Major Ruscov pushed back his chair as he stood to his feet behind his console in the Concord command center. “General Bardon,” he called over the noise of the officers giving orders to squads all over Alpha Three.
General Bardon’s head snapped up from a report that had just been handed to him from an aid. His neatly trimmed moustache seemed to quiver to attention at the major’s voice. Since the victory over the Scourge on the other side of the planet and the vanquishing of the Barrier the Concord morale couldn’t have been higher. They knew they had two weeks and Major Ruscov had the most important job on all of Alpha Three.
“Report Major.”
“They’re here.”
Without a second thought to the aid at his side or the report he was reading General Bardon nodded his head in acknowledgement and strode off towards the command conference room. A sudden silence descended across the command centre as every officer dropped what they were doing and watched the general enter the “think tank”. They knew their jobs and the critical situation they were all in.
In one motion General Bardon closed the door behind him and pulled out a high backed black leather chair to sit at the large boardroom table. “They’re here”, he said.
General Alban’s pony tail swung as she pinned Bardon with her gaze. “Ruscov’s confirmed it?”
“There was no need. They’re here.”
General Frank MacLeod, his normally impeccably neat silver mustache was now matched by a five o’clock shadow. He’d been sleeping in his clothes again and didn’t have time to get cleaned up after a quick nap earlier in the day. There was just too much to do. Although exhausted, his eyes were like those of an eagle, not missing a thing. “Thoughts generals?”
General Bardon said, “We’re as prepared as we’ll ever be on the ground. All battleframes have been repaired, all settlements have been augmented with any mounted cannons we have. It helped that we could strip the Scourge base of a few larger weapons.”
“Do we know the composition of the Scourge fleet?” Aldan asked.
“I came straight in here but Ruscov will put it up on the monitor in a minute.”
Just as General Bardon uttered the words the main screen at the end of the table came to life. Displayed in a classic V-formation were the three massive Scourge troop carriers that the now deceased General Grendig had revealed to Whizzbang and his squad of Earthmen. What was a surprise was the battleship leading the fleet and the two destroyer class ships bringing up the rear.
“We’ve got three really serious problems,” Alban stated flatly.
Franky ran his hands through his grey hair as he leant back in his chair. His face a mask of concentration. “That’s a frapping understatement and they’re arriving in just under two hours.”
