Chapter 12
Daniella says: It took a long time. But it's done. Thank you for sticking with me and with Anderson.
Earth
While the Centre Neptune scientists were working furiously to put into action the plan thought up by Sarah and her team, Miroslav called G-Force to his office for a final briefing before they took off.
"You will have a very narrow window to swoop down on Spectra and grab them, team," he said soberly. "Tiny, it will be mainly up to you — keep the Phoenix low enough to evade the radars — but high enough to avoid surface-to-air missiles, all right?"
"No sweat, Chief," replied Tiny nonchalantly.
"If you can't get them on your first scoop, you get out. I mean it!" he added, as he saw Mark, and Jason, getting ready to open their mouths.
They did so anyway.
"But Miroslav — Chief — give us at least another try. Second swoop, we don't get them, we're out," said Mark, trying to sound reasonable and convincing.
Acting totally out of character, maybe for the first time ever, Miroslav banged his fist on the desk.
"One swoop, team! I'm not going to risk you getting captured as well! And if you think Anderson, or Cronus, would want you to risk capture to rescue them, you don't know them at all!"
"We know them better than you do!" retorted Jason, ignoring Mark's warning squeeze on his shoulder.
"Say whatever you want, Jason, I don't care!" shouted back Miroslav. "But you will obey me! Commander, I will hold you personally responsible if my orders are not obeyed! One swoop, and you're out!"
"But, Chief," Princess tried to intervene, "the Chief and Cronus don't know we're coming. They might not be ready, or they might not manage to come to the Phoenix on our first scoop!"
"Give them…another chance!" added Keyop.
"Sorry, Keyop. One swoop is what they get. Are we clear?"
"Yes, sir!" saluted Mark.
As the team trooped out, Miroslav wasn't sure if he was hoping for his orders to be heeded — or not.
—
Spectra
—
Anderson and Cronus managed to nap for a few hours, spread out against the wall. Zoltar didn't bother them again, neither did any of his goons. When they woke up, Cronus brought up again the possibility of a rescue.
"We have to be ready, Jack," he yawned. "G-Force may still make it."
Anderson shook his head resignedly.
"No, Angus. It's over. Zoltar won this hand."
"Are you always so pessimistic?" growled Cronus. "And, by the way, the reason Zoltar wants to shoot us is precisely because he lost this hand."
"Yeah, well," conceded Anderson, "that's one good thing that came out of this whole sorry affair."
They were silent for a while.
"Should I try to leave a message for Sarah?" whispered Andersons after a while.
"Hey, man, you find a way to leave a message, you'd better leave the intel you gathered here!"
Anderson nodded.
"You're right. Pity I can't think of a way to do this."
"Desk-jockeys," mocked Cronus. "No sense of tradecraft."
"You got any bright ideas, hotshot?" retorted Anderson.
"Not at the moment, no… although, you know, if our execution is going to be broadcast all over the Federation, I'm sure we'll find a way to send a message."
"Hey, that's a good idea."
"Thank you Jack. That's why you need active field officers around."
They laughed at that.
"I'm glad we're together," whispered Anderson softly.
"Me too, mate. I'm glad we're together. Although, come on, now the Federation will have to replace me as well."
He grimaced mockingly. Anderson gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Yeah, good luck to Markic with that! And let's make sure we don't embarrass ourselves — or the Federation — out there…" he added, his voice little more than a whisper.
"What? Us? Never!" laughed Cronus. "Don't worry, Jack," he added soberly. "We won't. But in case G-Force shows up, you will be on your toes, right?"
"If you say so…" sighed Anderson. "But I wouldn't pin any big hopes on them. They will be needed on Earth to repel the attacks, not come after us."
"And Markic must be doing a good job until now, if the Federation hasn't surrendered," added Cronus. "You're not that irreplaceable after all, are you?"
Anderson snorted.
"The way things are turning out, I hope not!"
—
Spectra
—-
As the Phoenix approached Spectra, the team kept a close eye on developments around Earth and the solar system. The mechanism devised by Sarah and her colleagues seemed to be holding up — for the moment. The Federation was managing to repel a significant number of missiles, enough to give the exhausted evacuation crews time to get people out of the targeted cities.
"Keep your eyes peeled, team," cautioned Mark as they were approaching. "Go in low, Tiny. There's a good chance they will still see us, so, Jason, finger on the trigger, please."
Jason broke out in a huge grin.
"Though you'd never ask, Commander!"
"Princess, Keyop, keep your eyes on the defensive shields. And all of you — keep your eyes open for the Chief and Cronus. They're down there — and they've no idea we're coming."
—-
Earth
—
An exhausted Acting Chief Markic briefed again the Federation Council, ending on the upbeat note that Earth's defences were holding for the time being, and that a rescue mission was underway for Chief Anderson and Colonel Cronus. He refused to take any questions and left before the frustrated delegates could vent their irritation at having G-Force galloping off to save two officers — instead of staying to defend the Federation.
—-
Spectra
—-
Anderson and Cronus spent the night talking away, in between of taking short, fitful naps. They had no way of knowing, in their cell, when the dawn would be breaking, but they were steeling themselves for the contingent of goons that would take them to their place of execution. There were sure Zoltar would act quickly, not risking a delay in case a rescue was mounted, and publicly.
"You would've thought they'd give us at least a trial," mused Anderson at some point.
Cronus snorted.
"If you really expected that, Jack, you're a worse intelligence officer than I thought!"
"Well, see it this way" — Anderson turned to Cronus, warming to his subject — "Zoltar obviously still needs to continue projecting his power to his people. He needs to maintain a semblance of legitimacy. And he's definitely more clever than the Federation gives him credit for. He's lost the latest round. Markic hasn't surrendered. He's also grooming Mala — perhaps to take over from him one day. What better way to do this than to hold a trial, and use it to extol Mala's role in my capture? In our capture."
Cronus considered that.
"You know, he may still do that. But it will be a very fast trial."
"I'm worried about G-Force," ventured Anderson after a while.
"I'm worried about us," quipped Cronus. "We're the ones about to shot. Or hanged. Or something."
"Be serious for a moment, will you?" said Anderson, annoyed. "These young people will be the ones who will have to pick up the pieces after we're gone. Pick up the pieces, get their act together, and get back to defending the Federation. Mark…"
Cronus sensed his friend choking on his words.
"Mark managed just fine when he thought I'd been killed, Jack," he said softly. "He did his duty when he thought he was killing Princess in the process. He will definitely get over losing his grumpy Chief."
"But he will lose his father too… again…" whispered Anderson.
"He's got good friends with him," said Cronus fiercely. "They will help him see it through. And don't forget — they've also got Sarah. She will be there for them."
Anderson's face softened.
"Sarah…yes…I'm grateful for that."
"So, as you can see," continued the indomitable Colonel Cronus, "there's nothing to worry about."
—-
Spectra
—-
Approaching Spectra's system, the team had a whole host of problems of their own to worry about. Their approach has been momentarily captured by the Spectran anti-spacecraft radars — but their low altitude meant that they were now indistinguishable — at least on radar screens — from the normal commercial traffic on Spectra. On the radar screens. Because the red and blue silhouette of the Phoenix was definitely visible to the naked eye. But by flying close to the surface, they were guaranteed the unwitting protection of their Spectran enemies. Even Zoltar would not fire so close to commercial traffic. They hoped.
Tiny was sweating freely, his hands gripping the controls tightly.
"Coming up to the coordinates Zark came up with, Commander. Let's just hope now we get the timing right."
Mark jumped off his seat.
"Team, with me! Tiny, get her lower. We should be coming up to parade ground. That's our stop."
—
Spectra
—-
The door opened and Zoltar barged into the cell, accompanied by a platoon of Spectran soldiers. He was standing in front of Anderson and Cronus before the two Federation officers had had the time to rise to their feet. As they slowly rose from their spot by the wall, they noticed Xirol and Mala entering behind the platoon. Anderson, without even realising he was doing so, placed a protective arm in front of Cronus. They looked haughtily at Zoltar and his entourage.
"I will say this only once," snapped Zoltar.
"Good," muttered Anderson pleasantly.
"Give us the coordinates of Centre Neptune…"
Cronus raised his eyes to the ceiling.
"Oh, Lord, not this again."
"…or you will be taken out and shot."
"Great. So we can stop listening to your constant, idiotic harping about the Centre Neptune coordinates," said Anderson, his face an inch from Zoltar's.
Mala elbowed her way in front of her brother.
"You don't seem to be taking this very seriously, do you?"
"I've pledged my life to the Federation," said Anderson simply.
Cronus grabbed his friend's hand surreptitiously. Anderson couldn't resist one last jibe at the Spectrans.
"So as you can see, neither you, Zoltar, nor your sister, nor the whole apparatus of Spectra can break a single Federation officer — or two," he added, looking at Cronus tenderly, "who don't wish to be broken."
"You say that, but half your planet's destroyed thanks to your stubbornness," hissed Zoltar.
"Yes," admitted Anderson woodenly. "And still they didn't surrender."
"No point in arguing any more, Zoltar," said Mala icily. She nodded at the goons.
"Take them!"
—-
Spectra
—
Aboard the Phoenix, Mark was running a thousand scenaria in his mind. They only had one chance to get it right. They didn't even know for sure if the execution would take place today, or whether it would indeed be public. The only thing they had to go on with was the recording Centre Neptune had received earlier. They were working on the increasingly shaky assumption that Zoltar hadn't seen fit to change his plans. There was also the unvoiced concern that Anderson had already been executed. Mark had said nothing to his fellow team-mates about this, but he was certain they were all thinking about it. As for Cronus, they had no way of being certain he would be with Anderson. The orders were clear —one swoop, if you don't get Anderson, get out. What if they got Anderson, but not Cronus?
Mark felt Jason come sit on the Phoenix floor next to him.
"Hey, Commander. Everything ok?"
"Sure," nodded Mark.
"We'll get them, Mark," said Jason confidently. "We'll get the Chief. And your dad."
"Sure," said Mark again, but his voice was breaking.
"The others have agreed. No matter what Markic said, we're not leaving without them. Without both of them."
"Yeah? And who will defend the Earth and the Federation if we get caught or killed?"
Jason gave him a hand up.
"We'll get them," he repeated.
—
Spectra
—
The bright sunlight hurt Anderson's eyes as they were marched out of the building were he had been held all this time. The sun's glare was stronger on Spectra, less filtered than on Earth. Which was one of the reasons why the planet was dying. They were flanked by goons left, right and centre. They were handcuffed, their hands behind their backs, which made walking all the more difficult. Anderson felt Cronus next to him stumble and grabbed him clumsily by the elbow.
"Where do you think they are taking us?" whispered Cronus.
Anderson shrugged.
"Somewhere with a big crowd, probably."
Zoltar, Mala and Xirol were nowhere to be seen. Probably they were already at the execution place. Anderson saw the goons looking at him and without even realising it, drew himself a bit taller.
They were approaching an open area surrounded by tall buildings. A modest crowd was waiting there, all in uniform. So it was going to be an intimate event, invitation-only, thought Anderson. Maybe Zoltar was not so sure about this people's support these days and wanted to avoid being in direct contact with them. If he could only send this information back to Centre Neptune.
They marched on. Arriving at the open space, Anderson felt Cronus tense.
"This is it, mate," he whispered to his friend.
Cronus nodded, his face grey with the effort of keeping his features calm and collected.
"The Federation will never surrender, Jack," whispered Cronus back.
Anderson nodded.
"Spectra will not win."
They saw Zoltar and his entourage sitting at a raised platform. A platoon of Spectran goons were readying their weapons. Zoltar got up as the prisoners were taken directly in front of him.
"My esteemed officers," he began, "through the hard work of my sister Mala, we have had the unique opportunity to capture, not only the Federation's Chief of Security, but also the pest known as Colonel Cronus. You have the honour of being invited to their execution, when we rid Spectra of these two formidable enemies."
No word of his failed attempt to make the Federation surrender, noted Anderson. Nor of the fact that his careful and brutal attack on Earth had failed. The Spectrans would soon find out, he thought. But Zoltar would have had his moment of triumph. And he shouldn't, thought Anderson fiercely. He stood to attention, and felt Cronus doing the same.
"Long live the Federation!" he shouted.
"Long live Riga!" shouted Cronus next to him.
Their cries had the desired effect. Zoltar looked flustered, and so did Mala. Annoyed, they ordered the goons to tie the prisoners to two stakes that had been set up in front of the platform, facing the armed soldiers.
As their handcuffs were attached to the stakes, a loud roar was heard. The roar of the engines of a big craft approaching. Cronus turned excitedly to Anderson.
"G-Force!"
—-
Spectra
—
The Spectran anti-spacecraft units had realised that a craft — quickly identified as the Phoenix — had entered their atmosphere. Asking for instructions, they were told to stop the craft from approaching the command centres, but without causing any damage to commercial traffic. When Zoltar heard that the Phoenix had, against the odds, launched a rescue mission, he could scarcely believe it — he would now capture the whole top of the Federation defences, not only its intelligence chief but also its main operation force. Mala had been in favour of shooting the Phoenix down. But her advice had been rejected.
"We desperately need a victory, Mala," said Zoltar, as they were making their way to the open ground. "Getting our hands on G-Force, right after executing Anderson and Cronus, will give morale a boost."
"If they don't succeed in rescuing the prisoners," said Mala darkly. But she knew better than try to change Zoltar's mind once it was made up.
So anti-spacecraft defence was treading a thin line, trying to incapacitate the Phoenix without destroying it. And Tiny was treading a thin line trying to dodge enemy fire without missing their target.
"Commander, I see them!" he cried out as he caught the first glimpse of two figures standing upright in front of a raised platform.
Mark was next to him in a second.
"Jason, shoot overhead! Princess, with me! We're getting off here!"
—
Anderson felt something more than relief flood him. Pride, and something more than pride. G-Force and the Federation had launched a rescue mission. He could scarcely believe it.
"You win, mate," he whispered to Cronus, shaking his head in disbelief. "They came for us."
Cronus broke out in a huge grin. Whatever happened now, G-Force had come for them.
"I should've placed a wager," he laughed, feeling that now he could face anything.
As Zoltar's guards took positions to try to shoot down the Phoenix, Zoltar jumped up, red in the face, fuming.
"Shoot them! Shoot them now!"
—
The anti-spacecraft guns were now creating a shield around the parade ground. Tiny could hardly see where he was going. He took the Phoenix as low as he dared, but could not reach the point from where it would be safe for Mark and Princess and jump out. Next to him, Jason was firing furiously, with Keyop deflecting incoming fire. Mark and Princess were in the bubble, waiting for the command to jump out. But enemy fire was thickening, and Tiny could not see an opening.
"Commander, I have to take her up!"
"No!" shouted Mark in his intercom.
"Commander, we're sitting ducks here!"
Mark hesitated.
"Do it," he said finally, turning away as to not see Princess' shocked face.
Then he turned and ran back to the cockpit.
"What the hell?" Jason was murmuring, trying to shoot at all directions at once. "Tiny, why did you do that?"
"Because if we're going to rescue them, we need to have the Phoenix in one piece!" shouted Tiny.
Mark sat next to Tiny.
"We try again. Take her back down."
Now Tiny was the one who hesitated.
"But Chief Markic said one swoop…" he started.
"Who cares what he said," said Jason, furiously firing his missiles.
"He said he would hold me personally responsible," said Mark through his teeth. "So let him. We're going down again."
"I knew you had it in you, Commander," smiled Jason.
Mark ran back to the bubble, where Princess was still waiting.
"Get ready, we're going down."
She looked at him.
"We're trying a second swoop?" she said, her eyes gleaming.
"You bet!"
—-
On the parade ground, the platoon took aim. Anderson grabbed Cronus' hand again, tightly, and looked straight ahead.
Just then, he saw a sonic boomerang render the platoon incapacitated, and heard a voice he didn't dare hope he would hear again.
"Chief, Colonel, grab this!"
Mark was throwing them a rope.
"We're tied up, Mark!" he shouted back.
Mark nodded, aimed his sonic boomerang. In a flash, Anderson's binds were cut. A second pass of the boomerang and Cronus' binds were cut as well. They grabbed the rope. In the melee that followed, with Princess firing over their heads, Jason shooting missiles at the Spectran defence forces, hastily scrambled, and Keyop deflecting incoming fire, Anderson and Cronus found themselves swinging up to the Phoenix. Tiny had the bubble open. They tumbled in, followed, more elegantly, by Mark and Princess.
"Hold on tight," shouted Mark to Anderson and Cronus, as he and Princess ran back to the cockpit. They followed, trying to hold on to anything they could as the Phoenix was making evading manoeuvres. They made it to the cockpit and were greeted by the happy grins of Tiny, Jason and Keyop, who turned to wave "hi" before getting back to their work.
"Strap in," ordered Mark, getting into his seat. "Tiny, get us out of here. Any way you can."
Tiny didn't need to be told twice. Juking this way and that, with Keyop still doing a great job at deflecting enemy fire, he soared into Spectra's atmosphere. Mark grabbed the comm.
"Come in, Centre Neptune. This is the Phoenix. Come in Centre Neptune."
Miroslav's voice came garbled over the loudspeaker.
"Come in Phoenix."
"We got them. I repeat, we got them. We're heading home."
Miroslav felt his legs give way. He sat down, just in case.
"One more thing, Chief," said Mark hesitantly. "We had to do a second swoop. It was impossible on the first one."
The others were looking at Mark in disbelief.
"You idiot, why did you tell him?" whispered Jason.
Mark shrugged.
"I can't hide it. The Phoenix's records will show it anyway. Better get it over with now."
Markic's face came back on the intercom. He was smiling broadly. He had only needed a few seconds to decide not to pursue this matter further.
"G-Force, message received. Don't worry. You got them, and you are safe. Thank you. Centre Neptune over."
Taking a deep, deep breath he switched to the Federation's comm frequency.
"This is Acting Chief Markic with an update. G-Force has succeeded in rescuing Chief Anderson and Colonel Cronus. I repeat, G-Force has succeeded in rescuing Chief Anderson and Colonel. Hold on a minute —" he checked an incoming message. "I have also received information that the attacks are winding down. It seems we weathered this out, colleagues!" he finished, hardly daring to believe it himself.
He immediately got a call from Andrea, the young Rigan delegate on the Federation Council.
"You did it, Chief! You did it!"
"I didn't do anything…" he started saying, but then got another call on his other line. It was Sarah.
"Miroslav, you did it!"
He smiled and clicked his intercom to address the whole Federation Council with some more information, as the Phoenix was now outside Spectra's system and well on its way home.
—
Aboard the Phoenix
—
On the way back, the first thing Anderson and Cronus did was give a detailed account of their capture and detention, any information they had gathered on Spectra, and, especially on Zoltar and how he and Mala were running the planet. After the report was safely sent to Centre Neptune, they allowed themselves to relax and enjoy the attention of G-Force.
"How did Markic manage?" asked Anderson, sitting comfortably in one of the extra Phoenix seats beside Princess and Keyop.
"He did well, Chief," said Mark seriously. He held out when everyone — except the Rigan delegate — wanted to surrender."
"It seems you were not irreplaceable in the end," smiled Cronus.
Anderson could think of one person to whom he was probably irreplaceable. He called Centre Neptune on the intercom and asked for Dr. Sarah Petrides.
THE END
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