When Galaxies Collide Ch. 1

"Officer Seah, how may I help you?" He asked.

"Listen to me very carefully," the female voice began, "The fate of this city depends on how quickly you believe me and react..."

Dennis waved to the watch supervisor. He pointed to the phone. His supervisor began the trace.

*****

Andy was loaded onto a medical transport. His dead was loaded also. The body bags were placed at the rear of the plane. A nurse sat next to him.

"Captain, we will be getting you back home. The flight will take two hours. Are you married?" She asked.

He nodded, "Just before we were shipped out."

"Well, I know that your wife will be glad to see you." She said. She began to fill a syringe.

"Captain, I have to inoculate you for the hyperfluenzia. It seems that the rebels released some of the agent. Don't worry, the vaccine won't harm you, but you are potentially contagious, and we don't want your wife getting sick, now do we?" She smiled as she plunged the needle into his arm.

"There, didn't hurt. Now relax, and if you can get some sleep. You'll be seeing your wife for breakfast." She smiled and covered him with a blanket.

Andy stared at the body bags. They were his men lying there.

*****

Erika had finally gotten the security officer to believe her. She had given him the address of the house, and told him that the body they found was that of Colonel Hawke, the renegade S.I.A. officer that had planned the mission, and whom she had killed when she found out what he had planned.

Erika ended the transmission in three minutes, as her and Victor drove off in the car the Colonel had rented. She sat next to him, her arm around him as he sped out of the city, and south.

They abandoned the vehicle after they had driven for two hours. The sky was getting dark as they headed west, away from the sea and towards the mountains.

She kept pace with his, holding his hand, and they chatted as they walked.

The sky had grown dark. They walked until they found a good spot to spend the night. From his backpack he pulled out some sandwiches, they ate.

He built a fire, and laid out a blanket on the ground.

"Let's get some sleep." He said, as he finished his sand-wich.

She went over to the blanket. The night was warm; the breeze coming from the sea warmed the air.

"Victor?" She asked, "Do we really have a chance at happi-ness?"

He pondered her question, and shrugged as the fire came to life.

"Erika, I have something to tell you. I am, I was an agent for the Federation. I deserted and devoted my life to fol-lowing Colonel Hawke, and killing him. He is an especially wanted man. He had a lot of blood on his hands. I have been trailing him for over two years. He killed my wife and child on Kronin Two during a raid on a Federation arsenal. Erika, when he raped you, all I could think of was Joan; he raped her as my young daughter watched. They were both shot after he had abused her. You look a lot like she did. I guess that's why I care about what has happened to you. " He said.

Erika took off her coat, and laid it on the ground. She undid her pants, and finished stripping.

"Come here; let's start that family right now." She spoke as seductively as she could.

He looked over at her, naked and laying on the blanket. She looked so fragile, yet so desirable, and he was a man that had not known love in such a long time.

He got up, threw a few more sticks on the fire, and took off his clothes.

"Yes. Let's start that family." He said as he lay on the blanket next to her.

*****

Commandant Alpha had ordered his staff to evacuate; they would load into trucks and follow the coastal road south. He would carry on the struggle from the mountains, and his troops would join him there, in the mountain village of Al-pental.

A fighter flying patrol spotted his small convoy of three trucks.

The pilot buzzed the three trucks, and flashed the rec-ognition signal at them. He received none in return.

The pilot turned and began his strafing attack.

The trucks disappeared in the hail of bullets.

The pilot turned and passed the convoy again; flames con-sumed what was left of them.

"Yankee three to base. Three trucks, military style was spotted on the coastal road. Targets destroyed. Out."

Thus the life of Commandant Alpha ended. `

*****

This time, she didn't shudder from his touch. His kisses were genuine. Hers were passionate, and without reserva-tion. Her response was one of discovery, as she tasted him. His mouth, his ear, his belly, his manhood. Quickly they made love. Her urgency evident, she needed reassurance that she was wanted. Truly wanted by him.

He made his feelings known. Tenderly he entered into her womanhood. Gently he thrust into her, until she found the pace he had set.

She would be with him until the day they ceased to exist in this life, he assured her.

Only the night air, no one around, heard their passion. Uninhibited, they satisfied themselves, until, ex-hausted, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

*****

Julie Seah had received a call in the night. Her husband had been admitted to the hospital. He had been wounded; his wound was not life threatening. She could come immediately to the hospital.

She dressed quickly, and got into her car.

When she entered the hospital, the waiting room was crowded with other dependents. She went to the desk.

"Name please?" The orderly asked.

"Seah. I'm Julie Seah. My husband is Captain Andrew Seah." She said.

"Mrs. Seah. Your husband is resting. If you will go over to that nurse there,” The orderly pointed out a nurse giving injections, “she will inoculate you. Your husband was exposed to the hyperfluenzia virus. We must inoculate you, so you don't become infected. Are you pregnant?" The or-derly asked.

"No." She said, worry was on her face.

"Please, Mrs. Seah. I assure you, your husband is in good condition. But we must give you the vaccine before you can see him." The orderly saw the concern on her face, then added, "The vaccine is quite safe, honest."

Julie let out a sigh of relief. "Over there?" She said, and pointed.

"Yes ma'am." The orderly said.

She went over to the nurse.

"Name please?" She asked.

"My name is Julie Seah. My husband is Captain Andrew Seah."

"Mrs. Seah, are you pregnant?" The nurse asked.

"No. Not yet." She said.

The nurse smiled, and filled the syringe.

"Been trying?" She asked.

"No. We were just married, last week. But I assure you we will try very soon." Julie said.

"Well congratulations, then. Your husband is doing well. He was wounded in the thigh. It is nothing serious. I ad-mitted him myself. The doctors operated on him, and he's fine." The nurse said.

The nurse administered the shot to her.

"Finished. Best to both of you, Mrs. Seah. Your husband is in room 305. You can go there now, if you wish. He is in the Officer's section, a private room. A bed has been set up for you. Orders of Colonel Watts." The nurse smiled and touched Julie's shoulder.

She went to the elevator, and rode it to the third floor. She quickly found the room, and entered.

Her Andy was asleep. His face was white. His leg was ban-daged, and elevated on a pillow.

She rushed over to his side. Her hand touched his cheek.

"Andy." She said, and kissed the sleeping eyes.

*****

From that phone conversation, the security forces in Wa-verton quickly found the bomb, and the Colonel's body.

A team from Star Fleet Command was sent to disarm the bomb.

The whole city of Waverton was evacuated, and sent to hide in the hills for the next day.

The rebellion was quickly squashed, as news of the bomb was leaked. Families turned against members of their own, as rebels were taken into custody and interrogated by the security forces.

The bomb could not be disarmed in time, and Star Fleet Command loaded the bomb into a pilot less bomber. The bomber would be given the mission of going into space with the bomb.

Gunfire erupted in Waverton as suspected rebels, hard-lin-ers actually, chose to fight. Dennis Seah was killed when a small group ambushed his unit.

Andy awoke to this news. Julie was the one that read the letter.

*****

Erika and Victor had made their way to the ship. It was a small scout ship. The one that Victor had deserted in, af-ter his wife was killed. It had lain hidden for the last year. The ship was hidden deep in the heavy forests.

They entered into the ship, and Victor checked out the systems. Erika had gone to the berthing area, and changed her clothes. She came out wearing an orange flight suit she had found.

"I'm ready for the trip." She said lightly.

Victor turned from his duties, and went over to her. They kissed.

"You are my first mate." He said.

She laughed at his pun.

"Yes, and I'll be your only mate. If you will have me." She said.

"I will." He reassured her.

When he had finished his preflight check out, he had Erika sit in the seat next to him.

The scout ships were small and fast. They had a two-man crew, and were used to locate smugglers. Some were armed, this one was not. It had been used as a courier. Added space had been used to beef up the propulsion system. This small ship was as fast as anything the Federation had.

*****

Admiral Bertholf had been aboard the Commandship Kiev. The huge Commandship had maintained its orbit five hundred kilometers above the surface of Halverstaadt. The Kiev had been instrumental in launching fighters and bombers to attack the rebel positions on the planet sur-face.

The Captain of the Kiev, Captain Kleggmann, had notified the Admiral that a scout ship had left the planet's sur-face. He requested orders.

"Intercept it if you can, Captain." The Admiral said.

"Aye, sir. I'll launch two Wildcats and see if we can board."

But they both knew that it would be an exercise in futil-ity. The scout ship was far too fast. It had reached speeds of Mach 12 as it left the planet's atmosphere, and when the Kiev had spotted it, was already beginning to speed up to Warp point five.

"As you please, Captain. We both know that he's gotten away." The Admiral said.

*****

Andy woke up. He saw Julie holding his hand. She had fallen asleep in the chair next to his bed.

A piece of paper lay on her lap.

"Julie." He whispered.

Her eyes opened.

"Andy! Oh, Andy." She said.

She jumped out of her chair, and kissed him. He held up his hand to touch her precious face.

"I'm back. A little worse for the wear, but I'm back." He spoke in a weary voice.

She kissed his hand, and then his face and eyes.

"I'm so glad you are all right. Oh, Andy..." She remem-bered the letter. Her face darkened, "I have bad news. Denny, he was killed. Ambushed by rebels in the city. Honey, I'm so sorry." She began to cry.

Andy pulled her to him. She lay her head on his chest and cried.

"Lara. I have to reach her, offer her help." Andy said. His grief would come later, privately, he knew.

*****

Over the next weeks, Andy began to walk again. Julie was at the hospital every day. Lara and the children had left the apartment and went to live with her parents. Eventually she would buy a house very close to her parents in Waverton and marry again.

The 12th Division had arrived. They relieved the Federa-tion forces in the field.

The Federation had a policy of bringing in new units to restore order to any planet that had undergone civil strife. This policy was to ensure that the troops that were entrusted with that duty knew nothing, and had not taken part in the action against the inhabitants there. There would be no animosity, and no undue harshness in their dealings.

The units on Halverstaadt would be reassigned somewhere else. Battalions were in the process of being shipped out to other planets.

Andy had been awaiting orders. When they came he had mixed reactions.

Last night he had stood on crutches as Julie received her Master's Degree. Today he received his orders. He, along with Julie, would be assigned to the newest Federation Com-mand. Sector Two, on the frontier of Federation space.

Julie had gone back to the Barracks to pack their things, as Andy was being released from the hospital. They would begin their life there.

The Federation had maxxed out its transport capability by bringing in the 12th Division. Andy and Julie Seah would have to travel to Sector Two in comfort, thanks to General Starks.

The trip would take them about three months, and they realized that this would be a real honeymoon. The one promised them by Colonel Watts.

Andy bid farewell to his men, and they threw him a going away party. He came home wickedly drunk, Lieutenant Samuels helping him into the room, while Julie just shook her head in disgust.

The Colonel took them to the aerodrome, where a Federation shuttle would take them to the passenger ship Athenia, their home for the next three months.

Julie left her car for her father to sell. It seemed that he had new orders also.

They had long said their good-byes to Lara and the chil-dren, and were now ready to start a new life, away from Halverstaadt and the destruction they had heard and seem.

They now departed Halverstaadt to begin a new life.