Sacrifice:The Shenkar War (50 page)

             
Stephen was just about to elaborate more on the game when something on his radar caught his attention. A blip showed up for a second on the farthest reaches of his radar, but then it was gone. It was an area they had already patrolled, and they had seen nothing. Still, something about it bothered him.

             
“
Hey, Burnson, did you get anything on your radar? I had a blip on there for a second, but then it was gone.”

             
“
Didn’t notice anything. You sure it wasn’t your imagination?”

             
“
No, I checked it against my computer, and my computer definitely logged a contact just on the crest of Saturn’s northern pole.”

             
“
Could have been a meteor?”

             
“
No, I don’t think so. I had better go check it out.”

             
“
Okay, let me call it in, and then we can head out there.”

             
“
No, don’t worry about it. You go ahead and I’ll catch up.”

             
“
Okay, see you back at base. I’ll have a beer waiting for you.”

             
Stephen pulled back the flight stick and guided his fighter around. Engaging his afterburners, his fighter shot through space toward Saturn’s northern pole. At full burn, it took a relatively short time to reach his destination. Cresting the northern pole, his radar exploded with unknown signatures. His head jerked up suddenly as he looked out his canopy. His throat tightened and his stomach clenched at the awesome sight before him.

             
Yanking his fighter around, he keyed his comm unit just as his threat alarms were triggered. Five Shenkar fighters were hot on his trail and closing in fast, as he attempted to make his getaway. Keying his comm unit, he was met with static--planetary interference was the cause. Engaging his afterburners, he sped away from Saturn, hoping he would get free of the interference before the Shenkar fighters caught up with him.

Terran System, Just Outbound of Mars.

              Burnson was now having second thoughts about leaving his wingmate to investigate the blip on his own. Fighting between continuing on back to base and wheeling about to go find Jinsin, he had just decided to wheel about when his comm unit crackled to life with Jinsin’s frantic voice.

             
“
Attention, attention, all Earth’s Defense Forces. They are here. My god, there are so many! I have five Shenkar fighters on me, I need--”

             
Whatever Jinsin was about to say he needed was suddenly cut off and static followed. Burnson looked at his radar, and suddenly, his radar exploded with signatures of all sizes. Checking his computer, he saw it constantly updating the contacts. Hundreds of smaller signatures registered as Shenkar Creeza light fighters. Kelgen-class destroyers followed by Shizrec-class cruisers came next. Finally came the Shenkar’s mighty battlecruisers. But what Burnson saw made his mouth go dry. Something so large, it dwarfed the Shenkar battlecruisers finally entered his radar’s limit. All he could think was how could they possibly stop such a force.

Hanscom Air Force Base

              Leah showed the soldier her driver’s license as she gave her name.

             
“
Nature of your visit, Ms. Aecrin?” asked the soldier at the gate.

             
“
I am here to pick up Lieutenant Commander Brennan’s effects. He was one of the Templar Knights who was aboard the
Sacrifice
. I . . . I . . . was named in his w-will.” Leah said the last part through the tightness in her voice as once again the tears flowed freely.

             
The soldier, looking slightly uncomfortable, checked her name against a clipboard. He then handed her back her driver’s license.

             
“
One second, miss, as I need to get you a visitor’s badge.”

             
Turning, the soldier stepped into the guard hut next to the gate. After about a minute, the soldier returned and handed a small badge to Leah.

             
“
Clip this on your shirt so it is visible at all times. This badge will give you access to all green zones. Do not enter any other zones, as that will set off alarms and you will be quickly arrested or could be shot,” the soldier said seriously.

             
The soldier then waved another soldier over. Quickly, the second soldier ran over and saluted the soldier manning the gate. Turning back to Leah, he spoke again.

             
“
This is Private Jorkins. He will escort you to Lieutenant Brennan’s old quarters where you can retrieve his effects.”

             
Leah nodded and then followed Private Jorkins to a nearby Humvee. She sat in the front passenger seat in silence as she wiped away tears.

             
“
Are you okay, miss?” asked Private Jorkins.

             
Finishing wiping her face, Leah then smiled halfheartedly. Private Jorkins didn’t look old enough to drive, never mind old enough to be in the military.

             
“
Yeah, I will be okay . . . eventually.”

             
“
So you knew Lieutenant Commander Brennan? Were you his wife or girlfriend?” he asked shyly.

             
“
No, we were neither, although now that it is too late, I wish we could have been more,” she said sadly.

             
“
I’m sorry for your loss, ma’am. From what I have heard, he was incredible to watch with the sword. A guy from another squad said he was there when Lieutenant Commander Brennan saved the President’s life. He was in one of the jeeps to arrive just after the Lieutenant Commander killed two of the attackers. The guy I know had been watching through a pair of binoculars, and he said he had never seen anyone move so fast. One second the Lieutenant Commander was using his body as a shield, and the next he crossed the fifteen feet to the attackers, decapitated one, and impaled another with his sword,” Jorkins said enthusiastically.

             
Leah couldn’t help but smile slightly at the Private’s enthusiasm.
              “
Yes, I saw it. The whole thing was captured by a film crew not too far off and leaked onto the Web. Although it was at a pretty far distance, I still could make out that it was Liam.”

             
Not seeming to know what to say next, Private Jorkins returned to silence and concentrated fully on driving. Within a minute, they arrived at a large brick building.

             
“
Here we go, ma’am. Do you know the room number and access code?” asked Private Jorkins.

             
“
Yes, I have both . . . are you waiting here or coming with me?”

             
“
I’m to wait here. Take as long as you need,” said Jorkins.

             
“
Thank you.”

             
Leah exited the Humvee and walked to the front door, where she punched in the access code and entered the building. She found Liam’s old quarters with relative ease but hesitated entering. What would she find? Finally she decided that standing out in the hallway would solve nothing, so she opened the door and entered.

             
The quarters were rather nice. In fact, they were nicer than her apartment. She walked around, taking in everything. There were very few personal effects about. Picking up an empty box, she set it on the table and then began to walk around again. Slowly, she picked up items, inspected them, and placed them in the box. Finishing the living room and the kitchen, she then went into the bedroom. Slowly, she began to open drawers in the bureau and then close them again when she saw they were empty. Walking over to the closet, she opened it. Inside, except for hangers, it was also empty.

Turning, she looked around the room to see if she missed anything. Noticing a picture frame on the nightstand, she walked over. Picking up the small eight-by-ten frame, her mouth went dry and her stomach knotted at what
she saw. A perfectly drawn rendition of Leah occupied the picture frame. Written along the bottom of the drawing were the words: “Leah, I love you.” Leah sat down and clutched the drawing to her chest as she once again felt warm tears running down her face.

As Leah sat there, she thought of Liam. He must have wanted a picture of her, so he had drawn one. It would make sense that he hadn’t brought one with him, although she thought he kept one in his wallet. After Liam had left for deep space, Leah had found out that
he and his squadron were different from the rest of the Templar Knights. While all of the Knights had lost their memories to alien enhancement, Liam and his squadron’s memories had returned somehow.

             
Sighing, she wiped the tears from her eyes and stood. As she started to walk from the room, she noticed something in the closet. The closet wasn’t empty after all: a briefcase sat in the rear corner. Retrieving the briefcase, she set it on the bed. Pushing against the latches, she found it locked. A three digit combination lock was to either side of the two latches.

             
A thought struck her suddenly, and she turned the picture frame over and opened it to reveal the back of the drawing. Written in the corner were three numbers: 3, 1, 8. Dialing the numbers to match the numbers on the drawing, she once again pushed the latches and the briefcase popped open. Leah smiled to herself; Liam had used her birthday, March 18.

             
Opening the top of the briefcase revealed a very large amount of cash and a letter. Retrieving the letter, she read it.

Dear Leah,

If you are reading this, then I have died
. I am sorry for that. I wanted to make things right between us before I left, but I never got the chance. As I said before, I love you and wish the best for you. In this case is one hundred thousand dollars for you. In addition, once you finish college, you are to receive the contents of a trust fund I have set up for you. The trust totals one million dollars and is for you to start your life. I trust you won’t go crazy with it, but I expect you to do something nice for yourself. Enjoy life and never look back.

I love you,

Liam

              Leah once again started to cry as she ran her fingertips down the letter. She lay back on the bed and sighed as she wondered when the pain would finally go away.

EDF
George Washington
, Flagship of the EDF

              Fleet Admiral Derek Saunders leaned forward in his command chair and studied the holo-map of the area around Saturn. Keying his comm unit, he addressed all of the Earth forces in and around Earth.

             
“
Attention, all Earth forces, this is Fleet Admiral Saunders. We have multiple Shenkar forces inbound. All forces form up on the
George Washington
. Remember, we are the last line of defense for Earth. You are now defending your friends, your family, and your home from annihilation. Today, we either live or we die, as there is no second place in this contest.”

Closing the link, he turned in his seat to his tactical officer.
“
What are we facing? Give me numbers!”

             
“
Latest estimates put the Shenkar forces at four thousand light and heavy fighters, thirty-eight light destroyers, twenty-five medium cruisers, eighteen battlecruisers, and what appears to be a mobile command center. Also, there are another fifty support ships that register as lightly armed personnel transports with an additional one hundred support craft such as gunships, supply ships, mining cruisers, and shuttles,” answered Lieutenant Commander Kresi.

             
“
That thing is the size of fifteen battlecruisers put together,” said Ensign Porter.

             
“
Enough!” commanded Saunders.

             
The bridge went silent as everyone watched the holographic display of the approaching Shenkar forces. Earth’s forces moved in from all directions, forming a line between the approaching Shenkar forces and Earth.

             
He knew their chances of winning this battle were very small. They just didn’t have the numbers. Total Earth forces numbered ten battlecruisers, eight heavy cruisers, twelve medium cruisers, ten light cruisers, fifteen destroyers, and roughly thirty-five hundred light and heavy fighters. The only comfort he found was that two hundred of the thirty-five hundred pilots were Templar Knights that had been found and trained--that and the newly constructed orbital defense platforms.