“Oh yes I am too aware of it, David.” responded the cheery voice. “The gift of confidence. Do your Latin and find out what ‘confidence’ really means. Blessing and peace go with you men.” A chorus of voices sounded in the background, also offering farewells.
Zip signed off. In minutes O344 was behind them.
When Lurton Zimbardo had first announced to Earth that he had aimed a huge asteroid through space on a collision course, the news of impending doom spread over the farthest reaches of the globe, bringing with it hysteria and despair. Pockets of unrest and violence sprang up but the phenomenon was short-lived. The memory of the Collapse was too recent, and the populace would not permit violence to prevail—but there was nothing to take its place. Cities, nations, and then continents ground to a standstill as people left their jobs and homes and wandered from place to place aimlessly. The thought of utter, unprecedented destruction for the whole planet, the home of mankind, struck at the very heart of the people. The very elderly, who remembered the worst days of the Collapse, felt their spirits quail within them.
It was a time such as the world had never seen before. In the years to come it became known as The Day the Earth Stood Still. No one knew where to flee, how to flee, or even if fleeing could do any good. After a time the panic quieted down to a heartless agonizing despair, and a heavy, dark spirit fell over the planet.
“Crass, Lather, Bolcher! Get your men and go! The Earthmen have launched their detection equipment!” Lurton Zimbardo was giving orders over the intercom from the control center of his asteroid. Moments earlier the pirate leader had received a message which informed him of the launch time of Earth’s freighters and other details of Earth’s defense plan.
“There are seven freighters accompanied by twelve Space Command warships! Each of you take five ships. Find the convoy and destroy the freighters! At all cost, destroy the freighters!”
Zimbardo slammed down the communicator and watched his men scurry for their ships. At the speed they could travel, they should be able to intercept the convoy in about a week—a full day before optimal site for deployment of the microwave probes. Zimbardo had little doubt of the outcome of the encounter. Earth had no idea that the plans were known to him, and the pirate ships were invisible to their radar.
17: The Enemy Revealed
FOR NEARLY seven days, the convoy of seven NME freighters and twelve Space Command warships had sped away from the Earth-Moon system. The warships flew in a spherical configuration about five miles in diameter, at the center of which were the unmanned freighters in compact formation. The urgency of the mission gave the convoy no choice but to utilize the most direct route to the site of deployment, so that the probes could be put into action at the earliest possible time. There was simply no time to follow any evasive flight plan. On the success of the microwave net rode the hope of Earth’s survival from the threat of impact with the enormous asteroid Lurton Zimbardo had unleashed.
“There they are!” announced Mr. Lather, pilot of the Silver Cloud, as he looked at the radar screen. He was followed closely by five other pirate spacecraft. Two other groups of six pirate ships were nearby, also searching the area of space in front of them for the convoy. “Inform Bolcher and Crass and give them the coordinates. Tell them that since I was the first to locate the freighters, I will attack first. Their ships will follow me according to our plan.”