CHAPTER TEN
xx
Juliet's stomach was tied up in knots. She glanced down to her watch and saw that it was nearly 1130. She looked out of the window and realised that Central was not that much further away.
She turned back to Jake who was trying to be brave for his son. The Visitor patroller who was aboard the bus spoke up in a loud sharp voice.
"When we get to central, you will all leave this bus and wait at the gate. Once there all your questions will be answered and if you have any concerns, it will be a chance to bring them up"
VVV
At Central, the group of resistance fighters were hiding at the plaform area awaiting the time to join the other prisoners on the train. Each had slipped on one of the armbands that singled them out as scientists.
VVV
Kristine Walsh slipped her shoes on and glanced again at the note that she had found on the table top the night before.
BIG STORY
She frowned. She was also abit unnerved because it was obvious that somebody at broke into her apartment while she was in the shower.
Mike had to be apart of it surely. He had broken into her apartment before, there was always the chance that he would do it again.
She had called her cameraman this morning and he was going to meet her at the depot. She bit her lip and felt abit awkward. She hadn't informed the Visitors about what she was doing and she felt kind of bad, especially because they had been so good to her since their arrival and curing her mother like they had done at the healing center was way beyond anything she could do to repay their kindness.
Kristine stood up and grabbed her purse. She was at first and foremost a journalist, a newswoman and this was her job.
A car honked it's horn outside. She checked her hair in the mirror picked up her keys from the side and left the apartment.
VVV
The yellow school bus was parked outside of Central and the scientist prisoners were off loaded and lined up at the gate. People in the street looked at them and some were vocal enough to give them a barrage of abuse about how selfish they had been for keeping back cures for cancer, and saying that the world no longer needed human scientists because the Visitors have promised to cure and make everything right in the world so they wouldn't be the need for them.
Juliet lined up and leaned on her cane. She spotted Sancho across the street at the payphone and he gave her a very slight nod. She acknowledged him but was very subtle and nobody even knew she saw him.
Jake Marshall and his family clung close together. The Visitor patrollers came forward and made sure everybody was in line. A shuttle glided past and Juliet noticed that more and more of the Visitors propaganda posters were evident promoting the Visitors universal friendship with the people of Earth.
The gates were open and the line was on the move.
VVV
Kristine was in the back of her cab and it stopped a little way up the street from the industrial center depot. A van was parked underneath a pine tree and she saw her cameraman was at the wheel. She stepped out of the cab and it drive off. She crossed over to the van.
"So what's this all about?", asked the man in the drivers seat.
Kristine told him the truth, "I really haven't a clue Glen...I just got this note saying about a BIG STORY...what time do you make it?"
"It's a little after 12 noon..."
Kristine nodded, "1300 hours the note said...this better be good"
VVV
On the platform at Central, Juliet stood and looked about her, she could see that the resistors with the armbands had infiltrated with the others and stood about her on the platform.
Visitors guarded them with the rifles at the ready and their faces hidden behind their dark visors.
"ATTENTION - WHEN THE TRAIN COMES TO A HALT YOU WILL ALL MOVE ONTO THE COMPARTMENTS QUICKLY AND QUIETLY - REPEAT - MOVE QUICKLY AND QUIETLY - ALL YOUR QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT DEPOT 4"
Juliet glanced at her watch and swallowed down. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel uneasy, her heart was racing and she just hoped that everything went to plan.
VVV
Glen peered through a pair of binoculars and gave Kristine a running commentary.
"There's something going on down there...this place is more than a place to off load cargo...I can see inside the hangar and there are about 4 or five shuttles parked inside..."
Kristine frowned and took the binoculars from him and had a look for herself, "yes...I can see...that's really strange...it's as if they are inside the hangar because they don't want anybody to see them...?"
Glen nodded to the perimeter fense, "I'm gonna take a closer look..."
Kristine nodded and stood by the van and watched him go...
VVV
The train pulled in at Central and the doors slid open. Julie watched as some of the scientists boarded the train without question, but for those people were unsure and hestitant got a swift shove from a Visitor patroller who 'made sure' they boarded the train without any trouble.
Juliet used her cane and Jake helped her on board, the under-cover resistance fighters made sure that they were spread out along all of the carriages.
Juliet sat down and held onto the rail as the train started to move.
VVV
At the depot, Glen stalked the perimeter fense and saw that a heavy Visitor presence was now dominant. He knew this place because he used to live around here as a teenager. This place was just your everyday industrial center.
Why would there be a need for heavy Visitor presence for?
Kristine was getting edgy. Of course she trusted the Visitors, they had done nothing but good in her eyes since they had first arrived and she was already at the planning stages of writing a book about her experiences.
She felt guilty. Like she was going behind the Visitors back. Diana had been so good to her and had awarded her the Visitor spokesperson role.
She felt like she was spying. But she was a newswoman too
And she knew that Mike was somehow at the bottom of all this.
Glen was hurrying back to her, "Kris...somethings gonna happen what time is it?"
She glanced at her watch, "it's coming up to 1230"
"1300 you said...not long to wait now..."
VVV
On the train, resistance fighter Howard looked across to another fighter Roger. He gave a slight nod and the other nodded back.
They waited for a Visitor patroller to walk by before Howard stood up and looked up to the secret compartments in the ceiling. The scientist next to Howard frowned questioningly and then was wide eyed when a rifle was passed down to him.
"Pass the down", he hissed with an authoritive tone.
The scientist passed the rifle down to the couple in front of them and Roger was doing the same on his side of the train.
A Visitor patroller came through from the next carriage. The was a nervous tension in the carriage from everybody until he lifted his visor to reveal Mike Donovan.
More and more weapons were being passed down the aisles and this was happening in each of the eight carriages of the train.
Juliet clutched the handgun given to her and Jake was clutching a rifle at his feet, "So this is what you meant by 'I'll tell you later'", he hissed with a knowing smile.
Jake looked around and saw a Visitor come striding down the aisle towards them, "and if I tell maybe they'll go easy on my family!"
Juliet was shocked and tried to reach for him, "Jake no!"
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