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What do you do when your joyride back to Earth is interrupted, as you find the down side in using a military shuttle?

Enterprise

Chapter Four ~ Red Alert!

By Ariel Montine

Over the comm. from Alpha came, "Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Enterprise, departing!" and we could hear the emotion in Peggy's voice in her announcement.

I joined the gaggle of girls on the flight deck trying to float up for a look thru the zenith windows of the shuttle pointing up at the nadir Pressurized Mating Adaptor attached to the ISS Unity node. With the Enterprise sinking away from the ISS more and more of the station became visible. We were all courteous and gave our sisters an equal chance at viewing. I liked this sharing and cooperation much better than fighting over things with my brothers to capture them exclusively. After a while we were far enough away from the station so that we would achieve the polar orbit that was required for a landing at Vandenberg AFB.

The trip down was going to be comparable in time span for an ordinary shuttle landing. Enterprise like the other shuttles would have to lose kinetic energy in the atmosphere before we would be at landing parameters. The one thing that I noticed was that we had not done any inspections of the Thermal Protection System like was standard for the other shuttles. It hardly would have made any difference had we been unsuccessful yet now there was no rush and I felt like it would be a good idea to get home safe now. Then the reason suddenly occurred to me! I recalled that this shuttle unlike the others had a deflector grid (installed when it was completely upgraded) that is powered by a small atomic generator. This shuttle with the deflectors running could not be damaged in that way so no inspection was needed.

There was one last matter which had to be attended to which was my commitment to my brother Archie that in the event of his death, he would like for his ashes to be launched into space. It had been decided prior to launch that Archie's ashes were to be placed in one of the torpedo shells and the torpedo launch rail gun would propell it out into space when the pilot triggered it. We still had his memorial service to attend later, which was being held untill our return to Atlanta. I summoned out of the air with my enchantment the bagpipes and also confering upon me the ability to play them.

"Commander to Crew, form up in the flight deck to pay final respects to a true hero, Archibald Lee Denver!" The commander and pilot took their places with I and my five sisters who assembled in reverence to Archie's memory. First Andrina began to sing part of the GA Tech fight song in tribute to Archie's passion to be his best as a Georgia Tech Cheerleader. She soulfully expressed the tumult she was experiancing yet also maintianed the exuberance and adoration that she felt as a Georgia Tech Cheerleader herself.

"If I had a daughter, Sir, I'd dress her in white and gold, and put her on the campus to cheer the brave and bold. But if I had a son, sir, I tell you what he'd do. He'd yell "To Heck with Georgia!" like his daddy used to do!"

"I'm a ramblin' wreck from Georgia Tech and a heck of an engineer. A heck of a, heck of a,heck of a, heck of a, heck of a engineer! Like all my jolly good fellas, I drink my whiskey clear. I'm a ramblin', gamblin',heck of an engineer, Hey!"

Andrina kept it together just long enough to finish before her tears flowed freely. I feel like Archie looked down on us an smiled as I began the playing of Amazing Grace on the bagpipes with tears streaming from my face as well as the faces of each of my sisters.

"Archibald Lee Denver, Godspeed! Pilot, Engage!" ordered the commander.

"Torpedo Away!" the pilot confirmed.

We saw the torpedo, which bore Archie's ashes, streak across the heavens to be lost among the stars. Adella kept her part of her promise in altering gravity for the firing. The Torpedo was fired into deep space, just as Archie wanted, while I and my sisters weeped for our brother and friend. We comforted each other as each of us expressed our grief. Had NASA been tracking the torpedo, they would have found it traveling out toward interstellar space at an impossible velocity of .5 C with no sign of stopping.

I knew that something was nagging at me that things were not quite right. Up till now I had been going on because I had to go on. A girl really needed her sisters and I needed to talk to Atina, I managed to get both of us away from the others so we could speak privately.

"Atina, had you girls been having your periods at the same time? Is it possible that time is soon?"

"Sorry sweetie, yes we all have our periods at the same time and they are due today. I can show you and Andrina how to insert a tampon and attach a pad to your panty. We have plenty of pads, tampons and Midol so we all will get thru it including you and Andrina."

"Thank you so much for your help, Atina." I told her as I gave her a big hug On our way to the restroom facility on the shuttle mid deck I telepathically clued Andrina in.

~'Andrina, we are due to get our periods today. Atina is helping me with inserting a tampon and adding a pad over by the restroom on the mid deck. She said she could help you with yours too if you come too. We have plenty of supplies for all of us including Midol so no worries, girl!'~

Atina helped me expertly and soon after helped Andrina too so we were both ready for our first visit from Aunt Flo.

"Enterprise from Norad. Defcon Three! I say again. Defcon Three. Be advised that SKUD 7 launches have been detected and Enterprise is a possible target.

"Commander to Crew, Red Alert! we are under attack. Gather on the Flight Deck for a quick meeting!"

The Commander got us all together where we could see the screen from the laptop mounted on the Shuttle wall.

"Neither the Major or I are able to operate the energy weapon disguised as Space Lab in the shuttle bay. Of course, none of you ladies know how to operate it either. No other torpedos had been provided for the mission since they had attempted to lighten the load for the mission's success..We must find a way to use your abilities instead."

"Commander, multiple targets detected identified as SKUD 7 missiles, closing on Enterprise." reported the Major.

I began to chant and weave an enchantment in the form of a magical net to catch each of the missiles. As each missile of the wave touched the net it became a bowl of petunias and started falling down to earth. Amazingly enough I felt sure that I must have heard from the bowls a cry in unison, "Oh no! Not again!" I couldn't help but giggle a little bit but I ended it quickly.

Both the Commander and the Pilot were able to see as the missiles were transformed. Both were dumbfounded not believing their eyes!

Both the Colonel and Major asked in unison, "What, the hell, was that?"

All of my sisters responded, "What it was, was magic!" We giggled as the tension was finally released.

Trying to regain some decorum the Major reported, "Commander, all first wave missiles neutralized."

"Thank you MS2, that gives us a chance to solidify our defenses.", the commander cautioned.

I replied, "Yes, Commander. Those were not the scud missiles, that I am familiar with, which had less capabilities, sir" I reasoned that messing with a bunch of women in our condition was not in their best interest of the SKUD 7 masters.

"Correct, MS2. The SKUD 7 missiles are brand new purchases from a foreign power and they are not the original scud missiles. We must be ready for the next wave. MS1?" asked the commander, urging Andrina to speak.

"Commander, I can't function as Lead now. Atina speaks as our family leader and Alana is our action leader.", Andrina admitted. The Commander saw that she was being honest.

"MS2, We must develop a plan to defend Enterprise. It would be nice if something accidentally happened to that SKUD 7 launch site as well.", the Commander requested.

I asked him, "Commander, How many EMU's and EVA Space Suits are we carrying?"

"MS2, We carry four each, the suits are stored in lockers in the Space Lab section. I believe all the space suits were adjusted to fit the quadruplets before launch. The EMU's are parked in the payload bay." The commander highlighted the locations of the space suits and EMU's on the Enterprise schematic displayed on the laptop.

"Commander, MS1, MS3, MS5, and MS6 would be the best to deploy in the EMU's below Enterprise to catch any SKUD 7 coming into space. Major West could be in contact with them and assign them targets to eliminate.", I advised. I used the laptop to call up a diagram with the 4 of them in EMU's outside Enterprise and showed them what I meant

"So Ordered! MS1, MS3, MS5, and MS6 suit up and prepare for EVA! The Major will go with you to assist in leak checks and that your heads up displays are functional. Major, once they are ready for EVA, return to the flight deck to coordinate the attack." The Commander's orders set most of my sisters in motion out to get the spacesuits, with the Major trailing behind them.

"Commander, Perhaps, you could go over the intelligence we have on that SKUD 7 base for Aquata and I. I could port Aquata and I in close enough for us to take out the skud base using natural phenomena. The natural phenomenon will at least give us plausible deniability so they won't be able to blame Enterprise."

"MS2 excellent plan! MS2 and MS4 please join me and I'll go over the intelligence with you.", The commander showed them a diagram of the SKUD 7 site and all of the places that would have to be taken out to render it harmless.

The Major appeared back on the flight deck "Commander, the mission specialists are suited and are in the payload bay getting strapped into their EMU's "

~'Oh God, Alana, the stars are so close I could just touch them and earth is unbelievable!'~ Andrina thought to me.

~'How are you girls doing?'~ I asked Andrina

~'Arista is the last to finish strapping in and then we'll report in and deploy.'~ Andrina told me

"MS1, Ready to deploy." (Keep on truckin'!)

"MS3, Ready to deploy." (Are we there yet?)

"MS5, Ready to deploy" (That's so cute!)

"MS6 Ready to deploy" (Don't Worry, Be Happy!)

"Pilot to Mission Specialists, deploy to coordinate on your heads up display." The Major was at ease with using the display and it seemed like he had used it before in a way that it was hard for me to imagine.

I had a private word with my sister, Aquata before proceeding. I tried to put her mind at ease and went over with her what would we would do to the base when we arrived . We were ready!

"MS2 and MS4 Deploying" I said with a twinkle in my eye as I chanted and the magic plucked Aquata and I off of Enterprise. We floated above the base where Aquata sent tornados to engulf and rip apart the surface structures. A mudslide from a nearby embankment swallowed the stockpile of missiles. When buried and under cover my enchantment turned them into earthworms. All the surface buildings were blown apart and away. The underground bunkers were filled in from the mudslide. Anything buried was transformed by enchantment so that it could not be dug up and recovered. The base would not be firing any more skuds again.

~'Incoming'~ came Andrina's mental shout. I concluded that the base had gotten off another wave as we departed Enterprise.

I touched Aquata's hand, "Time to go! We did good here but Enterprise is under attack!"

Aquata smiled and looked into my eyes, "Let's go, Sis! I'm ready" I smiled back at her and started concentrating.

I chanted and when the enchantment took hold both Aquata and I vanished from floating in the air over the demolished base. No they certainly were not very smart picking on this group of women. Soon we appeared on the flight deck of the Enterprise where we could hear what was happening.

"MS2 and MS4, Skud base destroyed!" I reported for Aquata and I.

I heard another mental shout from Andrina ~'Woo Hoo!'~

"MS1 Target destroyed!" Andrina used her new psionic power of electromagnetism effectively to disintegrate the skud harmlessly.

"MS3 Target destroyed!" Adella delighted to use her power over gravity to sling the missile out into space to be consumed by the Sun.

"MS5 Target destroyed!" Atina made the skud so cold that it robed it of all power and it plunged back into the atmosphere to burn up harmlessly.

"MS6 Target destroyed!" Arista enveloped the skud into her plasma stream where it disintegrated harmlessly

"Pilot, All targets eliminated! Threat has concluded!"

"Commander to crew, Secure from Alert Stations, Terminate EVA operations and return to Enterprise. Congratulations for a job well done!"

"Enterprise from NORAD, Defcon Five! I say again. Defcon Five. Be advised that skud launches have ceased and the launch site destroyed. Resume standard procedure."

In the spite of the NASA / Military protocol I couldn't help but hug Aquata tight and let her know how much I loved her. I couldn't wait till the rest of my sisters were back inside so I could hug them too. I looked over at the Commander and he just shook his head at us and continued what he was doing. I might not make a very good soldier but I felt like my sisters and I did great!

My sisters, outside, were overjoyed as well. Each flew her EMU over to the payload bay, secured the EMU, then made their way to the airlock. Finally they were all inside the airlock and our reunion was just contingent on the pressures equalizing.

While we were waiting to help my sisters with their space suits I was able to privately ask, "Colonel, Why would they be firing skuds at the Enterprise?" I saw that Aquata had managed to interest the Major so much in her conversation with him that his eyes met hers. They too were waiting to help my sisters off with their space suits when they arrived.

"Alana, On our previous mission our energy weapon was used to vaporize a sortie of SKUD 7's being targeted at Israel. I guess they reasoned that in order to get their missiles thru, Enterprise would have to be taken out. Thank you for taking care of the problem completely. The chain of command would never let us use the weapon against a surface target so our hands were tied."

"Colonel, I'm glad we could help. I certainly wish you and the crew of the Enterprise success in all your missions to come."