Space Battleship TEXAS
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by Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2019 Melanie Brown
A stowaway unknowingly on a mission to save planet Earth
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Space Battleship TEXAS - Part 1
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by Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2019 Melanie Brown
A stowaway unknowingly on a mission to save planet Earth
“Gentlemen. Just what should we make of this object? Is it a weapon of some sort? A beacon? What?” The general sounded impatient. A mix of military personnel and scientists were gathered around a table in the military lab deep underground to examine an object that just fell to Earth.
Science Officer Redding pushed his glasses back up on his nose and poked the football sized metallic object lying on the table with his pen. “Damn if I know for sure, general. What we do know is it’s an amazing device that seems to be a courier of some sort. Its case is harder than any known material and made of a metal of no known alloy. It came from deep space. From the same trajectory as the Gahjin Empire. It broadcast a simple signal that told us how to interface it to our computer systems.”
The general was incredulous. “Good God, man. You didn’t actually do it, did you?” He looked over at the senior science officer, Mr. Phelps.
The general pointed at the strange device. “It could have been a bomb or infected our computer systems.”
The science officer removed his glasses and wiped them with a soft cloth that had been lying on the table. “It could have been dangerous. But it seemed to be inviting us. It seems benign.”
A captain standing next to the general huffed and folded his arms, one of which was prosthetic. “If I was going to make a bomb, I’d make it inviting as well.”
The science officer returned his glasses to his face as he looked at the captain. “Why bother? The Earth is done. We’ll be out of resources in less than a year. In a way, I kinda hoped it was a bomb.”
The senior science officer frowned. He looked over to the general. “What’s inside this seemingly small device is a wealth of knowledge and technological advances that are far beyond us. There are instructions on building a power source and weapons system capable of defeating any Gahjin vessel. We’ve been given a gift, general. A gift that could save the earth. The person who needs help refers to herself only as ‘The Princess.’”
The pragmatic general frowned. “Or destroy it. Who would send us such a thing and why?”
The science officer shrugged. “They refer to themselves are the Ishkars. They sent us this information to help us defeat the Gahjins. We’re guessing they’re under attack as well, but have no way to fight them.”
The general shook his head. “I’m skeptical, gentlemen. If they possess such advanced technology, why don’t they defeat the Gahjins?”
Senior Science Officer Phelps said, “They insist they have no way to wage war. They just ask us to please help.”
Colonel Jameson pointed at one of the display screens. “Let’s just say all this is real, for sake of argument. Look at the specs for just the power source. It’s bigger than even our largest ship in the fleet. We just don’t have enough time to design and build a space craft large enough to house that monster.”
Admiral Yamato, who had been watching silently moved up to the table. He grinned as he pointed at the power source. “I beg to differ, colonel. We do have a vessel large enough to hold this power source. And with the directions in this object, we can retrofit it with, what did you call them Mr. Phelps? Flex guns? I think we’d have a fighting chance.”
“Where is this vessel, Admiral?” asked the general.
The admiral heaved a sigh. “Galveston.”
“What?! Are you nuts?” I exclaimed. I looked at my best friend Blake Anderson as if he’d lost his mind. “You’re one of the few fighter pilots who actually got discharged.” After completing one hundred fifty sorties, fighter pilots were discharged from service. Not many reached that milestone since the war with the Gahjins started.
Blake shook his head. “This will be the greatest mission in history. I want to be part of it.”
“It’s a suicide mission,” I folded my arms.
With a smirk, Blake said, “Staying on Earth is a suicide mission. I’ll take my chances in space. You’re eighteen now. Sign up and come with me. They could use a whiz in electronics like you. Maybe a communications tech. You did pretty well with that in school.”
I grunted a laugh as I moved next to him and ran the palm of my hand from the top of my head to just below his chin. “You forget I’m something of a runt. And I don’t have a lot of muscle. I’m not the military type.”
Blake laughed. “Not everyone has to be studly like me to be in the Navy. Someone like you would be perfect for climbing through the guts of a ship to fix things.”
I sighed as I shoved my hands into my pants pockets and walked over to a screen showing current conditions on the surface. I rarely looked outside anymore since the war started. What once was a green lawns with flowers and trees was now just blowing dirt and dried, twisted stumps. Not only had the Gahjins been relentlessly bombing our cities, they found a way to dry up our oceans and lakes and then capture the water vapor for their own use. There was almost no surface water left. Government experts said we had almost a year left before the Earth was completely uninhabitable, even underground.
I looked down at my feet. “It’s hopeless, Blake. The Earth is done. We’re done. Why fight it? Sure, we responded quickly when the first automated bombs begin raining down on us. We built that awesome space fleet in less than a year to meet the inevitable Gahjin fleets. And they defeated us.”
Blake sat down. “Not right away. And at tremendous cost to them.”
I plopped down in a chair opposite Blake. “And we were defeated.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I miss my brother. That’s his chair you’re sitting in. He was sitting there just a year ago. Now he’s dead just like the rest of us will be.”
Blake leaned forward in the chair. “Your brother died a hero, Tyler. He was a captain of the second largest cruiser in the fleet. His actions bought the rest of the fleet time to return to Earth.”
A tear rolled down my cheek. “Yeah. And he’s still dead. And the fleet he saved was almost completely destroyed in the next attack. He could have just come home and died quietly like the rest of us are going to do.”
Blake jumped to his feet. “You’re brother wasn’t the kind of man to just lie down and die. Maybe you should be more like him.”
I walked over and grabbed my metal detector along with a backpack containing a few water bottles. “I’m not like him. Hey, rather than sitting here and complaining about the world, want to go scavenging with me? I make pretty good money recovering old electronics with gold and rare earth minerals. The government buys all I can find.”
Blake chuckled. “Sure. Why not? Who knows when I’ll get the chance again.”
We took the elevator to the surface where we were met by a very warm, dry breeze and blowing dirt. Few ventured to the surface any longer. My apartment was about a mile from what was once the Gulf of Mexico. Now it’s just a dry, rocky wasteland. But a lot of junk flowed into it along with what water was left. The junk was a treasure trove for me.
There were several dirt bikes stored in an abandoned shed that someone had left charging. Apparently there was still power being fed into the small building. My brother and I would just use them when we wanted. We always returned them and nobody ever said anything.
This day we chose to ride in the area where some old ship that had been docked for a long time, and eventually just sank into the mud that was the bottom of the Gulf before the mud turned hard as stone. Only the rusting conning tower of the old ship rose above the surface.
We were having a bountiful harvest of debris; six cell phones, some computer circuit boards and old engine parts. I jiggled the pack after I had loaded it with our scavenging efforts.
“What a haul, Blake!” I exclaimed. “Some of these are your finds. Sure you don’t want to share in the credits?”
Blake shook his head. “Nah. I need to go. Training starts in two days. Think about joining up. See ya.”
We shook hands and I watched Blake ride off over the dry surface of the Gulf toward what was once Galvaston. I frowned as I watched him. I thought to myself, “No way in hell am I going to sign up for some suicide military mission.”
Space Battleship TEXAS - Part 2
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by Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2019 Melanie Brown
Tyler's adventure begins!
I hadn’t been down to the Gulf to do any scavenging for about a week, but for some reason I felt I just had to go. I thought of Blake as I rode the dirt bike down onto the dried up mud next to the buried ship. Haven’t heard from him in months after that day he joined me to look for more useful junk. I was worried that this area was becoming unstable as I could hear some rumblings under the surface.
I started seeing a lot of metal and even electronic components strewn all over the ground in the vicinity of the old ship’s conning tower. Last week there had been almost nothing. Was this stuff falling from the sky? I guess it’s possible if fighters are getting shot down from space.
I grabbed my bag and started approaching the nearest piece of metal. I grinned as I bent down to pick it up. This was going to be a very profitable day!
Suddenly the ground started to shake. I heard large chunks of the dried Gulf floor cracking and clouds of dust billowed out of the ground around where the ship was buried. There was another shake like an earthquake that knocked me to the ground and I saw the conning tower, which had been leaning over ever since I could remember, unexpectedly righted itself. What the hell?
That’s when I noticed a ship shaped ridge rising from the dried surface, rocks and dirt sliding down from the raised area. I jumped on my dirt bike and sped over to what for all the world looked like a ship rising up from the ground. The bridge broke through the dried mud and more of the deck was exposed. The rumblings and shaking stopped as quickly as it had begun.
Gritting my teeth as I often do when I’m about to do something stupid, I down shifted and hit the accelerator to climb the newly formed ridge. I backed off on the throttle when I crested the ridge to drop the front wheel down quickly. As I hit the brakes, I couldn’t believe what I saw. It was a deck of a ship…an old battleship, fourteen inch guns and all. Instead of rotting wood, the deck was newly placed steel or at least some kind of metal.
I couldn’t imagine what was going on. Why did this old ship suddenly rise from the dried Gulf floor? And why did it all look so new? The main guns were fitted with pipes and tubing that I’m sure wouldn’t have been there when the ship was in service.
I jumped off my bike and started running around the deck, amazed at everything I saw. As I rounded a corner, there was a group of men in uniform inspecting some equipment. Between them and me was an open hatchway. I fought back an urge to run to it. “Don’t be stupid!” I thought. I looked at the uniformed men and then back to the open hatch.
I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth. “What the hell, right? What are they going to do to me? The Earth is dead in a few months anyway. I had to see inside. Another deep breath and I bolted for the open door.
After a moment, my eyes adjusted from the bright sunlight outside to the more subdued interior lighting. There wasn’t much to see in the companionway, but what I saw shocked me. This wasn’t the interior of some old world war battleship. This was a modern setup, with computer screens and next to me was an unoccupied glassed in office area.
I heard some people approaching from just ahead of me. I darted to my left down a narrow hallway. The ceiling was low and covered in cables, hoses and tubing. Hatches lined the hallway. What the hell is this thing?
I had to make a quick dodge into a small room off the hallway that had boxes with levers and lights, attached to the wall. I could barely squeeze in to avoid some people walking down the hall. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all,” I thought.
I peeked back out into the hall and didn’t see anyone. I decided to head back the way I had come and get out of this thing. I was running and looked behind me. And then, right in front of me, before I could react, a hatchway opened and a person stepped out. I ran right into them almost knocking them down.
“Hey watch where you’re going, you idiot,” said a familiar sounding voice.
My eyes went wide when I looked at the person’s face. “Blake?”
Blake just stood there a moment and blinked a few times. “Tyler? What the fuck are you doing here? How did you get on this ship?”
“I was scavenging and this thing just rose from the ground,” I said honestly. “I just had to check it out.”
Blake grabbed my arm and said sternly, “Well, we need to get you out of here before you’re spotted. We’re running through our final trials before leaving for orbit.”
“Orbit? In this thing? What is this?” I asked as Blake tugged on my arm and we headed back to the entrance I’d come through.
Blake grinned down at me. “It’s the USS Battleship Texas. It’s been re-commissioned for space duty.”
I stopped and pulled my arm free. “You can’t be serious!”
Grabbing my arm again, Blake said, “I am serious. We’re going to defeat the Gahjins with this.”
Just before we got to the doorway, a female officer stepped out of the glassed in office. She looked over at us curiously.
“Lieutenant, what is this civilian doing here?” barked the officer.
Looking sheepish, Blake pointed at me. “Last minute recruit, Capt. Jennings.”
Frowning, Captain Jennings said, “I wish they’d tell me these things. Has she been assigned? What’s her rate?”
Looking flummoxed for a moment, Blake said, “No ma’am. And she’s a communications tech.”
The captain looked me up and down. “Good. We’re short-handed in that area. Get her assigned to my team and get her a uniform.” She then turned from us and hurried away.
“She thinks I’m a girl!” I sputtered.
Blake shrugged. “Not really all that surprising. You’re still a runt. But that doesn’t matter because she’s never going to see you again. You’re leaving the ship now.”
We both became aware of a whine, deep inside the ship start to rise in pitch and the ship began to shake. Several men came through the hatch we were heading for. The last one through pulled the hatch closed and pressed a button by the door that locked the seal in place.
The last man looked at Blake. “You’re going to be needed on the bridge, Lieutenant. Emergency activation.”
Over the 1MC speaker system it was announced, “All hands. Battle stations. Emergency launch. Pilot to the bridge.”
Looking very worried, Blake shouted, “Shit! We’re not sure if we’re space worthy yet. I’m the pilot. I got to go.”
“You can’t leave me here!” I shouted, feeling suddenly numb.
Blake grabbed my hand and started to lead me through the companionways. “Come with me. I’ll have to explain you later.”
It was an orderly madhouse we passed through on our way to the bridge. Men and women were running in all directions. It was chaos, but there oddly seemed an order to it. We finally reached an elevator and Blake pulled me in and hit the button to go up.
We exited the elevator onto the bridge. An admiral was sitting in an elevated command chair over-looking the bridge. Facing forward was a large glass window which I’m sure wasn’t there on the original ship and a central control console.
“Well, lieutenant, I’m glad you finally decided to join our little emergency.” snarled the admiral from his chair.
Looking like he wanted to run away, Blake said, “Sorry admiral. I was distracted.” He was still holding my hand.
Frowning the admiral said, “You can be distracted by her later. Right now I need you to get this ship in the air.”
Blake let go of my hand and saluted and then took his seat at the control console. He started punching buttons.
The admiral looked over at me. “I’m guessing you have a reason to be here?”
I hadn’t seen her when we first entered the bridge, but Captain Jennings was at a station near the admiral’s chair. “New recruit, sir. She’s a communications tech.”
The admiral pointed at an empty station along the bridge wall. “Man your station, miss!” He turned to Captain Jennings, “Just how new is she?” The captain shrugged.
I sat at the station. This is insane! I picked up the set of headphones and put them on. I looked over the panel. I dabbled with communications in high school, so it wasn’t completely unfamiliar to me. I thought I could probably fake my way through it. At least until Blake could get me out of the ship.
Blake shouted, “Launching now!”
The ship creaked and groaned and rocked. The screech of tortured dried mud and rock being ripped from its grasp of the ship. The whine from the ship’s innards grew even higher in pitch.
Blake said, “Main engine power at eighty percent, admiral. We can launch at ninety-five.”
A girl at a console near Blake shouted, “We have a target lock! Incoming missile from orbit!”
“Launch us now!” shouted the admiral.
Sweat popped up on Blake’s brow. He checked his instruments and tried to sound calm, “Flex engine at insufficient power to launch, admiral.”
I heard a beeping sound over my headphones. What the hell? I looked down at my panel. In an unsure voice, I said, “Incoming transmission.”
The admiral said, “Put it on audio.”
I looked down at the panel. There was a switch labeled, “Bridge audio.” Was it really just that simple? I clicked the button.
In a strange metallic voice, most likely coming through some type of electronic translation came a calm, but eerie voice, “Gahjin command to Earth vessel. We detected the moment you brought your Flex engine on-line. You’ll never get your ship off the Earth.” And then nothing but static.
The girl next to Blake sounded scared as she announced, “Fifty seconds to impact.”
The admiral said calmly to Blake, “Lieutenant. Status of the Flex cannons.”
Blake checked his panel. “Flex guns at ninety-nine percent charge, admiral.”
The admiral said, “Target and lock incoming missile. Fire Flex cannons at one hundred twenty percent.”
“Aye admiral.” Blake bit his lower lip as he raised the Flex cannon fire control mechanism and peered into it. The device was equipped with view screen and a pistol grip with a trigger. I noticed everyone on the bridge putting on dark goggles. I quickly looked around and found a pair of goggles hanging from a post near my station. I slipped them on as quickly as I could.
The girl announced “Thirty-five seconds to impact.”
Blake said in a strained voice, “Flex guns at one hundred ten percent.”
The girl bravely announced, “Twenty-five seconds.”
His voice straining, the admiral said, “I suggest you fire, lieutenant or this is going to be a real short trip.”
Taking a deep breath, Blake announced “Flex guns at one hundred twenty percent.”
“Fifteen seconds…”
Space Battleship TEXAS - Part 3
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by Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2019 Melanie Brown
Will Tyler be exposed?
Blake stared intently into his targeting device. “Five seconds.”
It was certainly the longest five seconds in my lifetime. I sat frozen in my seat staring out the observation window. The vapor trail of the incoming missile was clearly visible. And while I know nothing about missiles and stuff, it was obvious this missile was definitely large enough to take out the whole ship.
Sweating profusely from his forehead, Blake shouted, “Fire!” and he pulled the trigger. If the weapons on the Texas fired laser-like energy, you wouldn’t see anything coming from the barrels. But these former fourteen inch guns now fired something Blake had called Flex-energy. The blinding blue-white streams of raw power left from both the forward facing gun emplacements. Curiously, the beams of energy braided after leaving both barrels of each emplacement.
A heartbeat later, there was an incredibly bright, mammoth explosion that rocked the ship. We all sat at our stations in stunned silence. I couldn’t help but wonder if we were all dead or not. Clouds of smoke obscured the forward view.
I pulled my goggles off and threw them at Blake. “Could you have waited any longer!?”
Trying to look calm, the admiral said quietly, “Good work, lieutenant. Let’s avoid the dramatic pauses in the future though.”
Blake frowned at me before turning towards the admiral. “Sorry, admiral. I had to wait until the weapons system was fully charged.”
I heard more beeping in my headset. Dutifully I said, “Incoming transmission.”
“On audio.” I pressed the switch again.
Sounding agitated, the voice over the communications link said, “I see you managed to obtain all the Flex technology. No matter. You have a long trip ahead of you. No more warnings from me.” And then the signal dropped.
The admiral looked calm. He said, “Take us into space, lieutenant.”
Blake said, “Aye, sir.” He turned to face his console again and slowly moved a large lever forward. There was a loud ‘thunk’ sound as the drive engaged and the ship started to rise in the air. The inertial damping kicked in and we no longer felt the sensation of moving.
I stared in awe through the observation window, watching the curvature of the Earth drop away. Oh my God! I’m actually in space!
Not looking up from her computer screen, Captain Jennings said quietly, “All sections report no damage from missile attack, admiral.”
Studying his monitors, Blake said, “We have left Earth’s atmosphere. Course to destination already laid in. The jumps are being calculated now.” Apparently, calculating jumps consumed a great deal of the computers resources.
Not only was the ship outfitted with the Flex engine, which propelled the ship forward much like a rocket, but much more powerful, it was also equipped with a jump coil. The jump coil allowed the ship to cover great distances without actually having to travel through them. Without the jump coil, the trip would take centuries.
Blake pushed another lever forward. “We are enroute. Engines are full thrust. First destination is Jupiter for slingshot course correction.”
The navigator, the girl sitting next to Blake, sighed, sounding irritated. “Bogies on intercept trajectory, admiral.”
The admiral nodded. “They had to wait until we started moving to calculate an intercept. Bring shielding to max and set the defensive systems to automatic targeting.”
The navigator nodded, “Aye admiral.”
Thick steel was still the ship’s skin, but it had been covered with a reactive armor that would absorb the energy from energy weapons and deflect projectile weapons. The shell of the ship was also had its strength enhanced by the inertial dampening system that keeps the structural integrity of the ship in place.
Blake called me over to him. When I stood next to him, he turned and motioned that I lean down. He said quietly, “Since you didn’t get any training, you’re probably wondering why we’re not sending any interceptors to greet the attacking ships. Space battles aren’t like the exciting dog fights you see in the dramas you watched as a kid. At best it’s like a deadly ballet. They plot an intercept course, fire their salvos and watch if they have any hits. We just pass them by. If they want to attack again, they have to plot another intercept.”
I whispered to him, “That sounds boring.”
Blake chucked. “Yeah, kinda. Unless you’re being hit. We can only target the fighters, not what they shooting at us.”
The navigator announced, “Automatic defenses engaged.” I could hear some muffled sounds vibrating the walls of the ship.
The ship’s defenses were mini-Flex guns, firing rapidly. They take much less time to recharge. Through the forward observation window, I watched several attacking ships explode. Several managed to launch missiles at us. We couldn’t use the main guns on those missiles and the defensive guns couldn’t track the missiles fast enough.
Blake shooed me back to my seat. He announced, “Brace for multiple impacts.”
The attacking ships were targeting our main guns, but our shielding managed to deflect the incoming missiles away from the ship. Some of the missiles were set to explode before impact and the shielding absorbed the energy. A few more attacking ships exploded from the fire of our defense systems. I smiled to myself. This is just too easy.
We passed the remaining enemy ships. They didn’t try to attack again and so we went on our way to Jupiter without further incident.
A young man, not much older than me walked up and stood in front of me. “I’m your relief.”
I sighed heavily. “Thank God! I could use some relief!” I stood up and let him take my seat. I only noticed then how tense all my muscles were. A woman relieved Blake and I started to follow him off the bridge.
“What are we going to do, Blake?” I asked breathless after the elevator doors closed. “I can’t keep pretending I’m a member of the crew! I can’t keep pretending to be a girl!”
Blake looked quickly around as we exited the bridge elevator. “Let’s go to my quarters. We need to figure something out for sure.”
Blake took my hand and quickly led me through the twisty passageways. I was annoyed he was holding my hand, but I admit, I’d be completely lost if we got separated.
We came to a less crowded part of the ship. “As a bridge officer, I get a private berth, such as it is.” He started to open the door to his berth when an ensign came down the passage.
“Excuse me, sir,” said the ensign in a whiny voice. “Did you forget that these are not co-ed berthing areas? You can’t bring a woman in here.”
Blake gave a quick salute and smiled nervously. “Thank you ensign. In the excitement, I guess I forgot.”
The ensign smartly returned the salute and grinned. “You’re welcome, sir!”
Blake took my hand again and snarled, “Come this way to the mess hall. Maybe we can talk there.”
I looked behind me. “Can we toss that asshole out the airlock?”
Blake shook his head. “I’ll do it later.”
We exited the passageway into a wide, open common area. The mess hall looked more like a school cafeteria and was open twenty-four hours a day. The officer’s mess was separated and was mostly vacant.
Pointing with his free hand, Blake said, “Let’s go in there.” He let go of my hand and straightened his uniform a bit. We walked to the far end of the room and sat down.
Blake looked at me for a moment. He asked, “Did you want something to drink?”
Raising my eyebrow, I asked, “They serve alcohol on the ship?”
Blake frowned. “What? No. Don’t be stupid. Alcohol isn’t allowed on the ship. Your choice is water, milk and Dr. Pepper.”
I laughed. “Dr. Pepper?”
Blake shrugged. “This is the Battleship Texas after all.”
Still chuckling at the idea, I replied, “Dr. Pepper. Do they have diet?”
Blake grinned back at me. “Of course.” He selected two cans of soda and sat back down.
I looked around at all the exposed plumbing running along the ceiling and walls. “I’m sure on a ship this size there are places I can hide. You can bring me food and water every day or so.”
Blake shook his head. “What about when you have to take a shit?”
I shrugged. “You can bring me a bucket or your space helmet or something.”
Blake looked down at his hands. “No. Hiding is not a good idea. You’ll be found and then there’ll be an inquiry and then we’re all in trouble. No. We need to hide you in plain sight. The big problem in hiding is that you’ve already been seen as a crew member and female to boot.”
I frowned. “Just get me a men’s uniform. No one will remember me.”
Blake suddenly looked to one side and started to stand.
Captain Jennings waved him down. “Please remain seated. I’ve been looking for you two since you left the bridge.” She pointed at me. “Has she been added to the system’s roster yet?”
Blake glanced over to me and then back to the captain. “Not yet, ma’am. The emergency was a big interruption.”
The captain smiled. “It certainly was.” She pointed at Blake. “The admiral wants you to attend the debriefing about that emergency. I’ll take… what was your name again?”
Looking sheepish. We hadn’t had time to come up with any good alias for me. So I just looked at the captain. “Tyler, ma’am. Tyler McAdams.”
Captain Jennings nodded. “Come along with me, miss. I’ll leave you at the infirmary. The doctor can add you to the roster as she checks your health.”
Blake quickly stood up. “Is that really necessary captain? I mean, look at her. She’s the very picture of health.”
The captain looked from Blake to me and back to Blake. She smiled knowingly to Blake. “It all has to be official, lieutenant. You better double-time it. The admiral is waiting in his ready room.”
Blake nodded. “Aye, ma’am.”
As Blake turned away, the captain gave me a curious look when I said, “Been nice knowing you.”
Captain Jennings led me through the bowels of the ship without holding my hand. I didn’t expect her to, but I didn’t want to get lost either. Needless to say, I was absolutely terrified at the idea of seeing the ship’s doctor. Our ruse would be up and my fate would be completely unclear at this point. The ship didn’t have any yardarms to hang me from, but I was sure it had a brig.
We finally stopped at a large office area that had three hospital type beds and all types of medical equipment scattered about. It looked like a cross between a doctor’s office and a hospital room… which I guess it was.
Captain Jennings knocked on the door to the infirmary. The doctor, a woman, was seemingly startled and fumble with something she was trying to avoid dropping. She managed to slide it onto the shelf before turning nervously around.
Captain Jennings looked concerned. “Dr. Lujan? I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
The doctor composed herself. “I’m afraid the activity this morning left me a bit shaken. How can I help you, captain?”
The captain pointed at me. “This is a last minute recruit and she’s not on the ship’s roster. We’re shorthanded at the moment, so would you add her to the roster while you’re giving her a physical?”
Still acting a bit nervous, the doctor took a step towards me. “Of course, captain. It shouldn’t take long.”
Stick a fork in me. I was done.
Space Battleship TEXAS - Part 4
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by Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2019 Melanie Brown
Tyler joins the Navy -- as a woman
I looked at the shelf where the doctor had been standing. From her angle, the captain couldn’t see what was on the shelf. I saw a half consumed bottle of Tequila. I remember Blake saying alcohol was not allowed on the ship. I grinned. I’ve got an angle.
Captain Jennings then went on her way. The doctor looked at me while I was grinning. She narrowed her brows. “What?”
Blake entered the infirmary looking a bit confused. “Doctor? I heard your call for me over the 1MC. I came right away.” He looked from the doctor to me and back to the doctor. I was smirking. Knowing full well something was wrong, he asked, “Is something wrong?”
The doctor said, “Close the door, lieutenant. Have a seat.”
After Blake closed the door, he approached the small table the doctor indicated and sat down. The doctor opened a drawer, removed two small glasses and set them on the table. She then pulled the Tequila bottle from the shelf and poured some into both glasses. She capped the bottle and sat down.
The doctor lifted her glass, and took a sip and closed her eyes for a moment. She looked at Blake. “Go ahead. Take a drink lieutenant. You’re a fighter pilot so I know you don’t have a virgin tongue. Doctor’s orders.”
Blake hesitantly picked up the glass. He looked at it for a moment, looked at me and then took a gulp knocking his head back. He gasped for a second. “That’s good stuff.” He set the glass back down.
Doctor Lujan looked at Blake. “We have a problem, lieutenant. I don’t like problems.” She pointed at me. “Your girlfriend here doesn’t exactly seem to be female. Oh, she’s severely lacking in testosterone and is hardly a prime example of maleness, but male she sadly is. Care to explain?”
Blake looked over at me, coughed and held up his glass indicating he wanted another shot. The doctor refilled his glass. He then told the doctor, truthfully, about how we were friends before the war and how he’d always have to rescue me from bullies and as of late how I was doing scavenging for money. And how I’d gotten trapped onboard the ship and got stuck being part of the bridge crew.
The doctor leaned back in her chair. “That’s quite a tale, lieutenant. Quite a tale. Here’s our dilemma. You have an unauthorized person on board the ship. A stowaway if you will. The admiral will be furious… both for the fact that your girlfriend is a stowaway and that he was fooled into thinking she was part of the bridge crew. He’s likely to toss her out the airlock and toss you in the pokey. However, your girlfriend has also made it clear she will sing like a canary about the contraband I brought onboard, so I’d be joining you in the pokey as well.
“I’m just guessing, but I figure Tyler would rather not be tossed into space without a suit and I’m guessing you have even less desire to be tossed in the brig than I do. So I propose a deal.”
Blake furrowed his brows and leaned forward. “What kind of deal, doctor?”
Doctor Lujan refilled Blake’s glass and her own. “I propose the only option we all have. I put Tyler on the roster and certify her to be in the very pink of health for an eighteen year old female. And both of you agree to keep your mouths shut. Oh. And I have injections I can give her to make her more feminine. At the end of the mission, and we’re all discharged, I stop giving her injections and after a period of time she reverts back to her old self, such as it is.”
Blake studied me for a moment, knocked back another shot and set the glass down. “I say we have a deal, doc.” He held out his hand and the doctor shook it.
The doctor grinned. “Deal. This paper here is her official measurements. Take her to the ship’s store to get her outfitted. She’ll have to bunk with the girls of course, but I assigned her to a berthing area that’s lightly populated. And remember. To quote a famous old quote, we must all hang together or we will surely hang separately.”
“This is as far as I can go,” said Blake as he handed me the duffle bag he’d been carrying for me. “Your rack is right down there at the end. Get settled in and then meet me back at the mess hall.”
I nodded. “Okay. I think I can find it.” I lifted the bag and then immediately dropped it. “What’s in this thing? Bowling balls?”
“It’s everything you’re going to need and probably more than you’ll need.” Blake slapped me on my backside. “Now get going.”
I wagged my finger at Blake. “Hey. Don’t do that. I’ll see you later.”
I gave up trying to lift the bag and just dragged it instead.
Halfway down the hall, a girl came out of a side room that I later learned was the women’s head. She smiled at me. “I heard we were getting someone new. Let me help you with that. They weigh a ton, don’t they?”
I nodded. “That’s for sure!” She picked up one end I picked up the other and together we made it to the end of the hall.
She set my bag down. “Here’s your rack. By the way, my name is Helen.”
I smiled at her. “Nice to meet you. I’m Tyler. Thanks for the help.”
Helen cocked her head to one side. “Hmm. Don’t see many Tylers. But you’re more than welcome. It’s odd. You’ve got the only rack here. No one is using the others. Want to move in with us? We have a few empty racks.”
I smiled back at her. “Thanks, but I think I’ll stick with what they gave me for now.”
Helen shrugged. “Suit yourself. Oh, before I go, let me point a few things out. That’s the head down the hall. Water is at a premium so no Holiday Inn showers. Actually, it’s timed anyway. You can pull down this modesty curtain for getting dressed. The guys don’t have that option. You fold this out and it’s your desk, computer terminal, and make-up mirror.”
“Make-up? I didn’t bring any with me.” I chuckled. I thought I’d joke about it to hide the fact that I’d never owned any make-up, of course.
Helen kicked my duffle bag. “In there is your standard kit. It’s a regulation for women sailors. The kit contains only items you can wear on duty. You can get other lipstick shades and eye shadows at the PX, but you can’t wear them while on duty.” She held up her hand and wiggled her fingers. “No regulations on nail polish though.”
I laughed. “Here we are, flying across half the galaxy to do mortal combat with alien invaders and we have a choice of nail polish?”
Helen grinned. “Hey, if you’re going to save the Earth, you might as well look good doing it.”
I opened the large bag. “I guess I’d better get this stuff squared away and get my uniform on.”
“Sure thing,” Helen said as she started to leave my rack area. “Oh. When you’re dressed, give me a holler. Me and the girls will give you a hand with your make-up.”
“Thanks.”
I started digging through the bag. In it were lingerie in my size, towels, soap and other toiletries. There was a dress uniform and a work uniform. Both came with options for either a skirt or pants. I opted for the pants.
Helen came back after about twenty minutes to check on me. She nodded at my squared away rack and then called her friends over to help me with my make-up. As they descended upon me with foundation, eye liner, mascara, lipstick and God knows what else, I began to wonder would being tossed out the airlock really be that bad?
“What is it Grynok? I have an empire to run, you know.”
“A thousand pardons my emperor,” said Grynok with a bow. “But I think you’ll want to see this.”
“What am I looking at?” said Zykitz impatiently.
Grynok pointed to the flat screen on the table in front of him. “These are the probe scans of the Earth vessel that has escaped our attacks. See these blips? Each one is a human. There are over one thousand human animals aboard that vessel. But look at this one. It’s different from all the rest. From our studies of Earth, only one in a billion of inhabitants will have this signature. My emperor, they have an oracle. That’s how they will communicate with the princess. We haven’t had an oracle since you accidently killed her.”
Zykitz shrugged. “My bad.”
“Emperor, we will ultimately fail if we don’t take their oracle!” exclaimed Grynok.
Zykitz nodded. “I’ll organize the mission immediately.”
Space Battleship TEXAS - Part 5
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by Melanie Brown
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Tyler becomes a target
I waved to Blake as I entered the mess hall. Because of the differing times we had duty, I hadn’t seen him in almost a week, so he hadn’t seen me since I started wearing a woman’s uniform and make-up. Blake looked up and almost choked. I ran up to him. “Are you okay?”
He stood up and waved me off. “I’m fine. I’m fine. You took me by surprise is all.”
I sat down across from him. “I’m sorry. I guess I should have warned you about how I look.”
Blake sat down and shook his head. “I noticed. That’s what took me by surprise. Look at you! You’re looking really sharp in your new uniform. And make-up now?”
I shrugged. “It’s actually a regulation. Can you believe it?”
Blake seemed to relax. “That does seem kind of out of place on a warship.”
I giggled. “At least I don’t have to wear high heels or some such.”
Blake nodded. “That would be crazy alright. So, how are the other women in your unit accepting you?”
“Just fine, as far as I can tell,” I said with a shrug. “Everyone seems to accept me now. People have been asking me if I’m your girlfriend. I keep telling them no. And then they ask me out.” Of course there’s no real dating on the ship. Just going together to the mess hall or to watch a movie in the rec hall. Sex is definitely forbidden, but I’m sure it happens in broom closets around the ship.
Blake smiled. “That’s great you’re being accepted. But it must be really annoying to have guys come on to you. I’m sorry about that, but you are pretty cute. But anyway, I wanted to talk to you about some things to get your thoughts.”
I leaned forward, excited he wanted my opinion. “Thoughts on what?”
He lowered his voice and leaned in so his face was close to mine. “We’re worried we have a spy onboard.”
I frowned. “A spy? Cloak and dagger stuff?”
Blake shrugged. “Maybe not like that exactly, but somehow the Gahjin know our every move. They’re always there when we come out of a jump. We’re a sitting duck for almost a hour until the jump coils recharge. How do they know?”
I shrugged too. “Maybe we’re just too easy to predict. They know where we’re headed. Our jumps were pretty much pre-planned.”
Blake nodded. “We thought of that. That’s why we started randomizing our jumps. Long jumps, short jumps, changing vectors. Nothing seems to work. They always know where we are. The only person who knows in advance where the next jump sequence is taking us is the navigator. I really doubt she’s a spy.”
I smirked. “Just because you have a crush on her?”
Blake looked hurt. “I do not! And that’s not why. I asked her. She said she’s not a spy.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure she’d be honest if she was an actual spy.
I leaned back in my seat and started thinking. Thinking aloud, I said under my breath. “I wonder. It’s always there after the Gahjin fighters make their small jumps to get out of the range of our weapons so they can recharge their jump coils. Hmmm.”
Blake looked at me curiously. “What are you talking about?”
My eyes unfocused for a moment. “Yeah. It’s always there.”
“What!?” Blake almost shouted.
“I see it on my communications board,” I said quietly. “I bet there’s a connection. After the Gahjin jump out, I detect the tiniest trace of a signal in the sub either.” I slapped the table top. “That’s how they’re doing it! If we re-calibrate the deep space RADAR, I’ll bet we’ll see a tiny little thread of energy in the sub-either. We use the same technology, so dollars to donuts, we’re leaving the same type of trail!”
Blake’s eyes brightened. “You just might be on to something! I have a staff meeting with the admiral in half an hour. I’ll bring up your brilliant idea. We might not be able to stop it, but we’ll know what to expect now. And we’ll be able to trace back to an outpost or a mother ship.”
He stood up slightly, so he could lean closer to me. Before I could anticipate what he was doing, he gave me a quick kiss.
I frowned at Blake and almost wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Then I realized what a mess it’d make of my lipstick. I never had to worry about that before.
“What the hell are you doing?!” I exclaimed as I backed away from Blake.
Blake touched his lips. “Oh. Sorry Tyler. You’re so pretty, I forgot you’re not a girl. I just wanted to thank you for your observations.”
I pulled a mirror from my purse and checked my make-up. “You can thank me by taking me to dinner.”
Blake grinned. “Deal.”
Feeling flustered, I said, “Not like a date! I meant just so we can chat. We never see each other anymore.”
Blake nodded. “I’ll try to see you more often. But I need to get to that meeting.”
I shrugged. “I have duty later in the day. Maybe I’ll see you on the bridge.”
“Maybe.” Blake stood up. “See ya round.” He then hurried off.
I stayed seated. I looked at my hands with nail polish. I’d never worn nail polish in my life. Even if I’d been a girl all my life, it just seemed a frivolous thing to do. But I have to admit I kind of like wearing it.
Someone suddenly sat across from me. I looked up to see a guy just a bit older than me smiling at me. It embarrassed me to have him looking. Not sure of what to do, I just smiled weakly and said, “Hello.”
His grin got wider as he said, “Hi! My name’s Jeremy. I hope you don’t mind. I saw you sitting here all alone. I just wanted to introduce myself.”
I nodded. “Nice to meet you, Jeremy. I’m…”
Cutting me off, Jeremy said, “You’re Tyler. I know. The new communications tech.”
I smiled nervously. “That would be me alright.”
Jeremy leaned across the table towards me. “I was wanting to ask you, if you’re not busy or anything if you’d like to go with me to the rec hall. They’re showing some movies and they’re actually making popcorn. Can you believe it?”
Oh my God. I just got asked out. On a warship of all things. I looked at my hands and smiled again. “That sounds great and thank you for the invitation, but I have duty shortly.”
Looking disappointed, Jeremy shrugged. “That’s the problem when trying to date on a military vessel. Another time maybe?”
I thought to myself, it’s also a problem trying to date someone who doesn’t want to go out with you. I continued to smile. “Sure. Some other time, maybe.”
A few minutes after Jeremy left the mess hall, another guy sat down across from me. “I thought that guy would never leave, did you?”
Feeling confused, I said, “Excuse me?”
“I know you’d love to go to the poetry reading they’re having on Deck 3. Girls just love poetry readings.” The guy just stared at me with a dopey grin.
I smiled at the guy. “That sounds wonderful and all. But I have to go on duty soon.” In fact, I want to go on duty now!
The guy wasn’t bothered at all. “Not a problem. There’s another reading tomorrow at the same time if you’d like for me to find you.”
I started to stand up. “Thanks anyway. But I have duty every day at the same time as the poetry reading. See ya around.” He nodded and I quickly left the mess hall. It was a lie, but what can I say if I don’t to just say ‘get lost’? Sheesh! What is going on? It’s not like there’s not a lot of nice, single women on this ship.
I started to head back to the women’s berthing area when the 1MC crackled and then announced, “Attention. All off-duty personnel report to the auditorium immediately for an important announcement from the admiral.” It then went on to repeat the message two more times.
I stopped and sighed. I guess I’ll head to the auditorium.
When I got there, the room was already packed and all the seats were taken. I could see Blake standing next to the admiral at a lectern at one end of the room. I worked my way along the wall so I could get a closer view.
The admiral rapped his knuckles on the lectern. “I have a short announcement that all of us need to be aware of. I know that many of you have heard rumors that there’s a spy on the ship, telling the enemy our every move. How else could they always know where we’ve jumped to, even when we make crazy, non-sense jumps? Rumors such as this weaken unit cohesion as you start to suspect your fellow crewmembers. Well, thanks to Lieutenant Andrews, we can dispel that rumor. Lieutenant?” The admiral stepped away from the lectern and Blake stepped up.
Looking a bit nervous, Blake cleared his throat. “Thank you admiral. I’ll get straight to the point. Our own ship is telling on us. By monitoring minute energy signatures in the sub-ether when the Gahjin vessels make a jump, and recalibrating the deep RADAR system, we found we can trace these threads of energy to their destinations. We’re using the exact same jump technology as the Gahjin so they’re just following our own energy thread.”
Blake paused a moment. I scowled at him as I folded my arms. He’s taking credit for my discovery! Blake looked in my direction and saw me. He suddenly looked sheepish and shrugged.
“I would like to note that this energy signature was first discovered by Ensign McAdams.” He pointed at me and every one turned to look at me. I was so embarrassed.
The admiral took a step towards me and grinned. “Outstanding, ensign!” He stepped back to the lectern. “We’ve made the strategic decision to not show our hand by following Gahjin vessels to their destinations until the situation warrants it. Now that we’re aware, we’ll plan our jumps accordingly. That is all. Dismissed.”
I punched Blake in the shoulder as we entered the bridge elevator. “Going to steal all the credit were you?”
Blake rubbed his shoulder as if he’d even felt my punch. “I didn’t steal anything. I was going to mention you helped. Eventually.”
“Helped?” I exclaimed. “I discovered the stupid energy signature!”
Blake nodded as we stepped off the elevator. “Good thing, too. They were serious about thinking we had a spy or saboteur. They suspected you as you were the last to board before we launched. They were going to start ship-wide interrogations. Imagine what would have happened if they got to interrogate you?”
I frowned. “You and Dr. Lujan would be up shit creek.”
Blake shook his head. “We’d *all* be in the brig for sure.”
My shift on the bridge was pretty standard. It was getting boring, actually. We performed two jumps, were attacked twice by Gahjin warships. The second jump brought us at the two-thirds point of our trip. We were almost there! Estimate was two more weeks.
After my shift, I headed back to my berthing area. I never thought I’d be so relieved to be someplace where men were restricted. I stopped by Dr. Lujan’s office for my next shot.
“Good to see you again, ensign, said Dr. Lujan cheerfully. “How are you feeling lately? Are the injections helping?”
I nodded. “They must be having some effect on me, doctor. I find myself crying for no reason, I’m starting to find some guys attractive and my color perception has changed. Not much in a physical way though. Not yet anyway.”
The doctor locked the door after I came in and she filled a small glass with Tequila and downed a shot. “Our mission will probably be over before you start growing breasts and become more rounded. That’s a good thing, unless you decide to stay a girl.”
I looked at my feet. “I don’t think I do. It’s hard to say for sure since my feelings are changing. The other day Blake kissed me.”
Doctor Lujan raised an eyebrow. “Oh? How did you feel about that?”
I didn’t answer for a second or two. I shrugged and then looked at the doc. “I um… I liked it.”
Doctor Lujan smiled. “Nothing wrong with a little kiss.”
I looked at my feet again. “Maybe. We’ve been buds for years and now he gives me a kiss?”
Looking concerned, Dr. Lujan said, “If you don’t want him to kiss you, then tell him. Tyler, look. You seem for all the world as a cute, sweet girl and Blake is reacting to that.”
I shrugged. “I guess so. But I need to go.” Dr. Lujan unlocked the office door and waved as I exited.
“Tyler, why not?”
I folded my arms against me. “I told you. It just seems weird to say it.” We were in a wide passageway next to the gym.
Blake held my arm. “You don’t like me?”
I pulled my arm from his grasp. “Of course I like you, Blake. Probably more than I should. It’s just unnatural to me to say I’m someone’s girlfriend.”
Blake touched my hair. “You’ve said yourself you’re tired of guys hitting on you. This would be one way to make them stop.”
I barked a short laugh. “Maybe. What would you expect from me?”
Blake looked shocked. “Nothing, baby. We’d just go on like we do now. Only everyone will know we’re a couple and leave you alone.”
I frowned at Blake. “You just called me ‘baby’.”
“I’m sorry. But what do you say?” Blake asked earnestly. “Do we make it official?”
I sighed heavily. “Okay. Let’s make it official.”
Blake grinned and then his face took on a stern expression. He pointed his finger into my chest and almost shouted, “Don’t forget, babe. You’re my girl! I better not see you with other men!”
I angrily pushed his hand from my chest. Scowling, I said, “What the fuck are you doing?”
Blake grinned. “I’m claiming you.”
Still scowling, I said, “I just thought we’d shake on it.”
Blake put a finger under my chin. “Seriously, Tyler. You are my girl.” Before I could react, he bent down and gave me a quick, against regulations kiss.
I was about to say something in protest when the 1MC announced, “Proximity alert! Proximity alert starboard. Collision imminent.”
I wondered what was going on. We were on the port side of the ship. We tried to brace ourselves for a collision with something.
The 1MC announced “Cancel proximity alert.”
Blake sighed. “That’s good. There’s always a serious risk of a structural failure in a collision.”
I nodded and looked back at Blake. “Now about kissing…”
The 1MC announced, “Proximity alert! Port side. Collision imminent.”
Blake furrowed his brow. “What the hell is going on?”
We were then all knocked to the deck as the bow of a smaller vessel burst through the bulkhead. The shrieking of tortured air screamed through the breach in the bulkhead. Papers, dust, and just any loose object rushed through the breach. A hatch opened and a half dozen Gahjins jumped out, wearing environment suits as they breathed methane instead of oxygen.
I saw one of them point at me and shout in his language. Several others raised the call and they charged at me. Blake was just starting to get to his feet. Someone from the gym grabbed him and started pulling him inside the gym. Blake tried to fight the guy off.
Above the roar of the air rushing out, Blake cried out, “I have to get Tyler!”
The man holding him shouted, "The doors are sealing. You’ll die out here!” He and another guy jerked Blake back inside the gym just as the door sealed hermetically.
I was grabbed roughly by the Gahjins. An oxygen mask was pushed onto my face. The Gahjins shouted several orders to each other and I was dragged towards their ship. I saw Blake watch in horror through the window on the gym door. He pounded on the glass.
Once I was inside, more orders were shouted and the hatch closed. A terrible grinding of metal as the small ship pulled out of the breach. A moment later, I felt the nausea that comes from making a jump. My hands and feet where quickly tired and I was dumped on the floor of the ship.
Why the hell did they take me? They must have been looking for me. They first probed the starboard side of the ship and then scanned the port side. What could they want with me? They all took off their pressure helmets and holy shit these guys are ugly. They were bipeds with two eyes and a mouth full of flat teeth. Their skin was rough and dark gray like stone. And oh my God did they stink. Or maybe it was the methane that stank. Either way, it smelled pretty rank inside that ship.
I was tossed unceremoniously into a metal cage with an oxygen supply and my mask was taken way. A short time later, I could tell we landed. A hatch opened and my cage was carried into a building by a forklift looking machine.
After a short period of time, a larger Gahjin, dressed ornately, walked into the room where I was being held and he stepped up to my cage.
He yelled so I could hear. “Stoopid hoomans! Yrrrh mine now! Yrrrh my oracle now! Yooo dooo what I say and I might let yooo live.” He then made guttural chortling sound like he was laughing.
He turned and said something to a Gahjin guarding me. He then left the room.
Talk about being in deep shit. This was definitely the deepest, bleakest shit I’ve ever been in. I started to cry.
Space Battleship TEXAS - Part 6
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by Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2019 Melanie Brown
Will the admiral put the whole mission at risk for the sake of just one girl?
“Admiral! I beg you,” pleaded Blake. “We have to go after her!”
Admiral Yamato looked grimly at Blake. “I know you have feelings for the girl, lieutenant. But this is war. We’ve all lost loved ones. I simply cannot jeopardize our mission by expending resources to find one girl. I’m sorry.”
“Admiral!” Blake started to cry. “Please! We have to get her back!”
The admiral frowned fiercely at Blake. “That is behavior unbecoming to a naval officer, lieutenant!”
From the bridge elevator doorway, a man, sweat staining his uniform stepped out onto the bridge.
“Admiral,” said the man. “I must speak with you.”
Frowning again, the admiral turned towards the man. “Can it wait? We’re all busy right now.” He turned to Captain Jennings. “I want that damage report now!”
Breathing hard, the man croaked, “Begging the admiral’s pardon sir, but this urgent!”
Folding his arms, Admiral Yamato nodded to the man. “Make it quick.”
Holding several sheets of paper, the man said, “Admiral. We managed to finally translate what the Gahjins were saying when they boarded the Texas.” He paused for a moment to look from the admiral to Blake and then back. “We must retrieve the girl, admiral. She *is* the mission. Listen to this.”
Pulling a chip from his pocket, he inserted it into a receptacle on the bridge console. The voices had a very mechanical sound, an artifact from the translator.
Gahjin One: Spread out. The oracle should be on this deck!
Gahjin Two: Don’t harm her. Take her in one piece.
Gahjin One: Over there! Lying on the deck. That’s her!
Gahjin Three: Quickly! Before they think to start shooting at us!
Several Gahjin voices: We have her, my Emperor! Are you sure we can’t just kill her? She’s fighting like crazy.”
Gahjin One: Get her back to the ship! Double time!”
“Admiral. I don’t know if you remember from the briefing material we got from that small capsule. One of the things mentioned, and we all just blew it off thinking it was some piece of equipment, was that this person who called herself The Princess could only speak to us through the Oracle. We all thought it was something like a translator. No. Apparently the Oracle is flesh and blood. Ensign McAdams to be exact.”
“Oh my God!” said Admiral Yamato. “We should have been keeping her in a secure room.”
“Admiral!” shouted Blake. “We’re wasting time! Do we have the energy trail?”
The man with the chip said, “Course has already been plotted and entered into the navigation system.”
Admiral Yamato turned to Captain Jennings. “Captain. Verify the course and prepare a jump. Lieutenant Anderson, put together a team. Their destination seems to be a planet less than twelve parsecs away.”
Blake nodded. “I’ll be ready, admiral.”
The admiral nodded. “We’re going in hot, lieutenant. We won’t be stopping. Once we drop from the jump, you need to be ready with your team to launch the fighters to the surface. We’ll take out the planetary defenses before you launch. Get down to the planet, make the extraction and rendezvous with the Texas on the other side of the star system.” He paused for a moment to stare Blake in the eyes. “Let’s bring our girl home.”
“I hope yoo’re not too uncomfortable in that box,” said the Gahjin leader. “Fret not, little one. There’s a transport due to arrive in the next few hours to take you to our home world where you will communicate with the Princess on our terms, not hers.”
I banged the palm of my hand against the side of the cage. “Let me out! I want to return to my ship!”
The Gahjin laughed. “Even if I wanted to, yoor ship has moved on without yoo. Maybe they didn’t realize yoor the Oracle. Stoopid hoomans. But I’m curious. I have a question for you though. Yoo look, dress, and act like a hooman female and yet our scans show that yoor actually a male hooman. Why? Oracles are always female.”
I frowned at him. “It’s complicated. I’m technically a stowaway.”
The Gahjin laughed. “Now that’s funny. The single most important hooman on that ship had to sneak on board! Hoomans are more stoopid than we thought.”
Captain Jennings said over the comm. circuits, “Planetary defenses are destroyed Lieutenant Anderson. It’s your show now.”
Blake said, “Roger that. Okay guys, by the book. Three of us land, we breach the wall, collect the target and return to the ship. Jackson and Williams, orbit the base. Shoot anything that isn’t human. I don’t want my wheels in the dirt for more than five minutes. Everybody comes home.” After receiving acknowledgements from the other pilots, Blake took his fighter down into the atmosphere.
Several Gahjin soldiers ran out of the building and fired small arms at the fighters as they approached. A short, 40mm burst cut them down.
“Okay, extraction team down!” shouted Blake over the comm. unit. The two fighters still in the air blasted personnel, vehicles and a few aircraft that got too close.
Blake quickly but gently set his fighters down on the dirt next to the building. Two other pilots did the same. All three popped their canopies at the same time and they jumped to the ground.
Blake ran up to a section of the building’s outside wall. “Sensors indicated there’s nothing on the immediate other side of this wall. We go in here.”
The other two men came running up with large bag. They slammed it against the wall and it stuck in place. They backed off several feet to the side. Blake held up an object with a button on it. He shouted, “Breach!” and hit the button. A large chunk of wall collapsed along with a muffled explosion.
Several Gahjin rushed up to the breach and fired energy weapons. Blake and his crew had projectile weapons, which seemed to be more accurate. It took only a moment to clear the room.
Through the metal box inside the Gahjin building, I could hear several ‘womp womp womp’ sounds. Could it be explosions? Was this a rescue? The Gahjins around me were suddenly agitated and running around. I could hear shots and explosions outside the building.
Without any warning, part of the wall exploded inward, taking out a few Gahjin soldiers in the way, I saw three men in environment suits jump through the hole and started firing at Gahjins. In a minute, all the Gahjins in the room were dead or close to it.
The men ran up to the box I was in. Through the slots in the box, I could see Blake’s face through his faceplate.
“Blake!” I shouted. “Thank God you’re here!”
Blake banged his fist a few times on the box. “Tyler! We’re taking you home.”
To the other two men, Blake shouted, “Let’s drag this box near my fighter and we’ll force it open then. She won’t have an environment suit, so she’ll have hurry.”
It seemed to take forever, with lots of grunting from the men, but they finally dragged the box through the hole and across the loose sand to Blake’s fighter. One of the men went to his fighter and extracted something that looked like a large heavy axe, which seemed completely out of place on a space ship.
Blake rapped his knuckles on the box to make sure I was paying attention. “Tyler. Listen up. You don’t have a suit, so when we crack this cage, you’re going to have to hold your breath and double-time it up into the cockpit of my fighter. Ready? Okay. Suck in a deep breath and hold it.” I saw Blake nod to the other man.
The man took a deep breath, raised the axe high in the air and with a mighty blow, brought the axe down on the latch, utterly obliterating it. The door fell open and Blake reached in and grabbed my arm. He shouted, “Go! Go! Go!”
My eyes stung in the toxic atmosphere as I ran to Blake’s fighter. As I was climbing up into the cockpit, I turned to see a Gahjin coming out of the hole in the building, raising a pistol at me. Doing so meant losing some of the breath I was holding, but I shouted, “Watch out!”
The man with the axe turned to see the Gahjin. He threw the axe, which caused the Gahjin to turn just as he fired, striking the man in the leg. The axe impaled the Gahjin’s head.
The Gahjin shot burned through the suit and left an ugly burn to the bone on the man’s leg. Blake opened a suit pouch on his own suit leg and pulled a square shaped piece of material. He placed it over the burned hole in the man’s suit.
Blake said, “We don’t have time to triage this here. Let me help you up to your ship.”
The man waved him off. “I’m fine, I can make it. You need to get to your ship and close that canopy before the girl runs out of breath.”
Blake turned to look at the ship and shouted, “Shit!”
I had lowered myself into the rear seat and was fighting desperately to hold my breath. My lungs were on fire as I gritted my teeth. I thought I was going to pass out just as I saw Blake climb over into the cockpit. He hit a button and the canopy began to close. Just before it sealed, I couldn’t hold my breath any longer and let it out. A few moments later, a cool jet of air blew into the canopy. I coughed a few times.
Looking out the canopy, I saw the injured man slowly get into his fighter. The other man was already in his ship and ready to go.
Over the comm. system, Blake said, “Package retrieved. Returning home.”
I was sitting in the back seat gasping for air. Finally I sucked in enough air to speak. “Thank you, Blake! I knew you’d come for me!”
Blake nodded. “I couldn’t leave you here, baby.”
All three ships blasted up through the planet’s atmosphere and into space. I gasped as we approached the Texas. Our proud ship had definitely been through hell. I felt the only thing holding the ship together was the dampening field surrounding the ship. The sides of the Texas were blackened with burn streaks, pits and pock holes. I could clearly see the large hole in the side of the ship where the Gahjin vessel had breached the bulkhead. Whole sections of our small defensive system were just a black, mangled mess. The main turrets were still sound, but they were beaten and battered. The conning tower was gone. It had been manned for observation. Being inside, none of us were aware of just how much punishment the ship had taken.
When the fighters were secured inside the ship, Blake helped me down from the fighter. He pulled me close to him and held me tight, “Oh Tyler! I was afraid I’d lost you forever.
I nodded. “I thought I was a gonner for sure.”
Blake brushed some stray hair from my face and bent his head towards me. I closed my eyes and felt his lips press against mine. We held each other close for a moment.
The announcement over the 1MC said, “Ensign McAdams and Lieutenant Anderson to the bridge, immediately.”
I smiled softly and slowly disengaged from holding Blake. “Thanks for rescuing me.”
Blake grinned at me. “You are my girl, after all.” We turned and hurried to the bridge.
I brushed some dirt from my clothes as we entered the elevator. “I must look a mess.”
Blake looked at me and smiled. “You look beautiful.”
I frowned at Blake. “Did you hit your head during the rescue?”
As we exited the bridge elevator, Admiral Yamato walked towards us. He held out his hand. “Welcome back aboard, ensign. You gave us quite a scare.”
I shook his hand and giggled. “I gave myself quite a scare too, sir.”
“Did you see anything of military value, while you were in their custody, ensign?” the admiral asked earnestly.
I shook my head. “No admiral. I didn’t. I spent most of my time there inside a box. The rescue team killed all the remaining Gahjins at that facility. They were expecting a transport to arrive soon and take me somewhere.”
Blake sat at his console. “My guess is that they’re going to be pissed we got Tyler back.”
The admiral nodded. “Most likely. Make sure all the Flex cannon are fully charged. This close to the home world, they might have a welcoming committee when we exit the jump.”
The admiral announced over the 1MC, “Attention all personnel. Battle stations. I say again Battle stations.” A klaxon sounded. He looked over to Blake. “As soon as the jump coils are fully charged, make the jump lieutenant.”
Blake set his jaw as he pushed the lever forward. “Jump in five… four… three… “
Space Battleship TEXAS - Part 7
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by Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2019 Melanie Brown
The Empire strikes back
All our muscles were tense as we awaited the drop from the sub-ether. Blake already had the targeting device up and ready to use when we emerged back into normal space. And before us was … just space.
We all just sat there, stunned we weren’t attacked. We were afraid to relax. We just stared out into the space in front of us.
Blake said softly, “I was sure they’d attack. I’m still sure they’re holding their big ships back to use in a final attack.”
We drifted for several minutes. The admiral said, “Maybe the next jump. From here on in, we can’t afford to let our guard down. Lieutenant, let me know when the jump-coils are at ninety-five percent.” He picked up the mic to the 1MC and announced, “Secure from battle stations.”
No sooner did the words leave his lips than the ship was struck amid-ships by four missiles launched from two missile cruisers just as they dropped from their jump. The ship rocked violently from the explosions, causing the lights to blink off and back on.
“Status!” shouted Admiral Yamato to Captain Jennings.
Regaining composure, Capt. Jennings read off her screen, “Shields still holding, but down by fifteen percent. Several injuries reported on deck seven. Inertial damping field still holding but weakened. We’re not going to be able to take much more of this.”
The ship was rocked by another set of explosions.
Admiral Yamato barked, “Pilot! Bring the ship about.”
Blake looked back at the admiral. “But that will make us a bigger target, sir!”
Admiral Yamato again said, “Bring the ship about. Then we can use all four turrets to fire at incoming missiles.”
Blake nodded. “Aye sir.”
When the Gahjin cruisers launched another salvo of missiles at us, we were able to destroy them with the Flex cannons. Our port side was being shot at by smaller fighters so we couldn’t just divert all our shield power to starboard.
Blake looked incredulously at his targeting computer. “We’re at an impasse, Admiral. They fire and then we fire. We can’t do this until they run out of missiles.”
Capt. Jennings shook her head. “I’ve been calculating their cycle time versus our recharge time. Admiral, their cycle time is a bit faster than our recharge rate. Each firing, their missiles get a bit closer before we can destroy them. There is already a lot of stress on the charging system. Our shields are degrading.”
The ship continued to rock from the increasing rate of explosions. An idea crept into my head. Why would I think this? I know nothing about the inner workings of the ship. I stood up from my chair, only to be almost knocked over by another explosion.
“I have an idea to resolve this stand-off,” I said, not really sure what I was talking about. No one reacted. The idea just sort of rolled into my mind. I don’t really know enough about how the engine and cannons work. But here was an idea.
I raised my voice and repeated my message. Blake didn’t turn around. He said, “We’re kinda busy right now, baby.”
Royally pissed at being ignored, I screamed at the top of my voice, “LISTEN TO ME!” Both Blake and the admiral turned to look at me.
“I have an idea,” I said when I had their attention. “What we need to do is right after they fire their missiles, we don’t wait for a recharge. At that exact moment, we dump the Flex engine’s charge into the Flex cannon’s system. We then target turrets one and two on the ship on the left, turrets three and four on the ship on the right and fire. They have to drop their shields for a fraction of a second to launch their missiles. That’s our opening.” I had no idea what I was saying. I was just rattling off some words.
Blake looked at me with an odd expression on his face. He turned to the admiral, “That just might work.”
Admiral Yamato, his face streaked with sweat asked, “What’s the risk?”
Blake sighed deeply. “The whole ship could blow up.”
The admiral nodded. “Do it.”
Blake pointed at me. “Tyler, I have to man fire control. Your idea so you need to make the transfer. See that very large switch on the wall to my right? Click off the three safety switches and grab the bar. On my signal, pull it down. It’s a hard pull, so you’ll have to use extra elbow grease.”
The ship rocking from explosions made crossing the bridge difficult, but I managed to run up to the switch. I flipped the covers of the safety switches and flipped the switches all to red. I put both hands on the large switch and looked over at Blake.
Capt. Jennings shouted, “We’re almost out of time!”
Blake shouted to me, “Wait for it. Next salvo in fifteen seconds.”
The Gahjin ships launched their missiles. Blake fired the Flex cannons at the missiles and they detonated almost on top of us. The concussion through the skin of the ship almost knocked me down, but I managed to hold on.
Blake shouted, “Now Tyler! Pull the switch now!”
I pulled on the switch with all my strength, which isn’t much. He wasn’t kidding when he said the switch was hard. I jumped up and added my weight to push the switch down.
Capt Jennings looked down at her instruments. “Twenty seconds to next missile launch.”
Blake’s voice was strained as he shouted, “You have to do it, baby. I can’t help you with it.”
With one final pull, the heavy switch fell into place. There was a ship-wide “womp” sound as the ship’s power was transferred to the Flex cannons. There was a deafening whine ascending in pitch.
Blake looked in his targeting device. “Flex cannons at two hundred seventy-five percent. Going into overload. Target one locked. Come on come on… Target two locked. Five seconds.”
Capt. Jennings said calmly, “Missiles launched.”
Blake shouted, “Fire!” And all bedlam broke loose.
The barrels of the former fourteen inch guns glowed white hot as a blinding flash of energy blasted from them, making their strange braided trail towards the targets. The recoil from the powerful release of energy actually rocked the old battleship. All the lights on the bridge, in fact through-out the whole ship, blinked out.
The braided bolts of energy first sliced through the missiles just before impact causing them to detonate just meters from the ship. The streams of blue white energy cut through the Gahjin’s shields like they weren’t even there and then sliced through the skin of the vessels, penetrating their missile stores, causing a chain reaction explosion before the energy streams penetrated deep into the vessels’ power cores. The resulting explosion was so intense, that expanding spheres of the shock waves pushed hard against the Texas, causing several plates to buckle and also struck the fighters still attacking the ship to cause them to utterly disintegrate. The brightness of the explosion was so dazzling it was almost blinding through the goggles we wore for firing the Flex cannons.
The dampening field was down as was all the ship’s power. There was no power at all. The ship was dead in space.
Space Battleship TEXAS - Part 8
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by Melanie Brown
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Near journey's end
I slowly awoke feeling nauseous, in the darkened bridge, lit only from a couple emergency lights. I was still holding the large switch. I looked slowly around the room. Everyone was unconscious. Without the dampening field, all loose objects were drifting about the bridge. I looked out the forward observation window and could tell we were rotating, having lost all lateral control. You could hear debris from the destroyed ships bouncing off our hull. Inside the ship, it was eerily silent. The constant background drone was gone.
There was some coughing as others on the bridge started to regain consciousness. In a very weary voice, Admiral Yamato said, “Ensign. Return the power switch to its normal position.”
I took a deep breath. “Aye sir.” I threw my whole back into the switch and a moment later, it popped back to its normal position. Nothing happened. All the control panels remained dark. I drifted over to Blake. It was weird being on the bridge with no up or down.
I touched Blake’s arm. “Blake? Blake wake up. Answer me.” He uttered a low groan. At least he’s not dead.
Still belted in his command chair, the admiral asked in a weary voice, “Why are all the systems out? Has anyone reported from engineering?”
Looking over at my dark communications console, I said, “All ship-wide communications seem to be out, admiral.” That’s when I noticed the temperature seemed to be dropping. Without power, we had no way to heat the interior of the ship from the extreme cold of interstellar space.
Admiral Yamato growled, we need to get operational again immediately! If we’re attacked now, we’re all dead.”
A young man drifted up through the ladder well next to the elevator. He looked around trying to spot the admiral. “Seaman Wilson from engineering reporting.” He paused to wipe some sweaty grime from his eyes.
Admiral Yamato looked over at the seaman. “Well, report.”
The seaman nodded. “Aye sir. The engine room is a mess, sir. Several backup cooling systems failed. The Flex engine is off-line. We’re trying desperately restart it.”
The admiral leaned forward to get a better look at the seaman. “Estimated time to repair?”
The seaman shook his head. “Unknown at this time, admiral. Possibly three to four hours at least. The Flex engine has a lot of blown circuits.”
Feeling panic set in, I shouted, “We’ll all be frozen before that!”
The seaman looked over at me, surprised at my tone. “I’m sorry, ensign. But we’re working as fast as we can.”
My mind raced. Seemingly random thoughts spilled into my brain. Crazy ideas. I turned to the seaman and pointed to the aft portion of the ship. “Turret three is destroyed, but the Flex cannon should still be intact. You should be able to salvage the circuits you need so we can bring power up until the main circuits can be repaired.”
The admiral turned to the seaman. “Is that true? Can we salvage what we need from turret three?”
The seaman looked confused. “I don’t know sir. Everything is down. We don’t know the status of any part of the ship!”
The admiral looked over at me. “Are you sure, ensign?”
I swallowed audibly. “I’m positive, admiral! But we must hurry! Can’t you feel the cold seeping into the ship?”
The admiral turned to the seaman. “Make it happen. Now!”
The seaman looked confused, but said, “Aye!” and disappeared back down the ladder well.
Blake was awake now. He just stared at me, looking a bit terrified. “Tyler. How do you know these things? What’s going on?”
I started to cry since I didn’t know either. “I don’t know! I just know them! I… I… the princess! She’s weak, but she’s speaking through me. She sent us the instructions on how to build all this shit, I’m sure she knows how to fix it.”
Blake nodded. “That explains how you would know to switch the Flex power.”
I closed my eyes for a few seconds. “Yes. Now that I’m aware, I can feel her presence in my mind. It’s tiny, but definitely there. It takes a lot out of her to talk to me at this distance.”
We sat in darkness and waited. It got cold enough to see our breath. Blake put his arm around me and held me close to try to warm me. We were worried any moment the Gahjin would launch a final and deadly attack on us. Or we might just all freeze to death. I tried not to cry.
I jumped. There was a sudden “womp” sound as all the lights suddenly turned on brightly, then quickly dimmed to normal. All the panels lit up. Blake and I had apparently been “sitting” on a wall and when the inertial dampening field re-activated, we slid quickly to the deck, with me falling on top of Blake.
The speaker on the admiral’s chair came to life, “Engineering to bridge. Power restored. Flex engine and Flex cannon are charging up. Jump coils are charging as well. We are affecting repairs on the main circuits.”
Blake grinned broadly. He kissed me and then said, “You did it, honey!”
Admiral Yamato said from his chair, “The lieutenant will refrain from kissing the bridge crew. Can you take time enough away from the girl to stop our spin and get us back on course?”
Looking sheepish, Blake said, “Aye, sir.” He ruffled my hair as he got up to take his seat at the control console.
“Hold still,” said Helen. “I just can’t believe you’ve never worn false eyelashes before.”
I shrugged. “Never really came up before.” I’m a boy, I thought to myself. Why would I ever choose to wear such things?
Helen shook her head. “Didn’t you date in school? Go to prom?”
I shook my head and laughed. “No. Didn’t really have time.”
Helen leaned back to look at me. “Well, you have time tonight. You look gorgeous. Now go change, girl. I have to do my make-up.” Helen had been doing an evening look for me, with smoky eye shadow and the false eyelashes, highlighted my cheekbones and a more reddish pink lipstick. She explained what she was doing so I could do it myself next time. If there was a next time.
I left the common area to return to my rack to change into my dress uniform. I was wearing the skirt and heels with the dress uniform for the event tonight. As crazy as it sounds, the admiral decided we should have a formal dance to blow off steam for the crew. Everything seemed pretty quiet just a few days away from our destination. I was going to volunteer to take duty, but Blake insisted I come to dance with him. He’s really taking this whole girl thing way too far. We wanted everyone to believe I was a girl, but Blake now believes it himself. Crazy!
I spent some of my off-duty hours to practice walking in heels. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I caught myself stopping in front of mirrors and striking poses or fluffing my hair or unnecessarily checking my make-up. I actually had to force myself to walk away from the mirror. I doubt the hormone injections I’ve been getting would cause that type of behavior. Maybe I’m believing I’m a girl too.
The auditorium had been set up to be a dance floor. My heels clicking on the steel deck, along with a dozen other women. I craned my neck around looking for Blake.
“Tyler!” called Blake. “Over here!” I looked around and saw him chatting with Captain Jennings. I waved and walked towards him. Several couples were already out on the impromptu dance floor. I saw the pilot who got shot rescuing me. He had a make-shift prosthetic leg and was dancing with that girl from logistics. I still feel bad about his leg.
Blake met me halfway as I walked towards him. He stopped and placed his hands on my shoulders. He gave a low whistle. “Tyler, you look absolutely gorgeous. All these years how did I miss what a beautiful girl you were.”
I shook my head and frowned. “Because I’m a boy?”
Blake didn’t take his eyes off me as he shook his head. “No. You’ve changed somehow, Tyler. You really are a beautiful girl.”
I smirked, “You hit the booze a bit early tonight.”
Blake laughed. “You know there’s no booze on this ship. Especially after that last attack destroyed all of Dr. Lujan’s stash.”
Blake led me out on the dance floor. He took my hand and put his hand on my waist. I put my hand on his shoulder and we started slow dancing. At first I had thought the admiral was nuts. But I was really enjoying dancing with Blake. The ship, the Earth, the crew, all faded away and it was just Blake and me, dancing with the music swirling around us. I rested my head on his chest. I am going crazy because I felt I was in heaven.
Blake looked deeply into my eyes. He started to say, “Tyler, I lo…”
I put my finger against his lips. I whispered, “Don’t say it. Please don’t say it. How could we ever go back to the way we were if you say that?”
Blake kissed my finger tip. “Do you want to go back?”
I looked into his eyes. “I… I…”
Blake smiled at me. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’.” He studied my face for a moment, looked into my eyes and said in a low voice, “I love you, Tyler.”
Before I could react, his lips were pressing against mine with a love and passion that surprised me. I slid my arms around his neck and returned his passion with my own. God so help me, I truly loved this man. I closed my eyes and rested my head on his chest again. The universe was reduced to just us and I felt a happiness I’d never felt before.
“What are you doing out here, girl?” Helen sat next to me in one of the small observation lounges. I was watching the stars jet by as we blasted through space using the thrust from the Flex engine as the jump coils recharged.
I looked over at her and smiled weakly. “I couldn’t sleep. Why are you up?”
Helen looked up at the observation window. “I was making my rounds and saw you weren’t in your rack. I thought I’d better find you. Are you okay?”
I nodded. “I’m just scared, Helen.”
Helen looked at me with concern. “About tomorrow?”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. Tomorrow. We land on the Gahjin world tomorrow. It and Ishkar are the same place. What if this has been a trap all along?”
Helen stroked my hair. “What would be the point? And this princess has been helping us defeat the Gahjin all the way here.”
I nodded. “And then we have the fact that the whole mission rests with me. Me. I’m why everyone is on this ship. I’m why people have died. Just in that last attack when the hull was breached on turret three. That whole gun crew was vented into space. They all died because of me.”
Helen hugged me. “They all knew what the dangers were, Tyler. Everyone on this ship volunteered.”
I grunted a laugh. “Except me. I didn’t volunteer. I was the last one on the ship. I got here by accident. I was drawn to the ship before it launched.”
Continuing to hug me, Helen said, “She led you here. You had to come. There’d be no mission without you. They were having trouble getting the engines running… and then you showed up. She was waiting for you.”
I looked over at her. “You really think so?”
Helen smiled encouragingly at me. “What else could it mean?”
I looked at the floor. “It’s still going to be dangerous there. We could all die.”
Helen touched my hair. “You’ll be surrounded by soldiers and I’m sure that Lieutenant Anderson would give his life for you.”
I snorted. “Blake has been protecting me my whole life it seems.”
Helen looked surprised. “You’ve known him?”
I nodded. “We grew up together. Seems he was always protecting me from bullies or some such.”
“And you two never dated that whole time?” asked Helen.
I laughed. “No. We were just friends is all.” Everyone thinks I’ve always been a girl.
Helen shook her head. “I think he’s loved you this whole time, but couldn’t find a way to say so. But you really need to get to bed, girl.” She kissed me on the cheek.
I nodded and glanced up at the observation window. I turned to say good-night to Helen but she was gone. That totally unnerved me. Did I imagine all that?
I got up to return to my rack. I looked in at Helen’s rack and she was asleep. I felt a shiver down my spine. And then a thought occurred to me. Did the princess choose this hallucination as a way to talk to me? We were very close to her home world after all.
I climbed up into my rack. Exhausted, but still very much shaken, I fell almost instantly to sleep.
Space Battleship TEXAS - Part 9
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by Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2019 Melanie Brown
Two become one
We dropped out of the sub-ether fairly close to our destination: planet Gahjin/Ishkar. It was an ugly, oceanless world, dry and reddish looking much like what the Earth is becoming under Gahjin bombardment.
I started shaking looking down on the planet from the ship’s bridge. This was zero hour. The fate of all humanity was resting on my shoulders. And believe me, I felt every ounce.
Admiral Yamato walked up to me. “Are you alright, ensign?”
I smiled weakly at him. Blake stepped up to put his arm around my shoulders. “I’m just really nervous, admiral. Everyone is looking at me. Expecting me to do something. Admiral, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do! I don’t understand why I’m here!”
Blake pulled me close to him. “You’re the oracle. Through you, the princess will tell us how to rid ourselves of our Gahjin problem.”
I continued to shake. “What if she’s lying to us? What if she’s worse than the Gahjin? They’re on the same planet after all. What if I become the most evil thing in the galaxy?”
Blake kissed my forehead. “Tyler, there’s not an evil bone in your body.”
Captain Jennings said, “Sir. Their ground defenses are powering up their weapon systems.”
At that moment, it seemed almost fifty fighters, the most they’ve ever thrown at us at one time, dropped out of sub-ether with about half at the stern and half at the bow. They immediately launched their salvo of missiles.
Grim-faced, Admiral Yamato said, “Let the auto defenses, what’s left of them engage the small attack vessels. Rotate the ship so the main turrets can point to the surface. Use short bursts s so there’s no re-charge delay and start taking them out.”
Blake returned to the control console. He announced, “First targets are locked. Commence firing.”
Energy blasts from the turrets started hitting the surface creating a peppering of explosions.
The ship rocked from hits from the smaller missiles. A few missiles from the ground defenses made their way up and smashed into the ship. Multiple hits shredded turret one. The Texas rocked from the Flex cannon in the turret exploding.
Captain Jennings shouted, “Evacuate bow levels four through six. We have a bulkhead breach! Evacuate!”
Turrets two and four began hitting their targets on the surface. Massive explosions rose into the sky along with dirt and smoke.
A damaged Gahjin ship smashed into the side of the bridge pushing all of us against our restraints. Cracks started forming in the forward view window.
Blake shouted, “Closing emergency shutters!” A half second before the shutter sealed, one of the glass panes shattered explosively out into space. Alarm klaxons were sounding all over the ship.
Looking at the RADAR on my comm. panel, I shouted, “Oh shit! Admiral! The ship we’ve been worrying about just dropped out of sub-ether. Battlecruiser class. twelve guns, all energy weapons, no large missiles detected!”
Admiral Yamato shouted, “Pilot! Set main guns to auto tracking. Take evasive action. Do not let that ship target lock us!”
Captain Jennings announced, “Fighters launched to engage surface defenses.”
More calmly than I expected, Blake said as he punched buttons. “Aye, sir. Guns on computer targeting.” The remaining turrets spun to face the large Gahjin ship. “Flex guns charged to one hundred ninety percent.”
Looking grim, Admiral Yamato set his jaw and said, “Set Flex Cannons to fire at two hundred and eighty percent. Full thrust on the Flex engine. We never stop moving.”
Suddenly alarmed, I shouted, “That charge is now only spread across four guns! The overload will blow the ship apart!”
He didn’t even glance at me. “Noted, ensign,”
Blake said, “Switching jump coil to short jump fast charging.”
Captain Jennings said calmly, “Firing of the Gahjin ship detected in twenty seconds.”
The Gahjin battlecruiser fired, but we were no longer at that location. We jumped to a location twenty nautical miles behind our previous position. We were now rocketing our way directly at the Gahjin battlecruiser.
Wiping sweat from his eyes, Blake announced, “Flex cannons at two hundred thirty-five percent.” The ship rocked as the Gahin fighters followed us and launched another salvo.
Captain Jennings looked at her monitor screen. “Sheilds failing. At twenty-five percent. Energy is being drained by the Flex cannon.
Through gritted teeth, I growled, “Hold together you piece of shit!”
Blake glanced over at me just as he punched another short jump just seconds before the Gahjin battlecruiser fired. “Is that the princess talking?” An energy beam from the battlecruiser struck a glancing blow amidships.
Shaking from stress, I muttered, “No. That was me.”
Maybe it wasn’t stress. The whole ship was shuddering. Panels started falling apart and lights were winking out. A high pitched whine came from deep within the bowels of the ship.
Blake shouted, “Flex cannons at two hundred eighty percent!”
The admiral shouted, “Bring the ship about so both turrets have a clear shot!”
Blake nodded, “Aye, sir. Ten seconds before firing.”
Captain Jennings shook her head. “Gahjin ship eight seconds from firing. Turrets two and four going critical.”
I banged my first on the comm. panel and shouted, “Hold together!”
I could see the light from the Gahjin ship as it fired moments before the Texas fired. And then the damnest thing happened. Almost every panel on the bridge blew out, the ship rolled back and the barrels of the big guns vaporized. We lost all control of the Texas. I watched in awe as our over-charged beams of energy braided with the incoming beams and grew in strength. The energy from the Gahjin guns were reversed and fed back into the battlecruiser. The ship disintegrated in a blinding explosion.
After a few moments, the ship’s power starting coming back on-line. This time we hadn’t used a sudden switch of power from the Flex engine, so that power remained intact.
We all just sat there a moment trying to catch our breath. The only sound on the bridge was the whistle of air escaping from a small breach in the forward view window, even with the shutters closed.
Admiral Yamato pointed towards the front font of the bridge. “Lieutenant. Fix that.”
Blake climbed up to the small breach and applied some silica gel goo and it stopped.
Admiral Yamato blinked a few times and looked about the bridge. “Status.”
Captain Jennings smiled when she announced, “Surface defenses are shutting down, admiral.”
Admiral Yamato scratched is chin. “I hope it’s not just a ploy for us to get closer. The moment a defense site starts powering back up, light it up. Have remaining fighters secure the LZ.”
Admiral Yamato pointed at Blake and me. “Time for you to report to the hanger deck.” He looked at me. “I know you won’t let humanity down. Everyone on Earth is depending on you.” No pressure! He shook both our hands. “God speed.”
As we walked towards the hanger deck, with Blake holding my hand, the 1MC announced, “Landing party report to the hanger deck.”
I was so nervous the closer we got to the hanger deck. I wanted to throw up. I stopped and collapsed to my knees.
“I can’t do this, Blake. Don’t make me go down there.” I started to cry.
Blake knelt next to me. “You have to go. All of humanity is counting on you.”
I glared at him. “Do you really think that fucking helps?”
Blake squeezed my hand. “I can’t tell you what the princess was thinking, but I’m sure she wouldn’t have selected you to be her oracle if you weren’t up for the task.”
I frowned. “What if I was the only candidate for being an oracle? I’m guessing oracles don’t exactly grow on trees.”
Blake stood up and reached his hand down to me. “If you don’t go, all this will have been for nothing. If you don’t get on that transport, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.”
I scowled at Blake for a moment, then reached up and caught his hand. He pulled me to my feet.
Blake grinned. “Let’s go kick some Gahjin butt.”
The transport had set down softly at the designated coordinates. In front of us stood what was obviously a temple of some kind, but not resembling any earth cultures. The door to the temple was open. All of us were wearing environment suits as the atmosphere on the planet was heavy with methane.
Blake, me and twenty soldiers, including the one fighter pilot who lost a leg, slowly entered the building, weapons ready. Light spilled in through the open doorway and through openings along the ceiling. The path inside the temple led to a wide doorway, with steps leading down to a dark interior.
Blake took a deep breath. “Tyler, get in the center of the group. I’ll take point.”
I dutifully moved to the center of the soldiers. The one legged man joined Blake at point as we all slowly descended the wide stone staircase. A few hundred steps later, we were back on a flat surface. After almost twenty minutes of walking, we could see a bluish glow in front of us.
We passed through a small choke hole of an entrance that would be perfect for an ambush, into a gigantic cavern covered in blue and green glowing crystals. In the center of the cavern was a single, large blue crystal pulsating with an internal light. It was mounted on a raised dais. As we approached the crystal, I felt a calmness come over me.
The man with one leg got up next to the crystal and examined it, looking for obvious booby traps. Finally he said, “Let the girl come up to the crystal.”
Under my breath I muttered, “I have a name, you know.” I stepped up on the dais and touched the crystal. “She is here. The princess is here.”
“They have entered the Hall of Crystals, my emperor.”
Zykitz, the emperor Gahjin looked around at the thirty or so others gathered in an ante chamber just outside the Hall of Crystals. “Excellent. On my signal, we rush into the hall. Target only the girl. Don’t waste time with the other humans just yet. When the girl is dead, the princess will have failed and we can continue our mission of conquest. Just make sure you have your nose gear on as I’m sure the princess has flooded the Hall with oxygen.”
“Yes my emperor,” said the others in unison.
Zykitz nodded with satisfaction. “Remember. Rush through the middle of the humans. They can’t attack us without hitting their own.” He paused a moment. “Let’s do this!”
Silently, so as not to alert the humans to their presence, the Gahjin warriors poured through the small entrance into the chamber. The humans were taken completely by surprise! Glory to our emperor!
One Gahjin pointed and shouted, “There’s the girl! Standing next to the princess crystal. Kill her!” No sooner had he said the words than he was taken down by a human.
As we entered the large chamber, a strange notion entered my head. I reached up and unlatched my helmet and removed it.
Looking horrified, Blake shouted, “Tyler! What the hell are you doing! Put that helmet back on!”
I set my helmet down on the floor and shook my head. “The princess has made the air breathable for us. It’s safe to remove our helmets.”
The others looked to Blake, unsure if I was crazy and trying to get them all killed or I was correct. Blake looked at me. I was showing no signs of distress. He frowned, and unsnapped his helmet and held it. He took a few sniffs
He looked around at all the others and nodded. “It’s okay. The air’s okay.” The others in our group slowly removed their helmets as well.
I turned to Blake. “She’ll speak through me and help us, but we must first free her…”
There were shouts, both from us and from the Gahjins pouring into the chamber. They pointed at me and shouted. Blasts from their energy pistols, zinged all around me and ricocheting off the princess’ crystal and others nearby.
Blake shouted, “Protect the girl!” The men started to form a circle around me. Reports from our weapons discharging and the zings of energy weapons filled the air.
I watched in horror as a group of Gahjins pushed their way through our ranks. One was the Gahjin who had caged me in the steel box. The Gahjins in front of him shoved the men out of the way and he raised his pistol at my head. Blake ran up and decked the Gahjin just as he fired. Instead of my head, his weapon discharged at close range into my gut. I screamed and fell next to the crystal.
My voice breathy, I cried out in pain, “Blake! Help me.” There was a big, ugly throbbing hole in my gut. There was no way to stop the bleeding.
In a matter of moments, most of the Gahjins lay dead. The rest were disarmed and held at bay. The Gahjin emperor stood almost over me and laughed. What a ghastly sound that was.
Torn between killing the Gahjin emperor and helping me, Blake knelt beside me and bent down so he could hear me.
In a breathy whisper, I gasped, “Shoot the crystal. Free the princess. Shoot the crystal.” I was starting to black out. I didn’t want to die. In my head was a soothing female voice that repeated the order to shoot the crystal.
Blake looked around confused. “Shoot the crystal? With what? I saw dozens of shots from the Gahjin weapons hit the crystal and nothing happened.” He was on the verge of tears himself as he frantically thought in frustration how to save me.
With my last strength I touched Blake’s hand that still held his own pistol. “Shoot the crystal.”
Blake looked down at his hand where I touched him. He looked at the gun he was holding. He suddenly jumped up. “The Gahjins shot the crystal with energy weapons! We have projectile weapons! Men, shoot the fucking crystal!”
Several shots rang out before the crystal exploded in a blinding blue-white light, pushing everyone down to the cavern floor.
In my mind, I heard the voice say, “Thank you.”
I was suddenly lifted from the floor and floated. My clothes dissolved from my skin. My hair whipped around like bright blue flame. I felt a power pulse through me. I felt I could do anything. I was drawing power from all the crystals surrounding me. I laughed. The power was intoxicating. I felt…I felt…like a goddess!
I shouted, “At last I’m free!” The Gahjin emperor dropped to his knees before me. My eyes flashed with anger as I looked at him. “You, my brother, must pay for your despicable crimes. You have stolen almost five hundred billion lives and for what?”
In my mind, I said quietly, “Your brother? You’re one of them?
The princess nodded. “I am of the Gahjin race.”
“But you’re a beautiful human woman,” I said as I stared at the form of the princess in my mind.
She just smiled at me. “No Tyler. You are a beautiful woman. I am using your form to present myself.”
“Princess! I beg you!” cried the Gahjin emperor. I could understand him. “Please have mercy! We are family after all.”
My nostrils flaring and eyes flashing, I stepped up to the Gahjin Emperor who had now fallen prone in front of me. “Mercy? You slaughtered all that opposed your nightmarish scheme of galactic conquest and locked me in that crystal! You murdered the populations of dozens of worlds, most of which didn’t have any means to defend themselves. Only on earth did I find an oracle and a planet with the capability to wage war against you, my brother. No. No mercy for you. You and those that followed you to commit such a heinous crime against all these planets, have forfeited your right to exist.”
My eyes blazed with fury as my body glowed in an intense blue-white light. The Gahjin emperor screamed as he and the remaining warriors also glowed brightly and then faded into oblivion. I don't know what she did, but we never saw another living Gahjin.
“And now it is time for me to go as well. Thank you Tyler for freeing me and letting me use your body to exact punishment for this horrible wrong.” The glow from the princess started to fade.
“Princess! Please don’t go! You promised to help us!” I pleaded.
The princess smiled. “I have transferred to your computers aboard your vessel all the instructions on how to build the devices that will allow you to replenish your planet’s oceans and lakes by using the crystals in the cavern. Don’t let the size of the crystals fool you. And I have left other knowledge you will find useful.”
She stepped up to me and kissed my forehead. “I have given you a gift. And now I must join the others. Thanks again, sweet Tyler.” She faded before my eyes.
I felt like I was at the bottom of a deep well. A spot of light began to form in front of me. I became aware I was lying down and I heard muffled voices around me.
“The girl is coming around, lieutenant.”
Sighing, I muttered under my breath, “I have a name, dammit.”
“Tyler.” I heard Blake’s voice, far away. “Tyler. Can you hear me?”
I tried to open my eyes and saw a big blurry face staring at me. “It’s me baby,” said the blurry face. I felt him take my hand. “Thank God you’re alive.”
A voice next to me said, “Her wound is gone.”
Blake asked, “Can you sit up?”
I tried. I couldn’t make any muscle move. I breathed, “No.”
I heard Blake shout, “We need a gurney over here for the girl that just fuckin’ saved the whole goddamned human race. And can we get something to cover her?”
Shocked, I whispered to Blake, “I’m naked aren’t I? I remember my clothes coming off. What do we do? Everyone knows now.”
Blake grinned. “Yes. Everyone knows.” I gave him a confused look. He bent down and whispered in my ear, “I love you.” He then kissed me.
Space Battleship TEXAS - Part 10
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by Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2019 Melanie Brown
Epilogue
My head spun as I tried to pull myself into full consciousness. I felt different. I mean really different. As they set the gurney I was on down onto the transport’s deck, Blake removed my helmet. It had been stuffed with my hair as I had suddenly grown quite a bit of hair. I finally managed to sit up. The weight shift on my chest was very noticeable. I gritted my teeth as beneath the blanket that covered me, I felt my hair fall to the middle of my back. I slid my fingers to my crotch. Oh my God!
Blake, who hadn’t left my side for a moment quickly knelt next to me. “Are you okay?”
As I sat up, the blanket covering me slipped down exposing firm, round, perky breasts. I leaned in close to Blake and whispered in his ear. “I’m a woman!” I wasn’t freaked out. I wasn’t upset. I didn’t feel panic. It just seemed natural now for me to be a girl in every way.
Blake smiled as he brushed some of my hair from my face. “Yes. You are a woman. You haven’t noticed becoming more of a girl over the past few weeks? Your encounter with the princess must have pushed you the rest of the way.” He looked at me a moment and smiled. “You’re beautiful, Tyler. Truly beautiful.”
I felt my arms. The skin was soft. What muscle I had was gone. My fingers were long and slender and my nails were long and shaped. I discovered my vagina. I grinned. I’ll have to explore that more in private.
I sighed. “I guess things can’t go back the way they were.”
Blake bent down and kissed me. “I’m glad.”
A wave of nausea came over me as I felt the transport lift off from the planet.
I had the blanket wrapped around me as we stepped off the transport. The 1MC barked, “Lieutenant Anderson and Ensign McAdams report to the bridge immediately.”
As we approached the bridge elevator, Blake looked over at me. “You know, I’m having a hard time remembering you as a boy. When I sift through my memories, I only see you as a girl. Isn’t that weird?”
I frowned. “I was a boy when I woke up this morning.”
The elevator door opened and we stepped out into the bridge. All the crew currently on the bridge turned to face us. They all saluted and then all of them, including Admiral Yamato, knelt down on one knee and bowed their heads.
“Hey guys,” I said, confused by their actions.
Without looking up, the admiral said, “Princess. We humbly thank you for bringing this war to an end and saving our precious planet Earth.”
Looking confused, I said, “I’m not the princess, sir.”
Blake glanced over at me. “You look like her.”
I frowned. “No. She looked like me.”
Admiral Yamato looked up at me. “You embody the princess. You saved the Earth and its people. We can never repay you for what you have done.”
I nudged Blake. “Does ‘princess’ out rank ‘ensign’?”
He nodded. “I think so.”
I smirked, “I think I got a promotion!”
Blake laughed. He whispered to me, “You never earned that rank anyway. You’re a stowaway.”
I grinned at Blake. “I prefer to think of myself as an honored guest.” I looked at everyone kneeling to me. “Admiral, sir and everyone. Please stand. This is embarrassing.”
Smiling, the admiral stood up along with everyone else and shook his head. He reached out and shook my hand. “Excellent work, ensign. Outstanding!”
I turned to Blake. “What just happened here?”
Blake shrugged. “I guess there’s a tiny bit of the princess still in you.”
I frowned. “I wish I could harness the power of the crystals like she could.”
I looked at Blake and discovered something else had changed. I had to stand on my tip-toes to kiss him. The blanket slipped from my grasp to the floor and I stood naked before everyone as Blake bent his head down and kissed me.
We were celebrating. It was a global holiday. It was really hard to believe five years have already passed since our triumphant return from the Gahjn home world. Last year, Blake and I served one more year before being allowed to retire from military service.
I watched Blake play catch with a few other former crew members while steaks sizzled on the grill. In the distance I saw some clouds building into a storm cell. We need the rain, but I hoped it would hold off until our lunch was over. The sky was a dark blue and the grass of our back yard thick and green. The man who lost his leg rescuing me was here and had his new prosthetic leg. You couldn’t tell he wasn’t born with it. Some day I’ll remember his name.
“Mommy. Can I have another water?”
I smiled at little Jimmy, my three year old. “Sure thing, big guy.” I reached into the ice chest and retrieved a cold bottle of water. I looked over at our daughter in her bouncy chair. I laughed watching my oldest son trying to play catch with his father and friends. The wives and girlfriends of the men at our party were either relaxing, tending the grills or swimming in our pool. I smiled to myself. After the Earth becoming almost waterless, I couldn’t believe we had a swimming pool in our yard.
The princess said she left me with a gift. When she entered my body, her presence was so strong, that when she left, not only was the wound from where I was shot healed, but I was left completely female.
I smiled when I remembered Blake proposing to me on the bridge during our journey back to earth. We had to pretend he had a ring. Just before re-entering our solar system, Admiral Yamato officiated our wedding. Before we reached earth, the admiral had officiated twenty more weddings.
I also reflected at the cost of our journey. Eleven hundred crewmembers began the trip. Only eight hundred and seventy-five returned. Five men died protecting me in the Crystal Hall. The first few months that we were back, I was haunted by their ghosts. But, over time and with Blake’s love, I finally came to peace with myself.
Later today, though we had all seen it before, we were going to watch the movie they had made of our adventure. They picked a stunningly beautiful actress to play me and a ruggedly handsome actor to play Blake. There was no mention that I was once a boy. At first I was going to say something about that during the interviews, but as I was six months pregnant at the time, I didn’t think anyone would believe me.
Fortunately, fame is fleeting. I rarely get pointed at and proclaimed “that girl that saved all of humanity!” For a while it made me mad, and I’d yell back, “I have a name, dammit!” Blake suggested I stop making a federal case out of it, so I finally just accepted it.
The earth is beautiful again, with the lakes, rivers and oceans filling back in. The forests are coming back along with wildlife. The crystal technology is just amazing.
I closed my eyes. Where ever you are, princess, thank you for your gift. To me and to the earth. I looked at my family, playing on a restored planet. Finally, I was truly happy.