Venus Ascending

Chapter 35

On his walk back to the engineering section John tried to gauge the mood of the people we saw. Some of the guests seemed to be oblivious to what was going on while others just had a hint of nervousness. Some of the entertainment staff would recognize John, shake his hand and slapped him on the back with congratulations. While others, scowled at him, believing that he had put them in danger and turned their back on him.

It was disconcerting; John had always been behind the scenes and never the focus of everyone's attention. Even during the shows with Lisa, she was the focus of everyone's attention and he was a prop. Now everyone was looking at him and he was in the limelight. They were looking to him for answers and he was up to the task, but it was it was still new and different.

John walked into the Engineering conference room and the UN Security Council session was on the big screen. Some people had their head in their hands, others were looking at the ceiling and others were rolling their head around their shoulders. John looked at the screen and watched the speaker drone on about whether Sovereign was an appropriate name for an independent space station.

John sat down and asks, "How long has this been going on?"

George groaned, "Two hours and they haven't gotten past the name."

John watched the mind numbing speaker for fifteen minutes along with everyone else. Then the thought struck him ... delay tactic. John sat up straight in his chair, "Check our seals, this is a delay and something is going on."

Everyone suddenly snapped out of their trance, sat up and ran out of the conference room to check everything. George was the first to report and reported that there had not been any breaches in the hull or open ports. Every other report was also negative until Ken reported in.

Ken's voice was stressed as he hurriedly said, "We have been getting some intermittent echoes on the radar and we thought they were ghost reflections. As we tracked them we realized that there was a flight path. I can't be 100% sure, but it looks like we have two stealth ships heading our way. They should be here in less than 30 minutes."

Everyone stood frozen for a second before John began issuing orders. "Okay, everything we brain stormed goes into effect. Activate the alarm and get the guests and entertainers into their quarters. Once everyone is in their quarters, lock down the station into our predefined security zones."

"Shut down the artificial gravity and stop rotation. We will make them battle under our conditions. Let's see how they can fight weightless. Deploy our response teams to all receiving bays armed with the stun weapons we found in the council chambers. Tell the "Sewer Rats" to do their internal subterfuge and the structural guys to suit up and damage them as much as they can outside."

"Also contact the negotiation team at the UN and let them know that we have located the assault team heading for us. Let them know we are prepared to repel borders and we will retaliate with strikes on targets of our choosing. Let's give them a choice of targets, starting with Cape Canaveral, the Houston space Center, the UN building in New York, London and Paris. Give them several other targets that will put some fear into them."

Everyone stopped and looked at John astonished. John saw the stunned stares and hoped the people down on the world would feel the same. "Relax, we are not going to kill lots of people, just try to put the fear into them, so they will take us seriously."

For the next 30 minutes everything was controlled chaos. Everything looked wildly chaotic, but all their plans snapped into place. Ken routed all the cameras on the external docking bay's to the conference room and very soon they saw a couple of space planes come into view. The two space planes docked at different ports and the structural staff was waiting.

Almost everyone in the structural department had all suited up and was outside Venus waiting. They waited for the ships to soft dock, and then waited 30 seconds before they blew the explosive bolts on the docking collars. They hoped they had given the ships enough time to open their inner airlocks and this would take out anyone that was not already in a spacesuit. Most likely that would be the pilots, but they still expected some of the mercenaries to be suited up and they would still be gunning for them.

The theory appeared to be just that, theory. When the docking collars disintegrated both ships drifted aimlessly for a minute or so before they regained control. So either they still had pilots or everyone had suited up. The space planes maneuvered so they were facing Venus then they did something completely unexpected, they each fired a missile creating hull breaches and their own entry portal into Venus.

No one in engineering had anticipated an actual shooting war in space. However, the people and the systems scrambled immediately sealing off the damaged areas. The debris began to drift away from the space station and space suited figures began to exit the space planes. The external cameras showed that they were all heavily armed with a myriad of different kinds of weapons.

Everyone in the conference room looked at each other with confusion and fear. John felt the same fear that everybody else did, but he had anticipated more resistance than they had seen thus far. Now the resistance was galvanizing and they had a fight on their hands. In a tone that sounded braver than he actually felt, John said in a commanding tone, "The only way out is forward."

"We knew we were going to have to fight and that is now upon us. Those of you that were assigned remote and field operations, gather your weapons and go. The rest of you, secure the engineering conference room. I need some volunteers to help me relocate the medical staff and their patients to the engineering deck."

As John expected, all of the "Sewer Rats" volunteered to help them with the medical staff, but he really needed them to help fight the mercenaries. When everyone was deployed John and four other volunteers left for the Venus hospital. As they left the engineering deck and entered the lower entertainment deck they realized they had problems they had not counted on.

The explosions had panicked all the guests and the entertainers. All the corridors and tubes were filled with people trying to find a safe place away from all the fighting. Unfortunately, none of them knew where to go or what was going on, so all they really did was impede their movements and create chaos. After the fifth person crashed into them John had an idea and gathered his volunteers around him.

In order to be heard John yelled, "We need to get all of this mass of humanity working for us. Spread the word that there is evacuation transports on decks three and five, back where the mercenaries are coming. If I remember correctly it was deck 3, corridor 12 and deck 5, corridor 16."

Everyone spread out and began yelling at the human wall where the evacuation would be. Miraculously within a few minutes John and his volunteers were being swept along the corridors by the very people who had impeded their progress earlier. Now that everyone was going their way, John's group made good progress and was soon at the hospital.

As they entered the hospital and they found their ruse had worked too well. All the doctors' nurses and patients were gathering their possessions and getting ready to move towards the evacuation area. John and his volunteers quickly started corralling everyone in the hospital and let them know there was no evacuation. The doctor who took care of Lisa came forward as their spokesman and wanted to know what was going on.

John set himself up in the middle of the corridor and tried to speak loud enough for everyone to hear. In a concise tone he started giving them the status of everything going on, "Talks are currently going on at the UN concerning our status. However, I'm afraid those are really stall tactics, because two space planes full of mercenaries arrived about 30 minutes ago. They used missiles to blow holes in Venus so they could gain access."

There were several exclamations of amazement and a few panic stricken gasps. John held up his hands and after some murmuring the crowd drifted into silence.

John took a deep breath and continued, "We started the evacuation rumor, so that the mercenaries would have to evacuate the guests and that would keep them occupied. It also gives us time to take care of all the people that helped. I want all of you to gather whatever you need and we will escort you to the engineering deck. Our plan is to set up a makeshift hospital there, because we can secure that location."

A question sang out from somewhere back in the group of doctors, "Why aren't we safe here and why do we need to go to the engineering section?"

John let the crowd died down for a second then answered, "You could be safe here and the move to the engineering section is just precautionary. We don't want anyone critical to the operation of Venus to be exposed and vulnerable. All of you are in that category. So you can stay here if you wish, but my recommendation is for all of you to come with us."

Raucous discussions began amongst the crowd and as they argued among themselves John left to go get Lisa. His voice must've carried through the corridor, because Lisa was sitting up with her legs hanging over the bed ready when John arrived. John's heart leapt when he saw Lisa and her face lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw John. Within seconds they were in each other's arms and seconds after that their lips were glued together.

Lisa's doctor cleared his throat behind them and hastily ending their kiss. John turned around looking a little embarrassed, but he never let go of Lisa. There was a nurse beside the doctor with wheelchair and as soon as their kiss ended the nurse advanced towards Lisa. With the doctor and the nurse working in tandem Lisa was quickly unhooked from all the IVs and monitoring equipment.

Lisa was quickly deposited in the wheelchair and they all filed out of the room. As they cleared the corridor to Lisa's room, John noticed all the discussions seem to have died down and everyone was standing orderly by the hospital entrance. John cocked his head silently questioning what was going on.

John expected one of his engineering crew to fill them in, but instead another doctor stepped forward. He looked at Lisa's doctor as he said, "We're all coming with you to the engineering deck. Two nurses are going to stay behind in case someone needs them and they will redirect them to the engineering deck if it's serious."

Simultaneously Lisa's doctor and John nodded their head acknowledging their acceptance. John led the way out of the hospital, pushing Lisa in her wheelchair. The rest of John's group and hospital staff all fell in line behind him. Everyone came to a screeching halt as the floor underneath him trembled and they heard what sounded like small explosions or even gunfire.

John's push to talk roared to life, "GET OUT OF THERE, JOHN GET OUT OF THERE NOW!"

John's heart was pounding in his chest as he calmly replied, "What's going on?"

John heard a burst of static followed by a cacophony of panicked voices. Then George's voice broke through the chaos, "THEY'RE KILLING EVERYONE, GET OUT OF THERE THEY'RE KILLING EVERYBODY THEY SEE!"

For a split second John froze. He couldn't be hearing what he was hearing, surely it was a mistake. Then he remembered Lisa being whipped in the Medieval room and he knew it wasn't a mistake. He pulled Lisa from the wheelchair and into his arms as he yelled, "EVERYONE FOLLOW ME AS FAST AS YOU CAN!"

John took off down the corridor with large bounding steps and at this moment he was thankful for the low gravity. Everyone that had been on Venus for more than a few weeks handled the low gravity run without any difficulty. However, a couple of new arrivals and a couple of patients had problems and the remnants of John's engineering group scooped them up along the way, carrying them to safety.

The sounds of explosions and gunfire were drawing closer as they finally made it through the tube down to the engineering deck. John ushered all the people into the engineering deck and when the last person made it through he began issuing orders. "Shut down all ventilation and seal all decks! Block and seal every bulkhead and make sure there's no way into engineering! Block everything make them expend their ammunition just to get out of the boxes they're in."

Chapter 36

As the door slammed shut behind him sealing engineering, he walked towards the conference room relishing the feel of Lisa in his arms. Likewise, Lisa pulled her arms tighter around John's neck, trying to feel his love seep into her while her eyes filled with tears. Lisa looked at the man holding her in his arms and felt fulfilled. She had never loved anyone as much as she loved John and she had never had anybody love her like he does. For the first time in her life she was truly happy and now life was going to fuck it all up.

Both of them had the sinking feeling that their time together was coming to an end. They had no idea if they were going to make it out alive, but they were going to be together until the Council pried them apart. John found one of the cushier chairs in the conference room and carefully placed his damaged Lisa in the chair.

He stood behind the chair holding her as he turned to all the people assembled there bellowed, "Show me what's going on. We need a quick analysis of their tactics and how to circumvent them."

John's mouth fell open with the horror of what he was seeing as he watched the mercenaries wade into the innocent guests and entertainment staff with automatic weapons. All the mercenaries were in space suits as they mercilessly killed everything in front of them. John felt tears rush to his eyes and his heart break into as he realized he had sent all of those people to their deaths. His intent had been to get them out of the conflict, but he had unknowingly sent them directly into the line of fire.

John was unable to breathe as he felt Lisa's hands squeezing his then it got worse. John's eyes opened wide in abhorrence as the mercenaries turned flame-throwers on the dead and dying. Only people's cries of anguish could be heard as they watched the mercenaries incinerate fellow human beings. John felt his knees buckle with the weight of all those dead and dying landed squarely on his shoulders.

John vaguely heard George's narration breakthrough his terror, "We've analyzed their tactics and it's not one we ever remotely thought about. It's basically Sherman's march to the sea or a scorched earth policy. They are going to kill everything in the space station and if they can't kill us they are using the fires to burn up all the oxygen."

Steve from gaseous engineering spoke up, "We have all decks and all ventilation sealed, so no matter what they do to the rest of Venus it will not deplete our oxygen. However, all the people in here will use up what we have in approximately two days. We do have CO2 scrubbers here in engineering so we can keep that under control. We also have some emergency oxygen generators, but they've never been tested. However, most of the oxygen is outside engineering and will soon be under their control."

John looked down into the adoring eyes of Lisa and felt his spirits lift. She was looking at him with the utmost confidence, like she knew he would save them. Her look helped him get control of himself and rise to the challenge. He wiped tears from his eyes, the fear from his face and stood tall as he said, "First of all, broadcast all of this to the world and the UN. Get our people there to make sure the world knows about the inhuman brutality going on here and try to get the UN to call the dogs off."

"Next, we need to save as many people as we can. Seal off any of the clubs that possibly have an oxygen supply and CO2 scrubbers and cram as many people as you can inside. We need volunteers to go round up as many people as we can and get them into these sealed off pockets."

"We also need options and ways to fight back. We don't really have any offensive weapons, but we need to create some and first of all take out their space planes. Maybe it will slow them down they realize they have no place to go. Then we fight and begin taking back our home, with as little damage as possible."

John's plan of action seemed to galvanize everyone in the conference room. They split up into multiple working groups and soon everyone had forgotten about John. He had also forgotten about them and was looking back at the screen with all the dead weighing heavy on his soul. Lisa was the only one that saw the grief and anguish in his eyes and felt the heaviness in his heart.

She reached up and pulled on his shirt until his eyes left the picture on the screen and joined with hers. The power of the compassion and love being transmitted through her eyes stripped the misery from his soul. She kept pulling on his shirt until their lips met and after the kiss she whispered, "You didn't kill them John ... they did."

John was left breathless. She knew, she knew exactly what he was thinking and she could see the agony in his soul. Looking at the screen, seeing all those dead and burning bodies he was lost, but she was the beacon of light that brought him home. He felt her love reach in through his eyes and soothe this troubled heart. John felt like anything he said at this moment would not be enough, but still he lovingly whispered, "I love you!"

Lisa grabbed his shirt and pulled him back for another loving kiss just before whispering, "I love you too, Master!" She looked into his eyes fiercely breathed, "I am yours and you are mine. I know your heart better than I know my own. So you can't hide from me and I will always have a light shining to bring you home."

John looked at her in amazement and again realized this was why they were fighting the Council. They were fighting to protect the love and devotion of women like Lisa. Behind almost everyone here there was someone like Lisa supporting them, loving them, and believing in them. It was people like the Council that actively worked to destroy the life and love they all honored.

John bent down and captured her mouth in a long luxurious kiss. As he pulled back from the kiss he saw her wince and memories flooded in on what Lisa had gone through at the hands of the Council. His face filled with hard determination as he began to stand up, but Lisa grabbed his shirt again and said, "Just remember Master, they are the ones killing and maiming. Your job is to save us all and then come home to me in one piece."

John looked at her, gave a lopsided smile and in his best Arnold Schwarzenegger imitation he responded, "Yes my love, I'll be back!" Then his eyes twinkled and his smile broadened as he said, "Wait a minute who's the master and who's the slave? Are you giving me orders?"

Lisa's eyes lit up for a second and her smile covered her face as she responded, "Absolutely, I'm giving you orders. I need my Master to come back to me, order me around, make me crazy with desire and create babies with me." Her smile slipped and her face took on a look of desperation, with tears gathering in her eyes as she added, "I can't go on without you, please come back to me!"

John looked into her eyes and he could feel the desperate love beating in her heart. She needed him just as much as he needed her. For a split second that seemed to last a lifetime, their souls merged through their eyes. They were part of each other and both knew they could never be whole without the other. John whispered, "I will be back, my love."

In one of the hardest things he'd ever done he ripped his eyes away from Lisa's, stood up and went to manage their defenses. The first group he came to was the rescue parties. The "Sewer Rats" were leading a team of structural and other maintenance groups through the underbelly of Venus to rescue as many people as they could. They had set up the Medieval and Aladdin rooms as sanctuary rooms. Both rooms were large; they had their own CO2 scrubbers and some of the portable oxygen generators would be moved into the rooms.