Chapter Three

The Saviour V Satellite

"Have you got the reports?"

"Somewhere around here…"

"Somewhere isn't useful."

"Hold on to your horses. It'll be here," William Milano said as he pushed past numerous printed paper that filled a filing cabinet haphazardly.

"I told you to organize your system," Mike Milano crossed his arms, looking irritated at his brother.

"It is organized," William said, peering at the small black text.

"Sure," Mike rolled his eyes. He glanced at the white watch strapped to his wrist that was set to the Central European Time Zone. Ten minutes to go before they were supposed to report down, though with William throwing papers left and right it seemed like they might actually have to clock in late.

"Ah-ha!" William lifted a piece of paper in success, waving it above his head. "This is what we want," He stood and passed the paper over to Mike, who glanced at it.

"…What is this?" Mike said doubtfully as he looked at the text.

"Everything we need to report on," William replied, bemused. "It's in shorthand."

"Wonderful. You'll be doing the report then. No way I can understand this nonsense," Mike handed the sheet of paper back and stomped over to one of the white stools sitting in front of a group of four screens. He sat down with a sigh, watching William read over the paper, evidently trying to figure out just what his shorthand meant.

Both Milano siblings were dressed in the same uniform of white with grey highlights, both wearing badges on their breast pockets that depicted the letters 'SV' in silver metal. Mike was the stockier of the two, standing shorter with broader shoulders. His hair was cropped short and his face was clean-shaven, much the opposite of his brother. William sported a full head of hair that trailed down his shoulders and a beard that he hadn't cut ever since they arrived at the Saviour V satellite. He was tall, slim, and often sported a smile as well as having a tendency to goof-off.

While Mike certainly got annoyed at William's antics sometimes, there was no denying that the Milano siblings worked amazingly in tandem as a team. William was the mechanic and inventor, having got enough degrees in the field to fill a small wall. Many of his innovations from his youth were still used by the DSI today. Mike had been a pilot in the RAF when he was young, before pursuing his childhood dream of manning a space shuttle.

He had been the thirteenth man to step on the moon in 2019 and that experience had been absolutely amazing. To stand where no man had stood since 1972 and look down upon the planet Earth was quite frankly beautiful. After he had come back down he had been approached by a representative of the DSI's Board, who recruited him to the Saviour program and had been eventually selected to head up and man Saviour V the year before in 2023, along with his brother.

He didn't regret the decision, even though it had meant leaving Rose behind. Rose was strong though, and Mike knew that she'd make her way through the world without his unnecessary interference. Waking up and looking out the window to see the Earth so far out never got old.

William, on the other hand, had had a hard year. Initially he had been excited to follow in his older brothers footsteps to go out into space and had certainly enjoyed the first week or so – the first week was the busiest as they set up all the cameras and the systems needed to communicate and update the DSI's Monitoring Facility. Then William had started to feel homesick and the feeling had gotten worse and worse. He had left behind his family – his living wife, Evie Milano and his newborn daughter Marianne. That was the hardest for William – having to watch his wife on a transmission, speak to her through a communicator. Being unable to touch Marianne, to hold her in his arms… William had spent a few days absolutely miserable.

Yet, at the end of the day, they both knew what they had signed up for. A manned satellite mission for a year in order to monitor the Saviour V to keep it running. That year was nearly over though and in only a few short weeks the DSI would be sending up a shuttle to pick up the Milano siblings so they could visit their families, rest up, and decide if they would come back up or switch out. Mike knew he would stay though he fully expected William to hang up the spacesuit.

"Deciphered it," William announced triumphantly, sitting on the stool next to his brother. "Time?"

"Nearly there."

"Wonder how Rose is doing down there," William mused, sticking the paper to the side of the monitor with a wad of Blu-Tack. "Sub-Director's a hard job."

"She's got it in her," Mike said, clicking a few buttons to set up the link on the monitor. "Gabriel will be getting under her skin, but that's not too much of a surprise." Mike had never met Gabriel Evrard but he had heard of him. Definitely not the kind of person Rose would get along with. That was the one thing he didn't like about being up here. Transmissions were limited and he was unable to talk with Rose privately. It would always be in the Monitoring Station, with Director Evrard in the room along with all the rest. He didn't know how Rose was doing, didn't know what was making her happy, what was making her sad.

When he got back down he couldn't wait to sit down with her one-on-one and find out just what was going on in her life. It must have been a hectic year for her, learning the tricks of the trade of being Sub-Director for the Monitoring Facility.

"Right, I'm activating the transmission," Mike said, tapping away on the keys in front of him. The screens flickered to black for a moment, before all coming to life.


Director Gabriel Evrard stood in front of the monitor with his hands linked behind his back. William and Mike Milano had both appeared on screen; Mike hadn't changed a bit since the last transmission but William's hair and beard had grown even longer. Standing next to the Director was Rose, fighting to keep a professional look on her face though the smile was slipping out.

Seeing Mike and William face-to-face (albeit over computer screens) was a brilliant feeling.

"Mornin' Rose," The wrinkles on either side of Mike's eyes crinkled as he smiled down at his daughter. "How are you doing?"

Hearing his voice was even better. "I'm doing great, thank you, Dad," Rose said. She would have liked to explain that Director Evrard was keeping things from her but she couldn't exactly report that with the Director standing next to her.

"Wonderful," Both father and daughter could see that the other was holding words back, stopped by Director Evrard's presence. "Director." His tone grew professional. "Greetings."

"Michael," Evrard refused to call anyone by a shortened name, believing it to be unprofessional. "William."

"'Sup?" William smiled from under his beard, as unprofessional as ever. "Hey, Rose. You're looking well."

"Thanks," Rose smiled back. William was great as an Uncle. Not only had he helped Mike raise Rose, but he would always know the perfect way to have fun. Whether that was climbing up a massive tree at Louella Park or wading knee-high in Canadian snow, Mike's holidays were the highlight of Rose's teen years. He was also perfect for talking about problems at school and college, back when Rose had been in them. Talking about boys and girl problems made Mike feel extremely awkward but William was perfectly mature about it, which came as a surprise to everyone involved.

"Before we get started, I have a visitor who has requested to talk to you; A request which I have granted," Director Evrard said, stepping backwards.

"Surprise!" Jamie stood forward in front of the monitor and let out a little wave. "Mikey, Will. How's it goin' up there beyond the great blue sea?"

"Jamie?!" Both Mike and William echoed at exactly the same time. They both wore the same expression of absolute glee, almost childlike in its intensity.

"What are you doing down there?" Mike questioned.

"I thought you were in Siberia?" William asked.

"How's the travelling going?"

"Have you spoken to Evie?"

Jamie chuckled and put her hands out. "Whoa, boys, boys. So many questions." However it was clear Jamie was absolutely pleased. It had been so long since the three of them had seen each other. "I'm here in passing, Siberia was eight months ago, I've been all over the world, and Evie says little Marianne is very much looking forward to meeting her Daddy."

A strange look flitted past William's face – too quick for anyone other than Jamie and Rose to catch. Then it morphed into a wide smile. "Brilliant! If you see 'em before I do, tell 'em Daddy is looking forward to meeting his little Princess."

"Who's that?" Mike pointed his finger on the monitor, towards Tanzi who was standing slightly nervously behind Jamie.

"My charge for the moment, Tanzi Sakamoto. Tanzi, these two are Mike and William Milano."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Tanzi quickly threw away her nervousness and nodded towards the monitors. "I've heard much from Jamie."

"Oh God, what has she told you?" William's eyes widened in horror. Tanzi chuckled, immediately liking the bearded Milano brother.

"Good things, don't worry," she smiled. "Mostly." William let out a wide laugh and Mike also smiled at this, with Jamie joining in.

"That's enough," Director Evrard interrupted the three best friend's conversation, his mouth a thin line. He clearly didn't approve of the unprofessional conduct for a transmission. "We have directives to cover. I need a report on the status of the satellite."

"No problem," William's eyes flickered to the side, clearly looking at some kind of piece of paper. "We're runnin' low on fuel but that was to be expected. The refill is in two weeks so that's no problem. There's been some slight problems with the Oxygen system in Section E; nothing serious, flickering in and out. I think it'd be a good idea to send up a technician on the change-over. Something's up with the engine as well – don't panic," William quickly said upon looking at Director's Evrard's alarmed expression. "It's nothing to worry about, Mike knows exactly what the problem is."

Mike took over the explanation. "There's a slightly loose weld. It'll hold on till change-over, but I'll definitely need to have some words with the men who worked on the satellite. I've noticed a few other sloppy welds, bolting, and fixtures as well. Over the years they have become a little more prominent. Quite frankly, I did not expect such careless work. I would like the engineers on change-over to do a full once-over of the satellite and make sure that they correct any permutations."

"Request granted," Director Evrard nodded. "Is that everything?"

"Regarding the condition of the satellite, yes."

"Thank you. How many reported openings in Europe since the last transmission?"

"We've counted six, though as you know there will likely have been more. Two in France, one in Italy, another in Germany, and the one in Paris that you knew about," William continued, shrugging. "'Least it was night time. Saviour I has shared their data regarding possibly being able to predict the openings of the rifts. Mike and I have looked over the theory and I gotta say, it holds weight."

"Yes," Evrard said. "If we can decipher a pattern and then predict when a Rift will open, we will be able to send in a drone. Find out what exactly is on the other side." Evrard tapped his finger on his chin. "The Board will be happy with that news. Now, other than the Rifts, any other unusual activity?"

"Nothing outside of the usual. Phone calls about ghost sightings, texts about spotting monsters… you know the drill. We're working with your technicians to single out what is worth following up on," William reported.

"Hmm…" Evrard glanced quickly as Rose, which Rose didn't fail to miss. "What about the search for those two?"

"Those two?" Mike raised an eyebrow, glancing to Rose, seeing her surprised expression, correctly guessing that she didn't have any idea what they were talking about. "You mean the search for Hawk and Kelly, Director?" He asked innocently – though Rose didn't fail to see the glint in his eye, nor fail to miss the slight sigh in the Director's following words.

"Yes. Any sightings?"

"A mention of an old Irish boxer re-emerging in Dublin but whether or not it's Harold Kelly we can't be sure. Though we did get a report on an 'Abraham Eagle' and a 'Gene Harvey' booking a flight at the Dublin Airport."

This seemed to get Director Evrard quite excited. "Those are known aliases! We must act immediately!"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Director," William said casually. "As you say, those are known aliases. Hawk and Kelly are a whole lot more smarter than that."

"It's been ten years. Maybe they have gotten sloppy."

"Or maybe that's what they want you to think," Mike said firmly. "Hawk was always a tricky one."

"Hawk was always a prick," William scoffed, causing Jamie to let out a sharp laugh that she quickly stifled after the look Evrard gave her.

"Be that as it may, we still reported the flight to Saviour I. If it's a bluff, then they'll be in America by now. The flight was to Texas. But I highly doubt it's them," Mike explained then his expression changed. He glanced to another screen. "William."

"I see it," William's carefree expression was gone and he straightened in his seat, leaning towards the screen. "Shit." His tone, while not panicking, was definitely not good.

"What's wrong?" Rose called out, worried. However Mike and William weren't concentrating on them.

"Mikey?" Jamie asked, stepping forward. She recognised the look in Mike's eyes and it was a look she hadn't seen for a very long time. "Hey, Mikey, what's up?"

"Report, Michael," Director Evrard followed up.

"Ruptured fuel line," Mike reported quickly and a deathly silence crept over the Monitoring Facility. "We're on it." And with that Mike and William Milano shot away from the monitors so quickly that they hadn't even turned the transmission off.

"R-Ruptured…" Something within Rose seemed to grow in her stomach and she took a step back. She glanced at Jamie and saw that Jamie had grown pale.

"He wasn't telling us something," Jamie said with a quiet voice. "He was holding something back."

Rose shook her head. "Everything's fine, right, everything's…" She felt her legs wobble and almost lost her balance had Tanzi Sakamoto not placed her hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"Don't panic," Tanzi said carefully, peering up at the screen. "That's the worst thing you can do."

"Mikey will deal with it," Jamie said, also stepping towards Rose. Though it seemed like she was persuading herself more than anyone else. "He always does."