“Yuri, Are you and your crew all right? I am sorry this had to happen. We knew of Ivanov’s plans a while ago and were prepared for it. Your ship is damaged. And I can see some smoke coming out of it. Can you maneuver it at all? Please do not make me destroy you. However, if you do try something now, we will have to do so.”
Yuri sighed and spoke. “Tom, I guess you have won a great battle. I can see from our observations that a lot of Russia has been damaged. I have no idea how many people have been killed. My weapons systems are disabled now, so we cannot possibly take action against you. It will take a long time to repair a ship like this. Ordinarily, as a Russian military man, I would ask you to blow us up, or if I had weapons, force you to do that. However, my family and many others are on board with us, and I do not wish to harm them. I know you have your family with you. I have two beautiful children. I guess the best thing to do is simply surrender my ship to you.”
“Thank you, Yuri. You do not need to surrender to me. Can you make it back to Earth without too much trouble? You should know that Ivanov is dead, as the United States destroyed the Kremlin and many other Russian military sites. You do not have to worry about facing Ivanov when you return. I doubt very much that there is anyone in Russia left who knows what was supposed to happen to the spaceships. You and your crew should be safe when you return to Russia.”
“I think we can return to Russia. But it will take a few days or weeks to repair some parts of the ship so that we can safely land it somewhere. The problem is: where are we going to land? Most of Russia is gone. I want you to know, Tom, that this was not my idea. We did not always get along, but I thought if we traveled in space together, perhaps things would change between us once we were rid of our governments. Thank you, Dr. Burns. You have been a good adversary and a better human than I. I wish you luck in your travels through space with the Germans and Australians. I will get on with my repairs and wait for word about landing on Earth again. I assume we will never meet again.”
“Goodbye, Yuri. I wish you a good life on Earth and hope your children grow old there. I will think of you when we are speeding through space. Perhaps, someday, you will build a new spaceship and meet us there on New Earth.”
“You just said New Earth. That is a good name for wherever you decide to settle.”
“Thanks, I have been thinking of a name for a while. Goodbye.”
Tom turned off the view screen with Yuri and contacted the president and Major Johns.
The president and the major, as well as everyone else, were ecstatic that the spaceship had survived. At the same time, they were sad about the number of people that had just been killed in Russia.
The president spoke first.
“Well done, Tom. I am sure by now you know that the Russians have suffered extreme damage and their missiles have been rendered useless.”
“Thanks, Mr. President and Major Johns. You did a tremendous job with the Pentagon planning this whole thing, and it worked out great for my ship. It looks like it is time to say bon voyage. I expect the Germans and Australians to turn back and join my ship in orbit. To leave the solar system, we are going to be using our propulsion system to fly at speeds that have never been attained before. I want to wish you all the best of luck in trying to extend living conditions on Earth and perhaps build some more spaceships. Dr. Sato does have all of your DNA samples, so I may be seeing some of you faster than you think is possible. I will take care of your families as long as we travel through space. Don’t worry about anything.”
The president spoke. “Best wishes, Tom. I will send you a digital postcard from Earth when we are ready to join you on “New Earth.” I need to sign off now. The press is waiting. People are desperate to know what has happened to the Imagine. Goodbye.”
“Somewhere on a TV screen in a restaurant, there are plenty of people who need some good news for once, Mr. President. I know the feeling. Thank you for everything!”
Soon after that, the Germans and Australians rejoined him in orbit.
Tom said, “Welcome back, commanders. Are we ready to see the universe now or have you had too much excitement already?”
Ian Thorpe said, “I think I can speak for the German ship in saying we can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings and look forward to many new adventures. Lead the way, Dr. Burns.”
Tom announced to everyone on all three ships, “The Russian threat has been neutralized. You are now free to unstrap yourselves and enjoy the ride as we go past Mars and beyond. Dorothy and Carson, let’s get this propulsion system going!”
Epilogue
Tom Burns, The Imagine
After Tom had made his announcement that the Russians had been disabled and they were now safe and ready to begin their journey to a new life, just about everyone on the Imagine, as well as the Frieden and the Kangaroo, breathed a sigh of relief.
Tom and Commanders Dresden and Thorpe set up communications and meetings between the American, Australian and German ships to discuss what the next steps should be.
Commander Thorpe said, “Congratulations on a great victory, Dr. Burns. If the United States had not defeated the Russians, I would not be telling you this now. I actually will miss Yuri and the Oligarch. He was just following orders. I am sure he had no intention, personally, of harming any of us.”
Commander Dresden of the German spaceship concurred. “We will miss Yuri’s expertise in space. He was the only one that had actually served on spaceships. I am sorry it came to this. Now there are just three spaceships left, and we have not even begun our voyage. I hope that we can overcome any future obstacles.”
Tom said, “And hopefully some more will follow given President Stevens’ hopes. And thanks for your support, commanders. I am sure all of us are extremely tired of trying to rush into space and defending ourselves against the Russians. Now we must decide what our immediate plans will be. I do not think we can rush off to Alpha Centauri at maximum speeds, considering how tired we are. And we need to get used to flying in space.”
Commander Thorpe said, “I agree with that sentiment and plan. My crew could use a few days of relaxation and test all of our systems before we reach the point we cannot return to Earth. Do you agree with this, Commander Dresden?”
Commander Dresden concurred. The three of them decided to take a few days to do what was necessary to prepare their crews and passengers, and then set a time to start the journey to the end of the solar system. Each commander would meet with his crew to ensure they were all set before moving forward.
After saying goodbye to each other, they made further plans and checked out their ships to make sure there was no damage following the launches. They all agreed that the crews needed to unwind from battle and take it easy. Wherever Tom walked on the ship, people were hugging him and each other at their good fortune.
Tom decided to turn over control of Imagine to his assistant commander, Gloria. Gloria had pretty much stayed in the background during the launch but had done a great job. Obviously, Tom could not be in control twenty-four hours a day, and he needed to see how Gloria performed now that they were actually in space.
Leaving Gloria in control, Tom met Sarah and Sam, and the three of them went to see Janet in her room. Tom knew that Janet must be feeling awful at the fact her dad had died. She had found out very discreetly and had basically retreated from everyone ever since.
Tom knocked at the door of Janet’s room and heard, “Come on in.”