The Lady's Courage

 

Glenn grabbed his wife Cassie by the hand and pulled, hard.  Cassie yanked back and gave Glenn a scowl.  One that he had learned to avoid.  Today, though was not a day to avoid an angry glance.  Today was a day to run. 

Glenn knew that’s what Cassie, their two teenage daughters and he had to do.  Run as fast and as far as they possibly could. 

              Glenn tugged again and pointed to the back door of their house.  He pressed his finger over his lips and motioned with his head that it was time to leave.  Glenn heard his youngest daughter whimper as Cassie in turn tugged on their eldest daughter’s hand who had tugged on their youngest daughter.

Cassie glared at their youngest mimicking Glenn’s expression.  She pressed her index finger to her lips, her brown eyes widening for emphases.  The look was meant to turn people to stone, Glenn had seen it work many times. 

Glenn glanced at the front door where a heavy-handed knock boomed again.   “San Antonio Police.  Open the door.”  A voice bellowed from behind the door.

The house was dark, but they all knew their way around the heirloom kitchen table and to the door that lead out to the garage.  They tiptoed out the door and Glenn motioned frantically toward the wheeled vehicle, still not brave enough to speak aloud.  The four of them piled into the rusty car.  Glenn cringed as the large garage door rattled open and exposed the family vehicle to the cool dark outside. 

Glenn sat in the driver seat and pressed the ignition button.  Half of the gauges lit up and pleasant chime indicated that it was ready to operate.  Glenn jammed the shift lever into reverse and stood on the gas pedal pegging it to the floor.  The tires screeched as they pulled out of the driveway and onto the street in front of their house.  He shoved the shifter into drive and pushed his foot to the floor.    

“There are four of them at the door.”  Cassie said.  “She’s there too.”

Glenn only nodded as he watched his home disappear in the rearview mirror.  All the memories that they had created as a family.  Their clothes and belongings all still in their drawers and closets.  Even Apples, the family dog, was left behind tucked in his crate upstairs. 

Their youngest daughter whimpered again in the back seat and the eldest daughter began to join in.  

“It’s gonna be ok.  We all have our bags in the trunk.  We’ve been planning for this.  It was only a matter of time until they came after us.”  Glenn said to whoever would listen.

“It was only a matter of time, but I wish that we had a little more time.”  Cassie said.

Glenn grabbed his wife’s hand and gave it two squeezes.  “It’s gonna be ok.”  Glenn said again, this time mostly to himself.

Glenn and his wife Cassie sat in the front, with their two daughters Kimberly and Corinna sitting behind them.  Glenn checked his rearview mirror and breathed a sigh of relief.  He let off the throttle and let the vehicle coast to a more manageable speed.  They weren’t going far, but it wouldn’t take long for the woman that came to their door, to figure out where they were headed.

The Tipton family pulled up to the private entrance to the airport.  Glenn keyed his pin code into the keypad and the chain link gate rolled open letting them drive into the row of private hangers that were congregated on one side of the airport.

Glenn parked outside of the walk-in door to the hanger and sucked in a long breath.  “Ok.”  He said.  “They’ll be here next looking for us, so we need to make this quick.  Grab your bags and go straight in.  Buckle up and wait for me.  I’ll be there as soon as I finish the pre-flight.”  Glenn said.

Cassie gave Glenn a reassuring smile and said to the back seats. “Ok girls, lets hurry.” 

The three women in Glenn’s life grabbed the only belongings they had left and rushed for the lowered ladder protruding from underneath the aircraft like a giant tongue.  Glenn made straight for the wings of the ship.  He ran his hand along the leading edge of the wing and walked the entire circumference of the craft.  He forced himself to slow down and pay attention to the details.  Noting every imperfection.

He ran his hand over every rivet on the underbelly and along the wing.  Like his instructor always told him.  “There is no substitute for feeling her up yourself.”  Glenn shook his head.  His instructor was one crass old man. The name of his spacecraft was stenciled in red cursive on the white painted fuselage.  “The Lady’s Courage.”  The name still made him smile.  Cassie refused to fly with him when he had first made the rather large purchase.  Glenn had chosen the name to tease his wife, but he was now amazed at the courage she had shown.  They were leaving everything that they had ever known behind, probably forever.  This would also be Cassie first flight in the Lady’s Courage.  Coincidently it would also be her first flight out of Earth’s atmosphere.

Glenn pulled the chocks from around the wheels, slapped the opener for the giant hanger doors and bounded up the ship’s stairs.  Glenn plopped into the pilot’s seat and began quickly running through the checklist assuring himself that all the complex systems were functioning as they were supposed to.

“Lady, let's start going through the free flight checklists.”  Glenn said.

       A woman's voice came through the cockpit speakers.

“OK Glenn.  Beginning the preflight checklists.”  The ship’s AI said.

“Glenn.  Put your seatbelt on.”  Cassie said.

Glenn looked up from his pad and smiled at his wife and nodded.  “As soon as I get through this.”

“Daddy look!”  Their youngest daughter said. 

               Glenn followed his daughter’s finger out of the front windshield and saw through the open hanger door. A car was parking directly in the path of the Lady’s Courage.  Three men and a woman step out of the car and headed toward them with weapons raised. 

“Ah damn.  It’s her.”  Glenn mumbled.  “Screw the checklist”

Glenn reached over and flipped the row of switches that powered up the large engines.  A feint whistle then whine sounded in the cockpit as they came to life.   

“All engines green, Glenn.”  The woman's voice said.

“Thanks Lady.”  Glenn said. He gently eased the levers forward making the Lady’s Courage roll toward the freedom of the outdoors. 

Glenn could see the shorter woman standing just below the nose is the spacecraft, her mouth moving. Anything she was trying to say was drowned out by the now deafening whine. He knew who the woman was.  Agent Emilia Santos worked for UNPOL.  He saw her raise her issued weapon and point it at the front windshield.  Cassie jumped at the sound of bullets hitting the reinforced glass.  To Glenn’s relief, the glass didn’t show so much as a scratch.

Cassie grabbed her husband’s arm and said. “Glenn put on your seatbelt.”

Glenn ignored his wife as he maneuvered the large craft around the car and the people jumping out of the way. The Lady’s Courage rolled out to the asphalt taxiway that wound around the hangers and would put them at the end of the runway.  Glenn fit his headset over his ears and asked for clearance from the tower to take off, nothing. 

The Lady’s Courage rolled around the buildings and came to a stop at the end of the runway.  Glenn keyed his comm again.  “Control, this is the Lady’s Courage.  Requesting clearance for takeoff.”

Finally, a voice came over the headset.  It was a female voice, Glenn recognized it all too well. 

“Glenn, this is Agent Santos.  Bring your craft to a stop and let us board.  Do what’s best for your family.  You know that there is no other scenario where this can end well.”

Glenn keyed his comm and said.  “I am doing what is best for my family, agent Santos.”

He pulled the spacecraft to the end of the runway, the sharp nose pointing down the dotted stripe.

“How is putting your family in danger the best thing for them?  Do you know what you are about to put your family through?  Do they know?  Do they know all the ways they can die up there?  Everything up there is trying to kill you.  There is no safety.  There is no rest.  Come with me and I’ll take care of you and your family.  What does Cassie think?”

“Glenn I’m authorized to take whatever steps I need to, to bring you into custody.  Power down your engines and we can all go home safe.”  Agent Santos said.

Glenn chuckled.  “We both know, that is a lie.  I would rather live the life that I would live, than be forced into safety like some child.  Only children and prisoners are taken care of.  I am neither.”

He could hear the frustration in Agent Santos’ voice, even through the radio.  “In the name of Intelligence, power down your engines!”  Agent Santos said.

Glenn looked to his wife beside him and his two daughters that sat behind him.  He sucked in a large breath and said aloud.  “Hold on.”

Glenn jammed the throttle all the way forward.  The whine from the engines morphed to an angry roar.  The Lady’s Courage rolled down the strip of asphalt runway picking up speed and finally lifting off.   The craft continued to accelerate as it gradually climbed.  Glenn let it gain a bit more altitude then eased the controls back and pointed the nose straight up, into the dark blue sky.     

“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.”