Zulu Alert: Rude Awakening

by Grizzly Bryan Lee

Alarm Klaxons flared to screeching life inside the small cabin. Lieutenant Liliane Cymri was brutally awoken from what was starting out to be a very promising dream. Valentino would have to keep the Champagne chilled and wait by the pool for her to return. Reality can be a harsh mistress, Liliane mused as she threw herself out of bed.

The klaxon howled at her to get moving. "This is not a drill." A female voice tried in vain to compete with the klaxon but she was not loud enough, her words barely heard over the alarm. Drill or not a call for action could not be ignored. Fighting back cobwebs of sleep, for she tended to be a deep sleeper, Liliane hastily dressed. She pulled on a pair of white uniform pants and matching boots. Over her camisole and bra she threw a grey, white tanktop. The klaxon screamed at her with even greater urgency, but Liliane had her arms and legs into her flight pressure suit and bolted out the door to her shared cabin.

The corridors of the habitat module were awash with crew scurrying to battlestations. Weaving in and out of the chaotic rush of bodies, all the while fumbling with the seal clasps on her pressure suit, she reached the main transport shaft that lead to the primary hull of Strike Carrier. Crammed into the elevator car with 9 others, she could feel gravity slowly disappear as the car neared the ships main hull. Only the habitat module rotated providing simulated gravity to the crew. The main hull only provided gravity while the ship was thrusting, and it was not thrusting right now.

The elevator doors opened and all occupants pushed off and floated in different directions. As she moved through the main hull, Liliane took note of the situation based on the activity around her. She watched as uniforms from different departments danced among the organized chaos that was the Strike Carrier JSS Vigilant readying itself for battle. Damage control parties assumed their stations ready to handle any internal damage. Teams of medics checked the straps on their medical pouches. A gunnery crewman cursed as she floated past Liliane heading for one of the ships main battery’s in the opposite direction.

Liliane had managed to fix only a few of the pressure clasps amidst the rush of getting to her station. Her destination was Hangar 3 and she looked barely ready for duty when she arrived. As she slowed to a stop inside the airlock, she was not surprised to see another figure standing waiting for her. The man was dressed in a work pressure suit minus the helmet and was talking into the microphone of the headset that he was wearing. In one hand he held stopwatch and he waved Liliane into the room with the other.

"Gally!" Liliane called over the alarm as she quickly went about the task of attaching the remaining clasps. "What’s going on?"

Master Sergeant Galen Pax was head of the tech crew that looked after the maintenance and repair of Lilianes Retaliator Exo-Armour. He was always on station before her, almost as if he neither slept nor left the hangar. "Get that fuel tank bolted on! And tell Jena to speed up the arming of the warheads." He yelled into the mic, the klaxons still blaring. "We launch in two." Gally stepped over to Liliane as he yelled into the mic. He began to check the clasps on her suit as she double-checked the seals herself. The thin suit was all that would protect her from the harsh, vacuum of space should her exo suffer a cockpit breach. Both going over her suit was standard procedure but they were not rushing this check. "We got a Zulu Alert ma’am." He said as he pulled her helmet out of its compartment. "I’ve got to get you suited up, exo’d up and booted out of my hangar."

A Zulu Alert, Liliane repeated in her head as she rolled her shoulders to sit the suit better. The alert was one step above a ship wide Red alert. It meant that the Vigil was trying to get every exo-armour into space as fast as she could. She had practiced the alert but had never actually experienced one.

A sharp tugging at her scalp reminded her that she had forgotten about her long, loose red hair and it was now stuck down the back of her pressure suit. She pulled her hair loose, quickly bundled it up into a crude ponytail in her hand and then realized that she had nothing on her to tie it back with. Gally handed her a hair scrunchy and smiled. It was almost tradition for Liliane to forget about tying back her long hair so Gally had bought a number of hair scrunchies at their last port just for such an occasion. Liliane organized her hair and then pulled on the helmet and sealed it to the collar of the pressure suit. This required extra attention but had to be done quickly.

"Seals look good. Ready ma’am?" Galen asked. Liliane noted that he wasn’t his usual joke cracking self. He was taking this alert very seriously and not wasting any precious time on unnecessary niceties. Maybe he viewed them as unnecessary but right now she would have appreciated the gesture. This alert was getting her a little edgy. She did not like launching into a situation that she was not properly briefed on. That is how people got themselves killed.

The airlock was cycled and the pair stepped into the hangar. Lt. Cymri’s Retaliator stood out from the back of the hangar as a dozen technicians swarmed over it. Some were pulling the safeties off of the smart missile warheads while others were getting the exo prepped for startup. There was no gravity in the Hangar but Gally still helped Liliane clamber into the cockpit hatch in the chest of the Retaliator. As she stepped into the Linear Frame, Gally helped to strap her in. The exo-skeleton like frame allowed her to control the Exo-Armour by using her own physical movements. Her arm moved, the Retaliators arm moved. It still required two people to fit properly and quickly. Time was of the essence here.

Gally moved out of the cockpit and floated near the chest, just to make sure that the main doors armour plates closed properly. It was not so much a concern with the newer models but earlier exos had problems. Gally was not one to take chances. As the hatch closed, Liliane started to power up the Retaliator. She did a quick radio check with Gally to confirm communications function and then set about prepping for the powerplant startup. Gally radioed the all clear, which meant that the members of his tech crew had finished attaching the fuel pod and were clear of the exo. The interior globe in which she was now standing lit up and hummed to life. The interior of the globe acted as one giant video screen, providing the pilot with an unobstructed view of her surroundings. She watched as Gally patted the chest of the Retaliator and muttered something that she could not hear, she could only see his mouth move. No doubt that he was telling the Retaliator to bring her back in one piece, at least that is what Jena told her.

Status displays projected themselves on her helmet. The powerplant was running within optimum levels, and she hadn’t blown up on start up which was a good thing. Armaments displays flashed ready. The weapons were only armed only before the exo-armour went out on a mission to prevent any accidental explosions. The same was done with the fuel. Liliane walked the Retaliator forward, towards the launch catapult, and flexed her hands to test the arm actuators.

The Retaliator kneeled into the launch cradle and Gally floated off to one side observing the procedure. Liliane gave him a thumbs up that was mimicked by her Exo, and Gally moved out of the way.

"Rose 2 in position. Ready Launch." She said into her comm as she made a few quick adjustments and then readied herself for the launch. There were 2 Exo squadrons flying off of the Vigil, Rose and Thorn.

"Copy Rose 2." Gally replied. He would be in charge until the Exo left the hangar. He was the last person to clear the hangar and join his crew in the launch area. It was a small windowed room that would allow the crew to rush out in the event of any accident but it provided some small protection against the launch. "Hanger crew are huddled in and cozy." He set the hangar door controls to open and the blackness of space crept in as the lights in the hangar dimmed. "Hangar crew Ready Launch." He reported when the doors had fully opened.

"Copy that Hangar Chief. Rose 2 to Command. Rose 2 is status Ready Launch."

It took only a second for the bridge flight controller to respond. "Bridge to Rose 2. Confirm Ready Launch. Tactical frequency is 145.3. Rose Leader is waiting. Launch is Go Go Go."

Hearing the launch clearance, Gally started the countdown. "Launch in.10.9.8." When the countdown completed, he would be the one to punch the catapult launch button. He stood calmly, his hand over the button, and fought back the thought that this might be the last time that he saw Lt. Liliane Cymri.

Liliane was steadying herself as Gally counted. She cleared her mind of all thoughts. She was nervous before but standing in her exo now and going through her practiced mind exercises drained the edginess away.

".3.2..1" Gally slammed the launch button and the Retaliator silently shot out the open hangar.

"Good luck Lily." Jena whispered as she and Gally exchanged looks. Whatever happened next, Liliane Cymri’s tech crew could do nothing but wait. As the hangar doors closed they changed the secondary band on their headset radios to the combat frequency.

And Listened.

Editors Note: This is a Jovian Chronicles serial piece by Grizzly Bryan Lee. You can read the next part here, Incoming Unknown.

Modified December 7, 2000

Jovian Chronicles is © 2000, Dream Pod 9, Inc. All rights reserved. Jovian APAworks is not affiliated with Dream Pod 9 in any way. Submitted material remains the property of the creator.