Zed's Adventure   P. S. Gifford     © Copyright 2004 by P. S. Gifford

Zed "lucky" Brock was finally sitting in the pilot's seat. After months of anticipation and training the grand moment had finally arrived. Taking a deep long breath he held it for a few moments in a hopeless attempt to steady his growing excitement combined with anxiety .Adjusting his position slightly in his seat Zed attempts to make himself as comfortable as he can. With trembling fingers he powers up the systems central computer and all the appropriate equipment flashes and bleeps accordingly. Then an encrypted message pops up onto his monitor. He quickly types in his secret password that whirs the encryption software into motion.

"This is the President of the federation of the United nations. Over the last few days, as you have been briefed, the invasion plans have escalated beyond our darkest fears. At this very moment thousands of alien battleships are taking position upon our planet Earth. There is one chance however as our team of top scientists discovered a curiously large object on our glibick sonar sitting in space just outside our atmosphere. It is our contention that this is a mother ship and is co-ordinating their entire mission. Without it we believe that the mission will be vanquished. Our only hope for mankind as we know it-is you. You are now sitting at the controls of our newest craft the FX16-Z. Although still a prototype it is the quickest and most agile craft that the federation has ever developed. It has been deemed by your commanders that you are our most pre-eminent pilot... Good luck and God bless you."

Zed felt the adrenalin thrust through his veins as he fired up the engine, and then he shot of the dock with lightening speed. Within just a few minutes he had left the Earth's atmosphere, and was steadily approaching his target.

Suddenly he notes on his rear monitor that he has company -three enemy fighter craft were approaching his tail fast. He quickly reviewed his artillery options. Missiles-in various types- Sworkel bombs, lightning rays and his favourite conventional ammunition ? bullets- fired from a gun located on the front of his craft. He chuckled to himself he was going to defeat them the old fashioned way, in a good old boy American dog-fight. Suddenly and unexpectedly Zack drops altitude and the three crafts zoom straight in front of him, then he starts to climb once more, straight onto the tail end of the first one. .He begins ferociously humming Beethoven's ninth. Zed gets the ship firmly in his sights and unleashes a fast volley of ammunition. This obviously caught the alien pilot by surprise as before he knew what had hit him violent flames ignited from his engine compartment, and within moments with a terrific explosion was reduced to nothing more than a fire-ball. This apparently garnered the attention of the other two fighters as they hastily darted off in separate courses.

 "Ah Cowards" he thought "the blighters are retreating!" His humming intensifies further. Then he realises that their withdrawal was short lived as he watches his monitor in horror suddenly realising that they were aiming their ships directly towards him. Holding his position steadfast he watches his prey advancing at a remarkable speed. "Must say focused" he thought. "I must stay focused and wait till just the right moment." He activates his defence shield to the highest level knowing full well that he only has enough power to maintain it for a few minutes at a time. He sees sharp flashes of light coming towards him -small missiles he realises- and braces himself for action. Suddenly he jolts his ship nimbly to the right and then to the left. Three of the missiles fly by him, just missing him, but alas the other two are straight on hits. He reviews the damage report, minimal, the shield had withheld well. Then with perfect timing unleashes two lighting bolts which roar and crackle as they leap from his craft. Boom, two direct hits. Zack watches satisfied as the enemy crafts spiral out of control and fall away. It was time to go forward with his mission and after thirty minutes he finally spies it- the Mother Ship .It was strangely beautiful- a gigantic silver glowing sphere rotating gently in the dark emptiness of space. He is amazed by its almost hypnotic magnificence as he checks his equipment; his power was still low surely he did not have enough resources to defeat such a monster. His thinking was quickly disturbed by the realization that two more fighters were firmly once more on his tail. He drops altitude again once more attempting to maneuver his favourite trick. However this time, the opposition drops with him. He must think he has to consider his actions carefully. The fate of the planet was in his hands-the same hands which were starting to tremble upon there controls. He sees his enemies fire upon him once more he turns to the left and then to the right. "I must avoid them" he screams out loud. "I simply must?" But his averting this time was without success as he realises that he had been hit -a direct hit. As Zed began to yell at the realization his craft suddenly explodes into millions of tiny fragments.

 Just then Zed heard a familiar voice-his mother's...

"Zed,come down stairs now! You have played play station long enough today. You can try again to defeat the mother ship tomorrow. You only turn eight years old once and all of your friends are waiting for you at the party so they can start on the cake and ice cream!"

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