obscene feminista law for attacking you and your wing companion. Don’t forget, I was born and raised under the most abusive and oppressive feminista regime outside of America.
I had no idea how unfair Australian Feminista laws might have been towards a man defending himself against female attack.”

“So you told nobody where they crashed. If they had been alive, they would have died a slow death.” Lieutenant Asi Charged.

“I’ve got agendas too!” Charlie argued. “And those agendas are justified. I was intrigued to learn only yesterday, that the two male pilots were genetic Europeans. So what’s going on Lieutenant? Who or what is this organisation you belong to?”

Lieutenant Asi shrugged. It was getting harder and harder to deny to herself that Charlie’s objectives were the same objectives as her secret organisation. Her mind was in turmoil as she wrestled with her conscience.

‘Dare she reveal it to this man who had demonstrated beyond doubt that he was a libertarian?’ The most galling thing was that Charlie was achieving those liberal objectives without recourse to violence while she and her companions had effectively declared war by invading Australia with foreign assistance. The worst truth was that the foreign assistance carried a price, for the suppliers of those four jets were not exactly humanitarian liberators themselves. They would be coming for their pound of flesh if they thought that she and her wing-companion had somehow double-crossed them.’

Lieutenant Engadine Asi had got herself into a jam and the ironic part was that only Charlie could get her out of it. For Charlie had demonstrated beyond doubt that his spaceship had totally defeated her jet by dint of massive and insurmountable technical superiority. She had not betrayed her organisation’s cause she had simply been defeated and caught.

To protect her own life and the life of her wing-companion, Engadine was going to have to reveal the existence, identity and location of her organisation.

ooo000ooo

The evening Lieutenant Asi was given permission by Charlie to talk to her wing companion still being detained in Canberra. After some delicate negotiations between Charlie and the Defence minister Katie, the two pilots were allowed to talk with only Charlie as a witness at Engadine’s end and her wing mate with Katie in Canberra. Engadine’s wing-mate was curious.

“What’s this about Engee?” She asked her lover.

“Listen Angee, what are your feelings about this new Aussie liberty business?”

“It seems to be going ahead. The repeal of the feminista acts. The corridors here are full of it.”

“What, in the Parliament building! Where are they holding you?”

“In a secure block not far from the PM’s private residence. Apparently they’re still concerned about my safety. There’s guards everywhere and the defence minister is here several times a week. When she comes, she brings me a couple of newspapers. Fair play, it’s big news around here.”

“Are they treating you well?”

“Well as a prisoner of war, I can’t complain. How are they treating you?”

“Pretty good. I’ve got the run of Captain Sage’s house and occasionally, he takes me places with his wife. She’s a surgeon and technically. I’m her guest. Charlie isn’t around much.”

“Charlie? So you’re on first name terms with him are you?”

“That’s just it, yes. Do you know he’s the inventor of the antigrav.”

“Of course I do, his ship took me down and dumped me on that destroyer. I didn’t get to see him after that. He went hunting you I’m told.”

“That’s exactly right. He crunched my plane out of the sky then swept down and picked me out of my life raft. He’s here with me now.”

“So he can’t be all bad then.”

“No, definitely the opposite. You’re not going to believe this but he’s something of a pacifist.”

“Come off it, he took down four jets.” Angee poo-hooed.

“Yeah; without firing a single shot or missile.”

Angela the second pilot paused thoughtfully.

“Come to think of it; I think it was us that fired first.”

“It was us Angee,” Engadine confirmed. “I’ve been aboard his spaceship and it carries no weapons at all. He took us out by ramming us or gaffing us with some sort of plough-share thing.”

“Yeah. That’s how he caught me. Once I was hooked I couldn’t escape. Then he dumped me very ignominiously on that bloody destroyer.”

“I’m told you were deposited very gently, so much so that there was enough left of your plane to tell the Aussies all about your jet.”

“Yeah, they can now reverse engineer the Chinese technology and produce a jet of their own.”

Engadine let out an involuntary snort of derision before explaining.

“Angee! You’re not getting it. With the anti-gravity spaceships, they are so far ahead of China they’re over the horizon. China doesn’t stand a chance in hell of defeating Oz, nor would I want them to now that this crazy feminista business has been put to rest.”

“Well, provided the Aussies come on board with us and liberate everybody, I can rub along with that.”

“And that’s exactly why I’m calling you Angee. This repeal bill does pretty much that. What do you think?”

“It looks good on paper but I haven’t read the whole bill yet.”

Lieutenant Engadine Asi cursed under her breath and turned to Charlie.

“They should let her see it, then I think I can persuade her to come to your side.”

“What d’you mean, his side?” Angela asked.

“Can I speak to Katie please?”

“You mean the Defence Minister.”

“Yeah, well she’s Katie to me. We’ve been crew-mates on Charlie’s spaceship.”

Katherine Bergeson stepped into view and Lieutenant Asi nodded acknowledgement.

“Hi again Katie. Can you give Angee a copy of the Repeal Bill? Then I’ll speak to her tomorrow evening about a proposition I have.

“No problem. It’s a public document now.

“Thanks Minister. That’s all I’ve got to say for now, hope to speak to both of you tomorrow. Speak tomorrow Angee, Byee.”

As the video images faded, Lieutenant Asi slumped back in her seat and turned to Charlie.

“If I can bring Angee on board, I’ll feel happier about revealing who and what our organisation’s about.”

“And where it’s about,” Charlie suggested.

“Once she and I are agreed, we’ll see.”

“Well, you’ve got until about ten p.m., tomorrow cos I’ve got engines to build and Woomera are waiting.

“Does it hinge that much on you?”

“The engines do. That’s my protection.”

“Bit of a knife-edge really isn’t it?” Lieutenant Asi observed.”

“Yeah, but don’t go getting any ideas. Kill me and the world falls backwards a thousand years.”

ooo000ooo