Here's the 3rd submission for round 2. Enjoy.

There’s no Place like Haven

by Samuel T. Cogley

“Holy crap, Gary! What happened down there?” Garland Bothwell was jolted awake by his wife’s voice as her image flickered on the screen.
“Oh..Honey..It’s a long story. You must be hearing all kinds of crazy stuff on the news.”
“Did the boys make out alright?”
“Yeah, I was the last one out. I cut it pretty close. I think my shuttle got it’s tail singed a little.” Gary began to recount the tale of his family’s escape from the settlement on the planet below. The day had started out normal enough. The alarm clock woke him up at 8:00 am with the news broadcast. He liked to listen to the stories from Earth since his family left nearly a year ago. It was such a contrast from the life they had made on Kepler 484c, or Haven as it was locally known. The boys should have been out checking the moisture level in the fields by this time. As he began to sip his orange juice, he got a call from his oldest boy, Max.
“Dad! You there?”
“Yeah, Max. What’s up?”
“Switch your news to the local broadcast. Something weird is going on. Dewey and I are headed back to the house now.” Gary called up the local broadcast, but all that was playing was an evacuation order on repeat.
“This is not a drill. This is an actual emergency. Proceed to evacuation shuttles for immediate departure.” The message continued to repeat as Gary ran from the kitchen to his office and brought up the local news net. The headline filled the screen. “Reclaimer ships sighted in orbit. Evacuation in progress.” Gary noticed the time stamp was several hours ago. They would be planet-side by now. He disconnected the computer core unit and slid it into the back of his portable smart pad, then he made for the front door. Max called again. “Dad! We’re pulling into the yard. Where are you?!”
“I’m headed out the front door.” He looked to the North as he came out and saw something on the horizon. It was a Reclaimer ship, and it wasn’t wasting any time. “Max! We gotta go now!” Gary exclaimed as he jumped into the farm truck.
“Who are the Reclaimers, Dad?” asked Dewey.
“Environmental extremists.” said Gary. “They oppose any off-Earth settlement. They use those giant ships to remove anything man-made. The irony is that they do more damage than settlers ever would.” Dewey looked out the back window. The mammoth ship was ripping out fence posts and irrigation conduits at the edge of the farm with an intense yellow beam. “I didn’t know they had left the Sol system.”
“Is Mom still up at the station?”
“As far as I know. I hope she stayed there when the Reclaimer ships were sighted in orbit.”
Dewey and Gary looked back again to see the tractor that was in the yard being pulled up by the yellow beam. The house was next. Gary was glad he had taken his computer core.
“What about the settlers defense corps?” Max asked.
“They are spread pretty thin, and Haven is relatively new settlement. They‘ll get here, but it may not be soon enough. Dang! I hope your mother stayed put.” Max hit the accelerator hard enough to throw them back in their seats. The family was headed to a shuttle hangar on the other side of the mesa near the power station. The other farmers in the area would be headed there as well. Gary had an idea. If the Reclaimers were slowed down, maybe the defense corps would have a chance at stopping them.
“There’s the shuttle hangar. Looks like the McDaniel’s are there already.” said Max.
“Good for them.” thought Gary. Max stopped the truck at the hangar door and the boys got out.
“Dad! Come on!” yelled Dewey.
“Here, take the computer core. There’s something I have to do. I’ll follow you guys up in the last shuttle. Jump in with the McDaniel’s. They should have room.” Gary got into the driver seat and floored it, leaving the two boys standing there. He looked into the rear view mirror and saw them boarding the shuttle with Bob McDaniel.”Thanks Bob.” whispered Gary. The power station was just ahead, and the behemoth Reclaimer ship was roughly a mile away. “This is going to be close.” Gary muttered to himself. He had helped install this power reactor when the farms were established. The Reclaimer ship was sure to rip it up, and a reactor overload could do some heavy damage to it. The power station was automated, with a control room near the entrance. The farmers maintained it, so Gary had the codes in his smart pad to get in and access the computer. He cranked the output to full and routed the power stream back into the reactor. Then he made for the exit. The long dark shadow of the reclaimer ship blanketed the station as Gary jumped back in the truck and took off for the hangar. He pulled up to the hangar, ran inside and saw Bernie Garth and his family boarding the last shuttle.
“Gary! Get in here. We have room!” Bernie yelled. Gary boarded the shuttle and closed the hatch.
“Punch it, Bernie!” The shuttle rumbled as it left the hangar, and Gary buckled himself into the last remaining seat.
“What were you doing by yourself? Where are Allison and your boys?” asked Bernie.
“Allie is up on the station, and the boys made it out with the McDaniel’s. I had to leave a little treat for that Reclaimer ship.”
“The power station?”
“Yep. It should be gobbling it up just about now. Things could get a little bumpy.”
“It’s going down, alright. Hold on.” The gigantic ship plowed into the ground, and the shock wave rocked the shuttle violently. Bernie hit the throttle and the ride smoothed out. Gary relaxed and began to nod off as the shuttle left the atmosphere. It was then that his smart pad screen lit up and Allison’s face appeared.
“Holy crap, Gary! What happened down there?”