Reaching For The Stars
Chapter 7

The journey back to moon base six took about twenty minutes and on arriving the military craft landed first, followed by the Wyson ship under the control of a military pilot. Peter bought their saucer down at the same air-lock bay as they had used earlier. This bay was only large enough to accommodate a ranger and everything else had to use the main landing area on the other side of the base. When Peter had switched off the motors he led the way through a maze of corridors to the far side of the base and into a transparent tunnel adjacent to the main landing area. At the far end of the tunnel was a small isolated bubble building. This was the main detention and holding area of the base and was seldom used. It was to the air lock of this building that the Wyson ship was now attached. The enemy crew totalled one hundred and they were now being escorted off their ship by a heavily armed military guard. The crew would remain here for a few days while the military went through their interrogation and documentation procedures after which they would be transferred to Earth. As shooting had actually broken out in space with the Wysons being the initial aggressors, it was now a purely military matter rather than a routine police one. Chris prepared a digital- report to which Commander Elberg would add his comments and action, and then the disc would be handed in on their return to Heathrow later in the day. When the reports were complete and they were satisfied that their presence was no longer required, Peter and the others headed back into the main area of the base to collect their prisoner from the morning. Maureen was strangely quiet.

“You okay darling”? Peter asked, “You’re very quiet”.

“Yes, I’m fine, just excited that’s all. I didn’t realise the space division of the police was so exciting. I never dreamed it`d be like this”.

“Hang on a minute”, Chris exclaimed, “It’s not always like this”.

“That’s true love, today has been the exception rather than the rule. Most days are a lot more mundane than this”.

“I know that but it’s still exciting anyway”. Maureen re-joined, even though she knew that the men were being modest again. She knew from reading numerous reports and from listening to recorded ones, it was often Peter and his crew who were sent to sort out any trouble that was brewing around the universe, or at very least got sent as a backup for another super crew. By this time they were back in the main area of the base and heading for the smaller central detention area where their prisoner was being held in custody. He was duly unlocked and marched down the corridors to the police saucer. The robot, which had acted as guard, accompanied them to continue its duty on board during the trip back to Earth. As they entered the saucer from the corridor airlock, Maureen looked puzzled.

“Peter, what are we going to do with him? Do we have to put up with him on the flight deck or what”?

Peter grinned and pressed a series of buttons just inside the main entrance door. This automatically opened a door by the base of the stairway leading to the main deck. This door was very tight fitting and had no protrusions or indentations on its outer surface, and for that reason Maureen had failed to notice it earlier. Behind the door was a short corridor with six cells, and it was in one of these that the prisoner was placed. The cell doors were also locked electronically and the system incorporated closed circuit cameras which when the system was activated, displayed an image on another small screen on the flight deck. Once the prisoner was in a cell and the door locked and tested, Peter moved away from the door and immediately the robot took up a position facing the door, and a green light came on to signify it was ready. The robot had laser armament, which it would use automatically in any event of an escape attempt by the prisoner. As the robot was on guard and was extremely efficient, the cameras were not turned on. As Peter came back out of the cell corridor, Chris pressed another button and the outer door slid shut. A red light came on above the door to notify the fact that one cell was now occupied. They then all went upstairs to the flight deck and took their places.

“Ranger two requesting take off clearance. We have prisoner secure on board, robo-guard in attendance”.

“Okay Ranger Two, you’re clear to go. No doubt we’ll see you again soon”.

Peter started the motors and with the now familiar sway the saucer left the moon`s surface for the second time that day. Maureen programmed the navigation computer for the journey back to Earth under Bill’s critical eye.

“Well done Maureen, you’re a quick learner. I’ll have to watch my job at this rate”.

Maureen blushed and looked away as Peter glanced round and caught her eye.

“Tell me love, how would you like to complete your training with us? We could always use another efficient crewmember and I’m sure Bill wouldn’t mind, would you Bill”?

“I’ve certainly got no problem with that Peter”. Bill replied

“Thanks Peter, that’d be great”.

Maureen again blushed deeply. She was too happy and embarrassed to say anything else. It was great to think that she’d made such an impression on the men. Still blushing deeply she got up from her seat.

“I’ll go and make some coffee; I can’t stand any more compliments”.

The men laughed as she went downstairs to the galley. At the saucers current speed it would take twenty minutes to get back to Heathrow so there was plenty of time. By now they were back in video contact with Heathrow control.

“Hello control, we’ve got a prisoner on board, could you get transport laid on please”. Chris said.

“Will do ranger two, congratulations by the way on your capture of the Wyson vessel”.

“Thanks, but how did you get to hear about that so quickly”? Chris asked.

“Moon base six came through about five minutes ago, singing your praises. They were basically relaying the conversation they had with Pluto research station”.

All this time they were watching their approach to Earth on the main viewing screen. The coffee was drunk and everything cleared away by the time they began their final approach. The saucer re-entered the atmosphere over central Asia. As they came back into the atmosphere the conventional aircraft instruments on the panel lit up and began functioning and at the same time the window shutters opened to allow all round vision. Peter had already reduced speed to eighteen thousand miles an hour prior to re-entry. As they approached the North Sea the speed was reduced quite drastically to a little over a thousand miles an hour. The speed reductions were carried out quite quickly but despite this there was no sensation of such inside the saucer. Watching this effect from the windows was like watching a film that had suddenly been slowed down. All the men were used to this but Maureen wasn’t and she looked a bit strange as she realised that her eyes weren’t deceiving her and they had actually slowed down. Seeing her expression, Bill grinned at her.

“Don’t worry, you’ll soon get used to it”.

As they were now only minutes flying time from the spaceport the speed was again reduced to three hundred miles an hour and the altitude to two thousand feet. As they swept in on the final approach, Maureen tensed and turned pale.

“Peter, look down there”.

Peter followed her pointed finger and saw a domestic fleet aircraft about six hundred feet above the tarmac. It was the body of one of the old jumbo jets, converted to vertical take-off and was bucking madly.

“The change unit from vertical to normal flight is malfunctioning”.

As he spoke the nose dipped and the aircraft went into a dive. Peter’s next words cut across the flight deck like a whiplash.

“Fasten your belts, we’re giving assistance.”

“Bill, what can he do”?

“Wait and see”.

The controllers on the viewing screen were urgently calling out the emergency response teams and directing them to a likely crash site.

Peter bought their saucer down in a fast swoop to bring it directly above the diving aircraft.

Chris had switched the video to the commercial fleet`s frequency.

“Stay calm”, he instructed the pilot, “release all your controls immediately”.

As the saucer came directly over the airliner, Peter’s hand smacked down on a red lever on his panel. There was a slight jerk and the saucer was moving up again. Maureen could see from the windows that the airliner was sort of suspended beneath their saucer and was now pulling out of its dive as they gained height, but was still less than a hundred feet above the ground. Maureen turned to Bill with a questioning look on her face.

“We’re using a magnetic field to control the aircraft”. Bill explained.

Under Peters expert control he landed the aircraft safely and near perfectly near to the main passenger buildings. The force field was switched off and they flew across the spaceport to their own landing area on the far perimeter. From Maureen’s first startled gasp the whole operation had taken only twenty seconds. She realised it was yet another example of the crews quick reactions and superb handling. Even though they had just carried out a daring rescue, which so easily could have been a nasty crash, all the men were still perfectly calm, as if it were just another routine incident in a day’s work. As the saucer landed, the controllers face appeared again on the video screen.

“Could you please come to the control tower when you’ve handed over your prisoner. The senior controller wishes to see you”.

“Okay, thanks.” Peter replied