RTWM P9
Jo wasn't sure what managed to comvince the President most: her sandwich; how much Jack was bigger and stronger than him; or Sara and her mind reading ability; but in the end, he agreed that they were right and they needed to protect Earth at all costs.
"We just let him go?" Jack didn't seem to want to let the President go, believing that he wouldn't comply, and would go to others and get them all arrested.
"You can trust him, Jack Bruno," Sara replied, reassuringly, "He only wants to help now. There is nothing more he wants to do than to help."
"Okay," Jack replied, not buying it. He turned to Jo, "Have you got your contacts ready?"
Jo had heard back from Aleksi, whom had some people in high places around the world ready to help, "Yes," she nodded.
"Great. We have the Rebels too, they're ready to help as much as they can," Jack informed them.
"Found some scientists," Alex said, "Harlan went off on his own, so we could do it quicker. None believed him," - she laughed to herself - "And most agreed to help that I saw."
"Okay, that's good. The President may not be reliable with all their weapons and that, so we have to make sure we have a substitute," Jack explained.
"Are we going to go onto the ship?" Jo inquired.
"Hopefully not," Jack replied, "If we can, we can open up a communication link and talk them out of it with the help of your important connections. But if it comes down to it, we may have to go aboard their ship somehow."
"Which is where the Rebels come in," Sara continued, figuring out the rest of the plan, "They have some small vessels that we could use to get aboard. I really hope it does not get to out of hand ..."
"Sara and I will need to go aboard anyway," Seth stated, receiving confused and slightly disapproving glances from Jack and Alex, "I would like to talk to some of the Rebels on-board and few of the others."
"And Sara?" Alex asked.
"I will go too," she replied.
The plan was in place. They had heard back from the President, saying that he had the Army on stand by if anything happened. Air Force fighter interceptors were circling the sky in case anything were to happen. Sara was opposed to this, but if they wanted the President on their side, they would have to go by his terms.
Seth and the some of the Rebels had prepared a ship and already gave Alex information for setting up a communication link on the right frequency. Alex, Harlan, a couple of Rebels, and the scientists they had had join them, were all working on the communication link. Jo was finishing off talking with her contacts about what was going to happen. Some of the leaders were opposed to working with terrorists, but they decided for the sake of the world they would shut up.
Most of the public thought there was a Military-Army-Air Force-Navy practice going on. Which was good, because no one was panicking, meaning no innocents were dying because of carelessness. Burke and the workers at Witch Mountain hadn't forgotten what they had planned during this attack. He refused to leave his office where he got first hand intel on the situation on what was going on.
Seth ordered the last few Rebels who were going to the mother ship onto the cargo ship. Sara was having last words with Jack about something. Seth waited for Sara impatiently. Alex was inside still working on the communication link, and couldn't come out to wish anyone luck, much as she would have liked to. Jo, after saying goodbye, headed inside to help Alex wherever she could.
"Good luck up there, guys," Jack said before waving and heading inside himself.
There was a few minutes before the cargo ship took off. Jack assumed it was to do with them doing last minute checks. He walked over to the kitchen table, which had been converted for science stuff.
"Done yet?" He asked, "You've been working on that for a while."
"Actually, yes. We just finished," Alex replied, "With a little help from the President, we managed to build a stable link."
"And you know it's stable, how?"
"We're about to check it now,"
"Oh, so you don't know if it actually works?" Jack laughed.
"Theoretically it should work,"
Jack was going to reply, but was stopped by the communication link was turned on.
"Is it set to the right frequency?" Alex asked after it refused to connect.
"Yes,"
"Why is it not working?" Alex asked, more to herself than anything.
"Maybe they have a blocker?" Jo offered, looking at a screen with a bunch of numbers and digits.
"Stephan, can you check that out? Hack into their mainframe?"
"Will try," Stephan replied, getting to work.
"Good," Alex nodded, then turned to Jo, "Are you able to check outside? I'm expecting a load of more equipment."
Jo just nodded in return and walked outside.
Scott looked around the room. The sirens had gone off again. Scott couldn't help but hope it was Seth and Sara. He looked at the security camera. It showed no signs of life, which meant that he could attempt another escape.
Only this time, he didn't need to. The door slid open and in walked Clint, leader of the Fifth Column on Earth. Scott stood up to greet his old friend. They smiled at each other.
"I did not expect to see you so soon, Clint," Scott stated, shaking Clint's hand.
"Nor did I," Clint replied, "Listen we have to locate the others' and tell inform them of what is going on, we need to stop this before it gets too out of hand."
"I've tried, no one will listen,"
"But you are not me," Clint had a point there. He was former leader, he had just about as much respect and authority as the current leader, "I can talk to them."
"Everyone believes that you are dead,"
"I am flesh and blood, I can show them other wise,"
"Okay," Scott nodded his agreement, "Most will be in the Meeting Room, I suspect."
Scott lead Clint towards the Meeting Room, it had been a while since he was last on-board a vessel such as this. Almost ten years. Clint was one of the greatest leaders in all of history. He was originally a war commander, but left to be leader after his wife, Caroline, was murdered during one of the most notorious battles in history. Most believe the war changed him, he's more peaceful and can almost always find another way other than violence.
Along the way, the didn't encounter any guards or military officers, which was strange. Scott believed it was because they were preparing to attack Earth. Half way there, the rest of the Rebels joined Clint and Scott. They neared the door to the Meeting Room, when Scott noticed he didn't see his kids.
"We thought they had a change of plans, and stayed," Clint stated, "they were originally going to come with us, but they disappeared. We assumed they went to help elsewhere, and we had a deadline and had to leave."
"Okay," Scott nodded, "I thought they would be here, that is all."
"As did we," Clint agreed, "How many people do you expect to be in the Meeting Room?"
"Most of the population on this ship,"
Clint opened the panel beside the door. It required a hand print, and none of the Rebels nor Scott were eligible to open the doors, with their access having been revoked. Clint examined the wiring in the panel. Nothing seemed to change when it came to wiring. Clint was a master engineer. He knew the wiring inside out, even though he didn't remember his was around the mother ship.
The door swung open a few moments later. The groups of Rebels entered the Meeting Room. It was a large room, like an assembly hall. Everyone was sitting calmly in their assigned seats. The little noise that was in the room ceased as soon as the Rebels stepped inside. Clint walked around towards the front stage. Everyone watched him. No eyes left him. Some recognized him as their old leader, they were either shocked or relieved. Others who didn't recognize him were either young folk, or were at the back of the room and couldn't see properly.
"I am Clint," Clint cleared his throat, "the former leader, ten years ago." -few people gasped- "I am here to tell you some important news, regarding this new found invasion to Earth. I have been told that I was claimed dead for the past few years. That is not entirely true. I have been alive and well, living as happily as a lone one can." -he paused- "I wanted to tell you all that I have been living on Earth since I left leadership. I did not choose to leave, I was informed that if I did not comply, I would regret it. I left to Earth to protect it and its people. I just want to say that we do not need to invade their planet, they would make great allies. If you just think about it, we need to stop this invasion before it starts."
"But they kidnapped some of your people," someone from the middle of the audience called out.
"Really? Who? I do not recall anyone being kidnapped," Clint looked towards Scott for clues. Scott didn't know what the man was talking about.
"Seth and Sara," the person replied. Others yell out in agreement, "they were kidnapped the first time they went there. They returned back to our planet, then got kidnapped again, from their own home this time."
Clint flicked Scott another glance. Scott decided to join Clint on stage. As he walked up, he said, "Seth and Sara were never kidnapped. They loved Earth and its people, they only want to protect it. They went back to try protect it more once they found out we were going to harm it."
"But, our leader said,-"
"He lied," Clint explained, "He is a lier. He only wants to be powerful, and he will do anything to get that power. Now he wants to hurt these people to gain more power."
"Why would he lie to us? He has all the power he could ever dream for,"
"He does not think so. He wants more. I believe he wants people to fear him. In the end, he does not care for us, for you or your families," Clint said, "the people of Earth have weapons, they will put up a good fight, but they will be unsuccessful. We will be damaged in the end, too. We do not want to be damaged or hurt. We want to be whole and pure. We want to have a good reputation throughout the universe. The Good Race, I have heard some call us. Declaring war will not help us keep that name, we may even spark those who like Earth, and they will make war with us. One war, sure, we will be fine. Two wars? One after the other? We will be affected too greatly." -he paused, looking around the room,- "And what do you think Earth did to deserve this? They are rather peaceful, only wanting the best for their race, just like us."
"They are insignificant and tiny. What does it matter if we kill them?"
"Some have created a communication link to talk with us," Clint informed them, ignoring the last comment.
Clint looked over at the other Rebels. One of the ex-technicians was working away on his device. Clint assumed he was help the Humans successfully sustain a communication link.
Alex finished typing away at the computer, "Nearly there, Stephan?"
"Yes, ma'am," he agreed.
"Are Aleksi and the 'good' half of Jo's contacts here?" Alex asked.
"Yes," Aleksi replied.
"And the 'bad' half of the contacts?"
"Preventing the President, or others from breaking down this place," Aleksi answered.
"And your job is …?"
"To make sure the 'bad' ones do not start trouble with the 'good' ones, and vise versa,"
"Good," Alex looked at Stephan again and was about to ask him how he was getting on, when he replied;
"Done. Communication link ready to go,"
"Setting up link in 3 … 2 … 1 …" the link opened up on the large screen in front Alex, "Thank you Stephan."
The screen showed the Meeting Room where Clint and the Rebels were standing, with the alien population behind them.
"Ah, Alex Friedman, got the communication link working, I see?" Clint said, then turned to the audience, "this is Alex Friedman, she is a scientist on Earth and helped Seth and Sara when they first went to Earth. She is a trustworthy ally and can prove the Humans are not what you think they are."
Aleksi looked around the room, "Where is Jo?" he asked.
"What d'you mean?" Hunter asked.
"She went to check outside for new equipment and never came back," Aleksi replied.
"Oh, well maybe she went for a walk?" Hunter offered.
"It is not like her to just leave like this,"
"Should we go check outside then? Make you feel better, old man,"
Hunter headed outside, followed by Aleksi. There was nothing except backyard. No one was out there. Aleksi continued to look around, yet didn't find Jo anywhere.
"Where would she go?" Aleksi asked.
"I still have no idea, and I don't know why you're asking me,"
"Rhetorical question," Aleksi stated, heading back inside. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. He went to Jack, "Do you know where Jo is? I cannot find her."
"No, I don't," Jack replied.
After thinking about it, Aleksi stopped Alex from talking, and said over the communication link, "Is Seth or Sara there?"
"No, we thought they were with you," came the reply, "why? Are they alright?"
"Yes, yes, everything is fine," Aleksi replied, trying not to make Earth sound bad. Aleksi went back to Jack, "Seth, Sara and Jo are gone. Do you know where they'd be?"
"I know one place," Jack nodded, grabbing his coat, "Does the President know about this?"
"I do not think so," Aleksi said, "He is supposed to be here in a few moments."
"Okay, we'll I think I might know where they are," Jack pulled the door open.
"I'm coming!" Hunter called, following them.
"Where?"
"Be right back, Alex," Jack called over the chatter of all the people in the room. He turned to Hunter and Aleksi, "Do you know a guy named Burke?"
x x x
This is supposed to be my second to last chapter, but seeing how much I didn't put into this chapter, I think there might be 2-3 more- which I'm happy about, I don't want this to end! D;
Any unanswered questions that I need to answer in the coming chapters? Just so I don't forget anything! And I will be getting to Rebecca possibly in the next chapter or so.
I wrote this chapter faster than I'd planned on. O: You're welcome.(; haha. Hope it is of good quality! Hope you enjoyed it! Please comment and what-not.
- Chase Bond.
