Dr. Taylor introduced his distinguished visitors to the few staff still remaining, four mortals whose tasks were evidently the most important in relation to the mission. All stood as they were greeted in turn to shake hands with their visitors and explain briefly what they did. The first to greet them was the supervisor Kate, a well-dressed blonde woman in her thirties who couldn't stop smiling. She in turn introduced the trio to Jim, a man in his early middle-age, balding and sweating profusely whose job it was to sort and forward all communications to and from the Cape Canaveral. Declan wondered idly if the leaked video responsible for this mess had arrived at Jim's terminal first before an errant employee had smuggled it out and leaked it to the press.
A tall, lanky and young-looking man introduced himself as Dan before his supervisor could. Declan was distracted by the terrible beard the man was trying to grow. Though at least he has the option of trying he thought wistfully, reminded of his eternally smooth jaw, preserved as it was by the Tide Star in the same state as the moment he was immolated, Dan's job was to monitor the Cape Canaveral's systems diagnostics and let her crew, or his supervisor know if anything seemed amiss. Numbers on his screen were constantly updating information on pressures, power and oxygen levels and more, although like Declan's communication with Cayal, the numbers were a few minutes delayed.
Declan didn't need to check his watch for the time again since a large, analogue clock hung on one of the walls with a sign reading Cape Canaveral above it. It read 1:50am now. The Cape Canaveral and her crew still kept to a twenty four Earth hour schedule, the time aboard displayed on that clock. Declan pushed a button on his handset to send a message to Cayal letting him know that he could start. It would take about six minutes to reach him, but the delays had been foreseen and accounted for. Declan suspected Cayal would grateful for the chance to breathe some air and stand up after almost a month without the opportunity to do either.
Declan had tried to go without breathing once, not long after they first arrived on Earth. He wanted to see what happened to an immortal who couldn't breathe and so held himself underwater for a while. It took a few attempts but after a lot of failed starts, spluttering and choking he eventually managed to hold his breath. He remembered growing increasingly panicked as his body told his brain he needed air, but after he fought and successfully suppressed the urge and his body's natural survival instincts he was surprised to find that nothing happened. The panic and urgent need both subsided and he found he could remain there indefinitely.
Putting the handset back in his pocket, Deke Hawkins shook hands with the last person in the room. Robin, a man of average height and looks, was a psychiatrist and doctor of medicine. Even though equally qualified counterparts were on board the Cape Canaveral it was still beneficial to have someone on the ground to monitor the crew's mental and physical well being. Deke and Alice mingled, smiled and chatted with the staff until the clock read 1:58am, at which point Alice Marie politely excused herself and Deke Hawkins for a moment, her French accent giving her words a melodic aspect. They walked to stand by the entry door, murmuring and nodding while the onlookers wondered what they could be discussing.
"I should get started if you plan to make use of the full hour." she said, her Glaeban barely audible.
"Get ready now but don't do anything until precisely 2:00am. The timing is crucial."
"I understand that, my dear. Did you want me to get the guard at the front too, or just those in the building?" she asked, already plunging into the Tide. Declan could feel the currents and eddies swell around her, powerful from their proximity. Even after the many millions of years he'd known her, he had no idea just how powerful she was. He suspected that she was on par with Lukys and almost certainly more powerful than him though he was secretly grateful for not knowing.
"No, just the ones inside will do. I could have done it myself, but it would have been harder to keep it up and do what I'm really here for at the same time."
"I imagined the richest man in the world would have learned to multi-task." she smiled and concentrated for a moment. "There are fifteen people, including the ones in this room. I'm ready."
Declan glanced around at the mortals in the room with them. Taylor, Kate and Robin the doctor were still in conversation, occasionally glancing toward them by the door. Jim and Dan had returned to their seats but their eyes too were on them and thankfully not their screens. Those monitors in particular were going to see the most changes before Declan was done. He noted the time and turned back to whisper to Maralyce. "It's close enough." he whispered.
Maralyce closed her eyes and, beginning with those in the room with them, slowed the blood flow of every mortal in the facility. The elemental nature of the Tide meant she could control the water in their blood cells with the finest control that only a Tide Lord who has lived for millions of years on thousands of worlds could manage. The room's mortal occupants were completely frozen and as still as statues, both those standing and sitting alike. Apart from the sweat that still rolled down Jim's large brow, not a one could move or breathe. More importantly, their senses and minds were also shut down. Maralyce could still let air in and out of their lungs simply by changing the pressure outside their chests, but with bodily processes and brain functions slowed to practically a complete halt, very little air was needed.
Looking around at the living statues, Declan experienced a déjà vu to the time Maralyce had walked straight into the Conciergerie, one of the most heavily guarded buildings in Revolutionary France, where he was imprisoned as an ally to King Louis XVI. He had been sentenced to death by beheading, a fact that always elicited laughter from Cayal. With the Tide as low as it had been he could do nothing to save himself. His great-grandmother however appeared at his cell door one morning, threw him a change of clothes and marched him out, striding past his jailers all of whom were completely immobile, locked in the middle of whatever actions they had been taking. Opening and locking every door behind them, she escorted him away from the Île de la Cité the mortals around them oblivious and not a trace of the two of them left behind. His inexplicable disappearance, seemingly vanished into thin air had caused quite a stir.
Declan made his way to an unoccupied computer terminal, assured that Maralyce could keep his mortal employees locked in this state for as long as he needed. He sat down heavily, retrieving a small, silver flash drive from his pocket as he did so. Maralyce joined him, the currents he could feel around her becoming regular and settled.
"Now what are you doing?" she asked, her interest piqued.
"I created some computer programs to find and destroy any digital evidence relating to Arkady. Anything stored on the Canaveral's computer system, and by extension this facility, any images, video, documents or correspondence. Cayal should have docked about five minutes ago, so the computers in here will be lighting up any time now too. Everything is logged and cameras on-board are constantly recording. I have to erase everything that happens up there and in this facility over the course of the next hour."
"I see. You sent Cayal sixty million miles into space, timed his arrival at the exploration vessel to precisely coincide with ours here, at the exact time on this specific night?"
"Pretty much" replied Declan. "It had to be today, the first Sunday of November as it's the only day of the year I could make an entire hour disappear."
Maralyce smiled. "I didn't think you and Cayal could pull something like this off, but I have to admit I'm impressed. What happens next?"
"This facility is supposed to ignore changes to Daylight Savings Time, so Deke Hawkins will have to ask some questions about how this could have happened. Because the clock goes back to 2:00am in just under an hour from now, I can erase all the camera footage and logs from here and the Canaveral with hopefully no one realising the confusion until the morning. Cayal will have thirty minutes to retrieve any physical evidence up there and as for the crew, while I won't silence them, without any evidence Asteroid Girl will get relegated to a conspiracy theory."
Declan was typing and clicking at his computer even as they spoke, bringing up the files from his flash drive and choosing the correct one, he started the search for any data relating to Arkady. He also brought up images of the different camera feeds from aboard the Cape Canaveral on a neighbouring screen so he could see what happens. He could already see some of the crew, frozen by Cayal who was 'currently' docking, if young Dan's overactive monitor was to be believed. Soon he'd see the Immortal Prince, probably already aboard since the logs and feeds were delayed and soon after, perhaps a glimpse of Arkady too. He felt a mixture of dread and excitement at the thought of seeing her, even on a computer screen, but put aside his thoughts and emotions for later. For now, he had digital information to erase, tracks to cover and less than an hour to do so.