The Lady's Courage 2: Running to the Stars

 

“Look at all of those stars.”  Cassie said momentarily forgetting where they were.

Glenn nodded.  This was not his first trip into space, and he could not forget.  There were more pressing concerns than a bunch of twinkling dots.  He flipped all the switches and made all the preparations needed for them to see space and survive. 

“Glenn.  The ship is space ready.”  The ship’s voice said. 

The engines began to grow louder as they pushed harder against the pull of Earth’s gravity.  A small vibration began to echo through the ship, that grew into a feeling like the whole thing was going to shake itself to pieces.

“Glenn, put on your seatbelt.  Now.”  Cassie yelled over the deafening noise in the cockpit. 

“I think it’s time to put my seatbelt on.”  Glenn said with a grin.  He quickly followed her suggestion then with great effort reached over and squeezed her hand twice.

Glenn’s vision blurred as the multiplied force of gravity pulled all the blood from his brain.  The outsides of his vision turned black and began to shrink in on itself.  Just as the blackness had all but consumed him, it retreated, and Glenn was left with the vision of the blue hue from Earth’s atmosphere. 

“Cassie.  Girls, can ya’ll see this?” 

Glenn looked over at the three slumped figures next to him.  It looked like he was the only one that made it through the liftoff without passing out. His wife’s hair floated around her, covering her face.  Glenn flipped a switch and Cassie’s brown hair fell around her shoulders.  The ship’s artificial gravity worked perfectly.

“Lady.  What’s the ship’s status?”  Glenn said.

“The launch was a success.  All lights are green.  We are currently in low orbit and climbing.”

He finally let out a sigh of relief. The sound of the engines had gone from a deafening roar to a slight vibration through the ship.  Now Glenn could sit back and look at the stars, all of them.  Without the interference from the atmosphere it was like sitting on a mountain top at night watching the milky way shimmer, only much, much better. 

Then The Lady’s Courage rotated and Glenn’s view morphed from pinholes in a black sheet to a blue and green jewel.  The blues deeper and the greens more alive than he remembered.  The wispy white clouds, like stretched cotton balls contrasted the darker blues, greens and browns.  This was home.

An amber light blinked on the screen in front of Glenn.  Someone was trying to call them.  Glenn recognized the name. 

“Clay.  How is our fearless leader doing?”  Glenn said.

“Glenn.  I heard about what happened.  Are ya’ll ok?” Clay asked.

Glenn grimaced.  “Yeah.  We’re ok for now.  We just barely got out of there.  I’m setting up for a high orbit now.”

Cassie chimed in from the seat next to Glenn still coming out of her stupor.  “Hi Clay.  We’re all good here.”

“Hey Cassie.  I’m glad to hear that you and your family are ok.  Is there anything I can do to help?” 

“I think we’ll be fine, but ya’ll better watch yourselves.  If they came after me.  You and everyone else will be on the same list.”  Glenn hesitated for a second then spoke again.  “She, was with them.  I don’t know what you or I did to bring down her wrath, but she seems to have a single focus.”

“Sure, she is focused.  On putting us behind bars.  I’m Glad you guys got out.  I think it’s time that we all do the same. I’m sending a message to the council. I’m letting everyone know it’s time.”  Clay said.  “Make some room up there for us Glenn.  In three or four hours there will be almost eight-hundred and fifty ships up there in orbit.” 

“I’ll save some seats.”

“Glad to hear it Glenn, see you soon.”

              Over the next hours a steady stream of spacecraft rose from the planet’s surface.  Every type and shape of spacecraft imaginable joined them.  Glenn recognized old, decommissioned warships and high dollar yachts, even a few custom ships that he had seen in passing.  The only thing that they all had in common, was that they all could travel faster than light.  That was the only requirement when Clay had originally set up the rendezvous.    

Cassie and the girls, all had slowly woken up and wandered to the back of the ship.  The Lady’s Courage wasn’t the biggest ship out there by any means, but there were two rooms with beds a tiny kitchen and a small common area.  Big enough for the four of them. 

“Here Glenn.”  Cassie said as she held out a sandwich made with his favorite toppings.

Glenn took the food and smiled.  It was still the middle of the night in San Antonio but for some reason his stomach didn’t seem to notice. 

“Are we all here yet?”  Cassie asked.

“I think so.  I haven’t seen any other ships leave Earth in a while.”

The amber light lit up on the screen.  Glenn clicked on the speakers and a booming voice came through. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Clay Dickens.  Welcome to those that have now joined us up here, above this our home.  Our home that has now rejected us.  Some of you may have heard what has happened to myself and to some of those that are closest to me.  They came to my home and were going to haul me and my family away to never see the light of day again.  They have chased us out into the darkness of space.  This is our only avenue for freedom.  This is the only way that we will be left alone and unmolested.  All of this because we refuse to bend the knee.”

“All of this they do to us because we refuse to acknowledge their AI god.  They claim to be open minded, yet they refuse to believe that anyone would believe anything other than that what they shove down our throats.  They call us bigots and xenophobic, yet they are the intolerant.  We bow to them no longer.”

“Once again, a people will escape to the wilderness fleeing the oppressive majority.  We are not the first to make this journey.  They who have blazed this path before us have laid down the trail and we must follow.”

“Soon, I will send you all the coordinates for the first leg of our journey.  We will soon be free from the oppression that we found here on Earth.  We will be able to live the life we want, the way we want. Without the fear of an UNPOL agent knocking on our door in the dark of night.”

“I realize that this will come as a sacrifice for all of us.  We will all be leaving behind family and lives that were important to us.  I know that this sacrifice will be worth it in the end.  Let us stay together and together there is no one that will block our path.  May we all have safe travels in our journey.”

 Cassie and Glenn sat in silence for what seemed an eternity after Clay signed off, just staring into the starry expanse.  Glenn felt the nervous excitement he felt every time he started something new and unknown.  Like going off to school, getting married, the birth of his two girls.  He just wanted to get the whole thing started.  The waiting was always the worst part. 

“How long do you think we have until they come looking for us?”  Cassie said.

Glenn looked up at his wife.  “Until who comes looking for us?”

Cassie gave her husband a good shove, nearly pushing him out of the pilot seat. 

“Oh.” He said.  “You mean until they come looking for us.  Thankfully, the government is so full of bureaucracy and self-inflicted red tape that it will be days before they can get authorization to send ships after us.”

              A yellow light began to blink on the screen.  Glenn looked at his wife and shrugged.  “I’ve been known to be wrong from time to time.”

The name under the light read UNPOL.  The United Nations Police were calling the Lady’s Courage.  Glenn opened the channel.

              “Glenn Tipton?  This is Agent Santos.  You are ordered to cease your travels and return to Earth.  I can put in a good word for you with the judge if you cooperate.”

              Glenn shook his head.  “Again with begging?  Sorry agent.  I don’t think that’s in the cards.  We are wonderfully comfortable up here.”  Glenn looked up at his wife.  “Especially if you are down there.”  Glenn said.

              “Glenn, I can help you if you cooperate right now.  If you decide to run, I won’t be able to do anything for you.  My hands will be tied.” 

              “I’m sorry Agent Santos but I really don’t feel that I would be treated fairly under this system.  I’m just looking out for the safety of my family.  I’m sure ya’ll can understand that.”  Glenn said and clicked off the channel.

              “Well I hope we get out of here.  I think I just burned a big ole bridge.”

              Another yellow light blinked, and Glenn opened the channel.  “Ladies and Gents.”  Clay said over the radio.  “I have sent you all a message with the first jump’s coordinates.  Keep these to yourselves, we don’t need any unwanted guests to surprise us.  We’ll be leaving soon so wrap up any unfinished business.  Clay out.”

              As if on que, the proximity alarm beeped letting Glenn know that a ship had just left the Earth’s atmosphere and was on an intercept course.  Glenn glanced at the screen and turned to his wife.  “I guess I was wrong.  Get the girls in their seats.  We need to leave.  Now.”

              The small dot that represented an incoming ship multiplied into two then four then eight.  Glenn quit counting and called Clay.  “Are you getting this?”

              “I see the same thing.  I think it’s time to leave.”  Clay said.

              Glenn quickly put in the coordinates that he had been given and pushed the big red button that started the count down until they accelerated.  Glenn helped get his family seated and strapped in.  Lady’s Courage rotated itself into position preparing to accelerate past the speed of light. 

              By the time Glenn had seated himself and brought his attention back to the screen the clock still had a full minute until the engines would light and set them hurdling off into deep space. 

              An alarm blared from the console.  “What was that?”  Cassie asked.

              “UNPOL ships have started firing on the convoy.”  Glenn said.  “They are starting with the ships in low orbit and working their way up the line.”

              “How long until they get here?”

              Glenn checked the screen.  “Less than a minute.”

              Cassie opened her mouth to ask a question, but Glenn interrupted her.

              “We are gone in forty seconds.”

               A rag tag ship tumbled past, flames licking the engines, burning up all the oxygen that escaped from its broken hull.  A glowing projectile the size of a softball struck the tumbling ship.  It exploded, sending hot shrapnel pinging off the Lady’s Courage’s hull.

                Glenn saw his wife hunker down in her seat and grip the arm rests.  “That was the Colin’s ship.  Jeff and Courtney.”  Glenn quickly glanced at his wife, the blood had completely drained from her face.  “She had just found out that they were pregnant.”  Cassie said, numb.

                 Glenn’s eyes stared at the screen until they burned.  The numbers flashed, three, two, one.

                 A shutter echoed through the ship.  The ship’s lights blinked, then it was all over.  Glenn was thrown into his seat as the Lady’s Courage accelerated, making her way to the speed of light and past.  

                 Glenn wiped the sweat off his face.  “That was too close.”  He said.

                 “How many people got out of there?”  Cassie asked.  Her face stoic yet pale.

                  “It’s hard to tell.  We won’t have a number of ships until we decelerate at our first waypoint, but it probably doesn’t matter.” Glenn pointed to his screen.   Almost all ships have a repeater that send the intended destination out on broadcast as a safety precaution.”

                    “Before we left, I got about five-hundred different notifications giving out our intended destination.”  Glenn said.

                     “If we got them then so did the Intelligence.  They know right where we are going.”