Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 2 - Maveen Offer Read Free Page A

on, and just lever him over the side without tipping the boat too much or injuring him.’
    Steve watched with quiet approval as the sheet rope was secured to the opposite deck rail, the sheet quickly positioned and their guest tied off. Several seconds of solid effort on the rope by all four men had the plastic sheet slowly tilted and the boat rocked for several seconds more as they turned the alien to fit along the centre of the deck. The six meter runabout was certainly well loaded now and the engineer commented again after looking over at the strange floating rig nearby.
    ‘We will have to leave that object until the Aurora Discovery can reach this position.’
    Steve took the runabout helm as he replied.
    ‘I don’t think the object is going anywhere and I want to know if it is safe before we bring it aboard the ship.’
    Steve now took the runabout back to the Aurora Discovery a few kilometres distant.
    The ship had now reduced speed and turned to the east into the wind to allow the returning helicopter an extra landing margin. He glanced down at the suited alien, and Steve was reassured to hear both the valve in the top of the suit and see the alien calmly looking out of his helmet at Steve and his crew.
     
                                                                ***
     
    Commander John Shepardson, Captain of the USS North Dakota, sat in his small office with his first lieutenant and looked over his orders with unease. His submarine was now over thirty years old and he was not confident of success after hearing of the loss of the USS Sioux City, regarded by the US navy both as a gun outfit and a more modern version of his own submarine. The captain had earlier taken his ship from the western Pacific at high speed into the Indian Ocean via the Sunda Strait then down the North West coast of Australia. The orders stated he was to take his ship to within fifty kilometres of the landing site for the alien ship and to launch two pairs of sea skimming cruise missiles at the aliens.
    ‘We are not fooling around this time, and other weapons are being deployed as well. Hopefully the close launch will enable the missiles to get near enough to do their job.’
    He commented as he checked the orders and got his executive officer to counter sign he had witnessed them. The order called for kiloton yield nuclear warheads on each of the four cruise missiles.
    John turned to speak to his executive officer.
    ‘Off the record, I think we are about to do something we could very well not live to regret.’
    The first lieutenant privately agreed with his captain’s opinion, and then both men set about carrying out their orders to the best of their abilities. As the submarine closed on the selected cruise missile launch site to the north of the Abrolhos Islands, both officers were further worried on how they would ensure both their mission succeeded and that the submarine remained safe.
     
                                                                ***
     
    Ian Ridge sat behind his desk in the office of the Prime Minister, and suppressed a groan as he unconsciously ran his left hand through his grey hair.
     ‘Today was turning out to be one of those days’ he decided.
    A stream of assistants either brought forward reports or left urgently on tasks that the Ian and the two important visitors to his office had agreed need to be followed up urgently. For also seated around Ian’s desk and anxiously scanning reports, was Stuart Eastlough, the Leader of the Opposition, and Fiona Wilkes, the third female Governor General of Australia.
    Ian had fielded a call late the previous day from Stuart, who he respected and got along adequately with, who offered to ensure that the Australian government had the support of both main political parties. Fiona was present as she was the King’s representative, and she was respected