Grace’s Sphere
Earth - The Republic of Ireland - 2013, Wednesday
The Cast
Peter
Captain Vincent Hardy, Lieutenant Simon Jenkins
Commander Mancer, Captain Rapha
On the edge of the lake on the grounds of Harewood Hall, the escapees were shuttling down to Grace’s sphere in pairs via the entry bubble. Douglas and Gwyneth went first, followed by Gordon supporting Grace. Next were Grace’s parents, Mr and Mrs Shaw, Amanda, Stevos and Hondry, and finally, Helen escorting Rob.
But they weren’t able to go anywhere just yet. They were waiting for Peter, who had still to leave the Hall.
He jumped on his bike and raced down to the lake. On arrival, he summoned an entry bubble, transferred through the sphere airlock and sealed it behind him. He strapped himself into the pilot’s seat and slipped his feet and hands into the controllers.
He concentrated, ignoring everything around him. He hadn’t flown a sphere in years, and this needed to be perfect. Just one shot at this, they depend on you, he told himself.
He set the vibration mechanism. He had lake silt to shake free of before going anywhere. Once free, the sphere bobbed up, breaching the surface of the lake. He activated the navigational drive, hoping for the best. It started the first time. Vertical thrusters slowly raised the ship out of the water. Once clear, he was able to engage the drive and moved swiftly to about 50,000 ft. He held it there while he plotted his escape arc out of the Earth’s atmosphere. He needed a steady and gradual ascent if he was going to avoid detection for as long as possible. The drive kicked in, and four vessels appeared on his monitor, assuming a standard attack formation.
Captain Vincent Hardy eased his Typhoon into position and waited for a few moments for his team to do the same.
‘Attack formation Delta 7. You’re first, Simon,’
The first of the Typhoons moved in and released two Meteor air-to-air missiles. Lieutenant Simon Jenkins watched them track seamlessly towards the spherical alien vessel before he veered away to make way for his team members. Vince was the last to fire his missiles, hoping he would have more success than the others before him.
‘Okay, chaps. Let’s back off and let the Yanks have a go at this tricky bastard.’
Peter felt the missiles detonate harmlessly on his shield. His monitor showed six more Earth aircraft about to engage him. His shield could take this assault from their military, but it would be a beacon for the Trun cruiser.
Safely through the next onslaught, he had reached an altitude at which the Earth aircraft couldn’t follow. A few minutes later and he’d escaped the clutches of planet Earth and was in space. He enabled his star drive and set a course for the nearest wormhole. At maximum speed, he would be there in forty-five minutes. All he could do now was hope.
Ten minutes into the dash to safety, his screen showed four more small dots rapidly closing in on him. These weren’t Earth vessels though. These were Trun 3W fighters, followed closely by the battle cruiser.
The fighters took turns sweeping in on the delta sphere, attacking its shield with concentrated ionised particle beams.
Peter was doing the maths. At this rate, his shields would fail two minutes out from the wormhole. He wondered if his attackers were aware of this. Nothing he could do but keep heading towards the wormhole and hoping.
He needed to get there first.
Mancer stood directly behind his captain, watching the images relayed by the fighters.
‘The sphere’s shields are critically low. Failure is imminent.’ Captain Rapha was giving him a dispassionate, running commentary.
‘Time to wormhole?’ Mancer asked.
‘Three minutes, sir.’ Rapha waited a few more seconds. ‘Shields are down.’
‘Tell the fighters to stand down,’ Mancer instructed. ‘Let’s give them a moment to consider their options.’
They watched in silence as the sphere headed doggedly towards the wormhole.
Rapha broke the silence. ‘The orbiting surveillance drone has confirmed detection of Vercetian life forms entering the water in transit bubbles. A female of the Princess’s age amongst them. According to its flight path, this sphere left from that location.’
‘Understood,’ replied Mancer. ‘They’re not going to stop, and we can’t follow,’ he muttered under his breath.
‘Thirty seconds, sir.’
‘Resume attack and destroy it.’ Mancer turned and walked away from his captain, cursing the Vercetians’ stubbornness.
The first fighter strike disabled the sphere, taking out part of its lower hull, sending the vessel spinning off course with chunks of hull drifting outwards. It would never reach its destination now. The second strike targeted the drive system and fuel cells. The result was the complete destruction of the ship, with fragments radiating out in every direction.
Mancer had turned around to watch this second strike, wincing at the spectacular light display. He’d seen a lot of death in his long military career, but he would never get used to the senseless loss of life.
Rapha turned around, his face ashen. ‘Analysis of the remaining occupants is coming through.’ He looked away, then back again, his face nearly white now. ‘Sir, your son was on board.’