Chapter one. The saga begins...
The little group of conspirators met about 11am outside the main launch tower so they couldn't be overheard. DK outlined the situation for the day "OK, guys. The visit with this possible pilot is an hour from now. We will be going to a jail, and a military one at that, so the minimum of people will be allowed in. The corporal here will get us in, I'll go to explain all this to Lieutenant Harrigan. I don't think we'll be able to get anyone else in this time, especially as the captain may come too. Everyone else, keep your eyes and ears open and your heads down, OK?". After a chorus of "Yep", "Damn right", "Absolutely", and varius other replies, everyone headed back to their regular jobs. As DK turned to go, the corporal turned and added "Put on your best suit. You'll look like some kind of intelligence guy. It may help avoid suspicion from the guards". Then they got back into the corporal's car and headed abck to the IASA section of the base.
After DK had put on his suit, he met the corporal outside the cafeteria chatting with Captain Lazarus. "Ah, there you are" grumbled the captain "I was beginning to think you might not turn up. At least you found a suit. Not a bad idea, it may get you in quicker. What's going on here anyway?". DK explained the situation facing the Farscape project. "In addition to that, our funds are running low. We'll have to find more money for the launch.". The captain interrupted with "We've got ten minutes to go. Get in, you two" and the captain's humvee screeched off to the military jail. "It's just as well you lot came up with your plan right now. The L-T has been getting alternately angry, irritable or just depressed more and more frequently. He needs something to give him purpose in life before he lets go completely. This could be just what he needs". They came to a halt outside the jail in a cloud of dust and hurried inside. The desk sergeant was completely absorbed in his newspaper and didn't hear a thing.
The captain sniggered under his breath "That stupid desk jockey wouldn't notice if we were janitors, generals, or sodding Al-Qaeda tangos with AK's come to kill everyone; and he probably wouldn't care as long as the paperwork was right. Let's give him a wake-up call". The captain crept around behind the sergeant's chair without being noticed, despite two cameras covering the entrance, bent down behind the sergeant's head, drew a deep breath and yelled "FRONT AND CENTRE, SERGEANT, YOU USELESS MAGGOT!" at full parade-ground volume three inches from his left ear. The result was truly amazing to behold. Newspaper flew one way, coffee flew the other, a hidden copy of Playboy dropped to the floor, and the sergeant apparently went from sitting position to parade-ground attention without passing through the positions in between.
"What do we have here?!" the captain continued, tuning the volume down but keeping the vocal menace turned up, walking in circles around the hapless sergeant "(a) A sergeant intent on his duties, ready to fulfil them to the best of his ability, or (b) A sergeant more intent on an easy shift and the good life, and who obviously wouldn't notice if we were carrying bags full of papers or bags full of sodding HAND GRENADES!! Why I do think we have (b) You're a disgrace! I might excuse this once from a new private, but never at all from a sergeant! The lower ranks look to sergeants for leadership and an idea of what a soldier's supposed to be like. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- They aren't getting it from you! You're relieved! Get along to the personnel office for reassignment!" The unfortunate sergeant bolted through the door for the personnel office so fast he left skid marks on the carpet. Captain Lazarus pressed the intercom button on the desk. "Who's next in seniority down there?". After a muffled (but not unnoticed) "Hell's teeth! Captain Lazarus!" from the guardroom, the reply came back "Me sir, Corporal Green, sir!". After calming down a little the captain explained the situation out front "That sergeant of yours has been relieved for dereliction of duty. Get your ass up here to the front desk, corporal!". A short time later, a somewhat surprised corporal Green turned up at the entrance desk. "Right! As next in seniority, you're in charge, corporal! Do your job properly, unlike the one you replaced, you know the drill. Make sure you check the ID photo against the entrant's face. No match, no entry, got it?" finished the captain. "Y-Y-Yes sir!" Corporal Green replied. "Right! Your first job is to get us in for our visit with Lieutenant Harrigan." Captain Lazarus responded. Corporal Green made a point of matching ID photos to faces before signing the visitor list and letting them in. "Good, you catch on fast, corporal. Where is he?". The corporal showed them on the wall map. "This way" ordered Captain Lazarus.
They headed down one level, then through one checkpoint. The episode at the front desk had filtered down this far already, so the efficiency had increased markedly. One of the guards asked "Who's the guy in the suit?" only to receive a curt "That's classified, soldier" from Captain Lazarus. "Which cell is Harrigan in?". "Twelve, sir" replied the nearby corporal "Over there". The corporal entered the combination that opened cell twelve's door, and Captain Lazarus and DK went in. "Ah, Captain! Sound carries in here. I thought I recognised the dulcet tones of your voice, reaming that sorry excuse for a sergeant a new asshole. About time someone did that." Lieutenant Harrigan then turned to look at the room's other occupant "DK? I thought I recognised you from Commander Crichton's description of you. He spoke well of you. Pity he's gone" Harrigan's head dropped down. "I wanted to talk to you about that actually. Anywhere private around here?" DK asked. "Not inside. We'll go to the car park out the back" Harrigan replied. They all marched out of the back door to the car park. A couple of guards wanted to stop them, but one look at the captain's face convinced them not to.
Once they were outside, DK started explaining the whole thing. "OK, here's the short version. We need to find out what happened to Crichton. To do that, we need to get him back here on Earth. Unfortunately, we don't have a pilot. Your name was put forward as a possibility by this corporal here", pointing to the corporal, who was trying to avoid attention "You knew him before his flight in Farscape 1, he says". "Not well" Harrigan replied "We talked a little about space flight, I found that quite interesting. It was him who first got me to try for pilot training. He gave me some advice about normal stuff too. He's an interesting guy. One of my few non-military friends". Then DK continued "We need you to find him and bring him back. If he won't come back, I'll give you a list of questions to ask him; ask him those and come back with that and any other info he gives you. If you can't get back, stay and keep him safe. He's not so good at combat stuff like you lot are.". Harrigan piped up again "Yesterday the Captain said there'd be flying involved. That was one reason I agreed to see you. I hate being grounded, it's like being a caged circus animal unable to escape.". ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "Yeah, there will" said DK "But not quite what you're used to. You'll be going up in the shuttle". "Woohoo!!" yelled Harrigan "I've always wanted to go up!". While Harrigan was screaming and yelling, Captain Lazarus pulled DK aside. "He's a great pilot, despite watching too much damn Star Trek and similar crap for my liking. But he's got a bit of a hero complex. Likes watching old good against evil fantasy and sci-fi movies; you know, rescuing people from evil wizards, dragons, aliens and so on. Just watch what you say and how you say it around him" then Captain Lazarus turned to Harrigan "Calm down, Lieutenant! You can go. Just keep quiet and listen, will you?". A chastened "Yes, Sir!" and he quietened down. "Good. That's settled then" said DK. "We'll need a comm officer and one engineer. That's the minimum required for the shuttle. We don't need a mission specialist or anything like that". "That corporal with you is a airplane maintenance tech" Harrigan walked over to the corporal and put a hand on his shoulder "It's your lucky day, Corp. You're coming with us, we band of brothers, we prospective astronauts! Call your CO and any family you have, you're on classified TDY with us for the next... How long, DK?"queried Harrigan. "Two, maybe three months most likely" was the reply. "OK, three months" Harrigan continued.
As the corporal went to find a phone, DK spoke up "Pardon me you two, but you don't sound quite like regular pilots to me". Harrigan and Lazarus exchange knowing looks, then the Lieutenant continued "I was wondering when you would catch on. What you are about to be told is classified. If our superiors find out we told you, we'll all be crucified. We're in the Air Force's Special Operations Wing. Captain Lazarus is our main air- superiority training officer, secondary speciality demolition. Me, I'm an air-to-mud pilot by preference, secondary speciality heavy-weapons. Great fun, that is" Harrigan treated them all to a big cheesy grin "Also reserve sniper. So all we need is a comm officer now. Hmm...". "How about that Israeli exchange officer with 2nd Company?" replies the Captain "She's a signals officer in their military". Harrigan immediately replied with "Mary's also Mossad, Captain. But that can't be helped, I suppose. I'll talk to her tonight". The corporal jogged back to Captain Lazarus "All set. I had more trouble convincing my girlfriend it wasn't a military conspiracy to kill me. Sometimes I think reading too much National Enquirer has fried some of her brain. My L-T grumbled a bit, but I think he was glad to get me out of his hair. Did I miss anything?". "Just sorting out the rest of the crew, corporal" replied DK. "There's one thing we seem to have left out, guys" said the corporal "Namely this. How on earth are we going to get the charges against Lieutenant Harrigan dropped? He can't go up, or even do flight training, from inside that cell."
After the obligatory collective "Whoops!" Captain Lazarus spoke out. "That'll have to be my job. I'm not looking forward to talking to General Franklin, but the sooner the better. He's fairly understanding towards us spec-ops types, so as long as I can convince him Harrigan's the only one for the job we're safe. There's a big get-together at the O-Club tonight to welcome all the new officers on base. He knows I hate that formal bullshit; just the fact that I'll be there should tell him it's important. Mary will be there, of course; so you'll have to come too, DK, and explain the situation to her. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Before that, DK, you'll have to arrange an accelerated training program for our corporal, so he knows which buttons not to press and which gauges mean the shuttle goes bang if the needle's in the red zone. You'll be busy tonight". DK grabbed the corporal and drove the pair of them off to the shuttle flight sim building.
Captain Lazarus turned back to Lieutenant Harrigan "Right, that's that sorted out. You get back to your cell before the guards get suspicious. I'll have to prepare for tonight as well. All that fraggin' formal hoo- rah, really gets up my nose" he muttered. "Give them the old Harrigan hello from me, sir. That ought to brighten up the evening" Harrigan added, sniggering. "What'll it be this time, green paint in the sprinkler system?" snapped the Captain. "Or maybe laxatives in the canapes? That's what got you banned from these things, because a bunch of VIP's wives ate a few too many and were stuck in the base hospital for three days! Oh well, it will make the evening more exciting" he sighed. "If I can get past these guards I've got something I'd like to try. Shouldn't be too hard to make an appearance; even after the situation earlier the guard route back here will be slow, and probably only one guard too" replied Lieutenant Harrigan, perking up. "A perfect opportunity to practice escape and evasion training, as well as infiltration. I've been a bit slack there". "I don't want to know, L-T" cut in Captain Lazarus "Just make sure you don't get found out". The Captain took Lieutenant Harrigan back to his cell and drove back to his quarters, muttering various things about formal occasions in general and military ones in particular.
Back in the IASA flight centre, DK was setting up their corporals's training. "Report to Mr Scott here every morning for engineering training. After lunch, you'll be brought up to scratch with Captain Lazarus and Lieutenant Harrigan's unit; that'll be tough, you won't have trouble sleeping nights after that. OK, that should cover it all. I'll have to go and get ready for tonight, there's only two hours to go". The corporal went to shift his gear to the spec-ops barracks and DK then went back to his house to get a better suit. After mulling over how he was going to get the Israeli in on their plan, he was startled to hear a knock on the door. It turned out to be Captain Lazarus in dress uniform. "Didn't recognise you there, Captain" said a surprised DK "You look a lot different without combat fatigues". "Enough pleasantries DK, we don't have much time" the Captain interrupted "When we get there, I'll buttonhole General Franklin, while you get Mary on-side, got it?".
In the jail, Harrigan was wondering how he was going to get past the cameras when the whole building blacked out. "Damn" muttered the guard "Probably the breakers let go again. Don't anyone go nowhere, ya hear?" he laughed as he walked off to the fuse box. Harrigan muttered "Pompous asshole" and slipped out of the cell. Pausing only to pull the power cords from the cameras as he went, Harrigan managed to leave the jail unobserved. Moving quickly but stealthily, he got back to the spec-ops ready room to grab a few essential pieces of equipment he'd need for tonight's little endeavour. "Hmm... lockpicks, blackjack, chloroform pad, striptape cuff dispenser... that's it.". His squad medic came in to find out what the noise was. "Harrigan!" he exclaimed "What are you doing? I thought you were in jail!". "Not so loud, Needle Ned!" hissed Harrigan in reply "Got to practice escape and evasion somehow, ain't I? Anyway, I'm going to make an appearance at the General's reception tonight". "Up to your old tricks again?" queried the medic "What do you need?" he sighed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- After three seconds of frantic whispering, Harrigan walked out with a couple of small vials in his pocket and a grin on his face.
Back at the jail, thing went from bad to worse. "The whole damn fusebox is slagged! Those damn engineers can't get anything right!" one guard complained. "Can it!" Corporal Green replied "It was a lightning strike, idiot! The weather's been bad all day, and it's been raining hard for the last two hours. Just keep calm, act normal, and don't let anyone else know. If this gets out, that damn Captain Lazarus might come back, and then..." Corporal Green proceeded to draw his finger across his throat. "Let's get back to work, people, before something else goes wrong".
Unseen, Lieutenant Harrigan crept up to the guard post outside the service entrance to the main auditorium. "Why does it have to be us on guard duty?" moaned one hapless private. "Especially when its (a) raining, and (b) there's a good movie in the base cinema tonight". "We just drew the short straw tonight, I guess" replied the other one "Go do the walkround, it's your turn". Not being able to back out, he grabbed his rain cape, walked down the the path a short distance and met Harrigan's cosh coming the other way, fast. Harrigan cuffed the unconscious private, and dropped him outside the guard shack. The other private stuck his head outside, muttering "What the hell..." and met the same fate as his colleague. Harrigan cuffed this one too and put both of them back inside the shack, after relieving one of them of his radio. After locking the door, Harrigan slowly inched his way in through the kitchen entrance. He poked his head round the corner and almost swallowed his own tongue in surprise. "Things are going well" he muttered "Major Beasley coming in for a snack, is he?" and promptly bopped him on the head. After taking the uniform, Harrigan used about half a reel of striptape to tie the unfortunate Major to the nearest lampost, after smashing the bulb and gagging him with gaffer tape. Then, after replacing his prison clothes with the stolen uniform he made his way through the kitchen to the main banqueting hall, pausing only to empty the two vials in his pocket into the punch when no one was looking. He then stationed himself by the buffet so he could watch the door relatively unhindered.
Captain Lazarus and DK had just pulled up outside. "The sooner this is over the better. I can't stand this damn dress uniform, and I especially can't stand a bunch of bureaucratic idiots congratulating each other on how great they all are" the Captain rumbled. One of the guards tried to stop DK. "No civilians tonight, sir" he said. Captain Lazarus cut him off. "He's with me" the Captain growled, and the guard let him through, not wanting to risk the Captain's wrath tonight. The two of them walked into the main hall. There were a number of buffet tables laid out around the periphery, along with an extensive bar on the right side. The middle of the room was open for a dance floor, as many officers had brought spouses or girlfriends/boyfriends. As the Captain and DK were slightly late, the hall was already full.
General Franklin immediately spotted the Captain heading for the buffet. "Ah, the good Captain Lazarus" he drawled "And in a suit as well. Must be something really important happening". "Yes sir" Captain Lazarus replied "Something's come up that I need to bring to your attention. If I could just have a few minutes in private, sir?". ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "OK, Captain" General Franklin replied "This had better be good". He sent his aide away, and led Captain Lazarus into a side room. "Spill it, Captain" he ordered. "It's like this, sir" Captain Lazarus explained "We've got a mission in the works and we need Lieutenant Harrigan in on it". The General shook his head back and forth "It would have to be him, wouldn't it? Can't the mission go forward without him?". "No sir, it can't." continued the Captain "It would take too long to find, train, and clear security for a replacement now. You know how long clearances take before someone's let in on one of our missions. We've got two months. The security clearance alone will take four, minimum". "I can't get the charges dropped, not after Harrigan pulverised those marines. One had to be medically discharged, he'll be in a wheelchair for life. But I can get the trial put back until after the mission".
DK looked left and right, scanning the room for the Israeli. He fished out a photo and checked again. Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning round, he was very surprised to see who it was "Harr..". "Quiet!" Harrigan hissed "Someone might hear you!". "Nice uniform" DK said. "I thought so too, which is one of the reasons I, er, liberated it from its former owner. He'll get it back later, I promise." Harrigan replied. "Mary's over by the bar. See, just on the end, by the punch. She's wearing her Israeli uniform". Harrigan pointed out exactly where she was "Let's go, shall we?".
Mary saw the two of them coming towards them. "I swear, if one more drunken officer makes a move on me I'll hit him right in the...". "Don't worry, Mary. You're quite safe with us" laughed Harrigan. "John!" she laughed in return "Good to see you! I thought you were...". "Not so loud!" he replied "Anyway, we need your help on something. We can catch up on gossip later". DK steered their little group towards one of the empty offices down a side corridor. After shutting the door, DK sat down behind the desk. "OK, here it is. We're setting up a little something and we need a good comm officer. You're on top of the list. As a matter of fact, you are the list" DK explained. "What's the mission?" Mary asked. "Ah, yes. A friend of mine went missing on his last flight. We need to find out what happened, and get him back if we can" DK said. "Anyone I know?" Mary asked, concerned. Harrigan piped up "Commander Crichton, Mary. Remember, I told you about him. The astronaut". "Oh, yeah. But if he went missing on his last flight, that means that we'll..." Mary queried. "Yep!" Harrigan grinned "We're going up! We've only got a skeleton crew, but shouldn't need any more. Flight engineer's sorted, I'm pilot, and you're comm officer. Are you in?". "Damn right!" she replied excitedly "After that last Israeli astro died on Columbia, we need another one to make our presence felt outside atmosphere. It's me!". Mary hugged DK out of over-excitement. "Sorry DK" she said sheepishly "Not only do I get to find out what space is like, it gets me away from all this", she wave her arms at the hall, and events around them, "as well. I'm in!". "Good" replied Harrigan "That's settled then. You two had better mingle, and I'd better get back to my cell before they get the power back on-line and discover me gone. Oh yeah" he remebered "Don't touch the punch. I've added a little something to it to get the party going". They all separated, Harrigan went out through the toilet window, and Mary and DK went back into the main auditorium. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Captain Lazarus replied "It'll have to do, sir. How long can you give us?". "I should be able to get you four months. Any longer and someone will smell a rat." General Franklin continued "We'll say this mission is classified Top Secret, that'll keep all but the most persistent OSI investigators off your backs". "We're short of funds as well, General." Captain Lazarus added "I'd like your permission to access the discretionary budget for black ops, sir. I'll need extensive resources for this mission; partly for equipment and transport modification; but we'll need a fair amount of money to take with us as well". The General screwed up his face "It'll be tricky, but as we haven't used our allotment this financial year yet, I should be able to get you access. Don't waste it" he ordered. "No sir, every cent well spent sir, that's me" Captain Lazarus assured General Franklin. "Good. Now get back out there, and try not to hit anyone this year, Captain, please?" asked the General. "Since you asked so nicely, General" Captain Lazarus responds "I'll do that, sir. Just for you". "Get on with it!" the General laughed, as he returns to the throng.
Harrigan put his borrowed uniform back in it's owner's car, after putting his prison uniform back on. He noted that the guards he found on the way in have come round and started struggling frantically against their restraints. When morning shift change happens, they'll be freed, and then they'll have some fast explaining to do. He quickly ran back to the jail, stopping off at the squad ready room only to drop off his gear, snuck in through the back door, walked quietly through the still blacked-out corridor and back into his cell. Not more than twenty seconds later a guard with a torch came round, checking the cells. "We should have back-up generators on soon. You won't miss the baseball results" he said. "Whoopee" muttered Harrigan. This was followed by a flickering from the lightbulbs, which settled down to a steady, if dim, glow. "Much better. I'll be able to get some hot coffee at last" the guard said under his breath as he walked back to the checkpoint. "I'd like to take that coffee and drown him in it" grumbled one of the others. Ignoring the calls of agreement from the other inmates, Harrigan got some much-needed sleep. He'd need it.
Back in the auditorium, the party was getting into full swing. Captain Lazarus walked around, chatting with other spec-ops officers. He then lurked in the corner by a radio, so it would look like he's listening to the baseball results, but he's really waiting for Harrigan's little surprise to kick in. About ten minutes later, it finally started to happen. Several of the wives and one or two officers start staggering a bit and quickly sit down. Some others were staring at the ceiling fans with really spaced-out smiles on their faces and one or two were snoring in the corners or under tables. General Franklin looked suspiciously at the glass of punch he'd just poured himself and put it back down. "Hmm" he muttered "If he wasn't in his cell, I'd say Harrigan was up to his old tricks again. This is just his style". Then it spread like wildfire. Almost everyone who drunk the punch that evening started staggering around the room or slumped on the floor, staring at nothing with a mysterious grin on their faces. General Franklin quickly stopped his wife from drinking the punch, and then took her home before she could complain. "Everyone was acting very strangely, dear." She asked her husband "What's happening? It looks like something Harrigan would do if he wasn't in jail. I remember the green paint in the sprinklers. It took five wash cycles to get that stuff off the ballgown". "Don't worry about it" the General assured her "I'll deal with it later". ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- The next day dawned bright, clear and without any sign of the previous night's torrential rain. Power had been restored over the whole base by now, and some very tired and grumpy power company engineers were going back home to catch up on their sleep.
"Rise and shine, you lot!" shouted the morning guard "Court-martials for the day start in one hour. Those of you due to appear before the General today know who you are, so get yourselves cleaned up pronto. Harrigan, you've got another visitor at 9am". The guard's radio squawked. He picked it up, saying "Yes sir...What?!.. Yes sir...Yes sir...I'll tell them sir". The guard came back in. "The General just called" he said "It appears that someone put something in the punch at the function last night because at least half the officers, including the MPs, ended up so badly stoned last night they couldn't tell what planet they're on. Those affected are either sleeping it off at home or in the base hospital. Court-martials are off until there's enough MPs who can actually stand up straight and remember their own name" The guard turned to Harrigan "If you weren't in here, you'd be number one suspect for this one, sonny. I remember the paint episode" he growled. "Me too. Security uniforms look better in fluoro green, don't they?" Harrigan replied, grinning. "But I was here" he continued, with a look of wounded pride now on his face "In this very cell, in fact, grumbling with the others because we couldn't get the baseball results due to power being off". "Yeah, yeah, Harrigan, I know" the guard grumbled "Get yourself cleaned up and over to the visiting room". The guard walked off to the checkpoint for that level, grumbling that there'd better be some coffee left, promising inventive and painful retribution on those responsible if there wasn't.
"Hah" muttered Harrigan "I ought to have put something in the guardroom coffee, it would've been much funnier". He then made his way to the bathroom for his floor, and came out looking and feeling at least 80% human again. Then he made his way to the visitor's area, wondering what was in store. He found both Captain Lazarus and General Franklin waiting for him. "Sit down, Harrigan" ordered the General "Though I can't prove it, I'm pretty sure it was you that was responsible for that debacle last night. The only time you aren't creating merry hell somewhere round here is when you're on a mission. Since these gentlemen here have one for you, I'm adjourning your trial until the mission's over, in the hope that I might actually get some peace round here and get through a week without receiving a report of one of your escapades to give me a headache again. Now get out of here before I change my mind". Captain Lazarus grabbed Harrigan's arm and marched him out of the building. "You're lucky the General can't pin this one on you, Harrigan" he growled "If he could, you'd probably be shot. Three-quarters of the general staff out of action from come-downs off whatever you put in the punch. About half of the other officers can't even remember last night at all, and those that do wish they didn't. We were lucky that the military reporters that were there drank that muck too, and can't remember what happened to their notes". ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Captain Lazarus called everyone together in the spec-ops ready room "OK, here's the good news. Harrigan's available for the mission. We've also got full access to the discretionary military budget for black ops". DK chimed in "Mary's agreed to be comm officer for us. Crew list is as follows : Harrigan as pilot, Mary as comm officer, and our pet corporal as flight engineer". "Now the bad news" added Captain Lazarus. "The charges against Lieutenant Harrigan have only been postponed. General Franklin can't squash them. We've got four months, providing he doesn't find out that last night's fiasco was Harrigan's fault. If he does, we may have to move the schedule forward. DK, get Harrigan started in the flight sim now. He'll need every minute of training he can get". Then Mary added "I'll probably be able to operate the comm gear on board the shuttle anyway, but I'll go over it until I've got it down cold". "The corporal starts engineering training this morning" added DK again "You'll have him for weapons training and PT in the afternoons until lift- off, Lieutenant. You'd better get off to training, people. Captain? A word, please?".
After the others had gone off to training, DK took Captain Lazarus aside. "The one thing that's worrying me is where we'll run the mission from. We need a secure location where we can provide ground control for the mission as we probably can't use the usual control room" DK explained worriedly. "Don't worry" assured the Captain "I'll get one of the air force mobile HQ trailers nearer the day. We can override the main control room from there. Some of my troopers will provide security". "So now all we need to do is train them" said DK. "And hope we have enough time" added Captain Lazarus.
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The little group of conspirators met about 11am outside the main launch tower so they couldn't be overheard. DK outlined the situation for the day "OK, guys. The visit with this possible pilot is an hour from now. We will be going to a jail, and a military one at that, so the minimum of people will be allowed in. The corporal here will get us in, I'll go to explain all this to Lieutenant Harrigan. I don't think we'll be able to get anyone else in this time, especially as the captain may come too. Everyone else, keep your eyes and ears open and your heads down, OK?". After a chorus of "Yep", "Damn right", "Absolutely", and varius other replies, everyone headed back to their regular jobs. As DK turned to go, the corporal turned and added "Put on your best suit. You'll look like some kind of intelligence guy. It may help avoid suspicion from the guards". Then they got back into the corporal's car and headed abck to the IASA section of the base.
After DK had put on his suit, he met the corporal outside the cafeteria chatting with Captain Lazarus. "Ah, there you are" grumbled the captain "I was beginning to think you might not turn up. At least you found a suit. Not a bad idea, it may get you in quicker. What's going on here anyway?". DK explained the situation facing the Farscape project. "In addition to that, our funds are running low. We'll have to find more money for the launch.". The captain interrupted with "We've got ten minutes to go. Get in, you two" and the captain's humvee screeched off to the military jail. "It's just as well you lot came up with your plan right now. The L-T has been getting alternately angry, irritable or just depressed more and more frequently. He needs something to give him purpose in life before he lets go completely. This could be just what he needs". They came to a halt outside the jail in a cloud of dust and hurried inside. The desk sergeant was completely absorbed in his newspaper and didn't hear a thing.
The captain sniggered under his breath "That stupid desk jockey wouldn't notice if we were janitors, generals, or sodding Al-Qaeda tangos with AK's come to kill everyone; and he probably wouldn't care as long as the paperwork was right. Let's give him a wake-up call". The captain crept around behind the sergeant's chair without being noticed, despite two cameras covering the entrance, bent down behind the sergeant's head, drew a deep breath and yelled "FRONT AND CENTRE, SERGEANT, YOU USELESS MAGGOT!" at full parade-ground volume three inches from his left ear. The result was truly amazing to behold. Newspaper flew one way, coffee flew the other, a hidden copy of Playboy dropped to the floor, and the sergeant apparently went from sitting position to parade-ground attention without passing through the positions in between.
"What do we have here?!" the captain continued, tuning the volume down but keeping the vocal menace turned up, walking in circles around the hapless sergeant "(a) A sergeant intent on his duties, ready to fulfil them to the best of his ability, or (b) A sergeant more intent on an easy shift and the good life, and who obviously wouldn't notice if we were carrying bags full of papers or bags full of sodding HAND GRENADES!! Why I do think we have (b) You're a disgrace! I might excuse this once from a new private, but never at all from a sergeant! The lower ranks look to sergeants for leadership and an idea of what a soldier's supposed to be like. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- They aren't getting it from you! You're relieved! Get along to the personnel office for reassignment!" The unfortunate sergeant bolted through the door for the personnel office so fast he left skid marks on the carpet. Captain Lazarus pressed the intercom button on the desk. "Who's next in seniority down there?". After a muffled (but not unnoticed) "Hell's teeth! Captain Lazarus!" from the guardroom, the reply came back "Me sir, Corporal Green, sir!". After calming down a little the captain explained the situation out front "That sergeant of yours has been relieved for dereliction of duty. Get your ass up here to the front desk, corporal!". A short time later, a somewhat surprised corporal Green turned up at the entrance desk. "Right! As next in seniority, you're in charge, corporal! Do your job properly, unlike the one you replaced, you know the drill. Make sure you check the ID photo against the entrant's face. No match, no entry, got it?" finished the captain. "Y-Y-Yes sir!" Corporal Green replied. "Right! Your first job is to get us in for our visit with Lieutenant Harrigan." Captain Lazarus responded. Corporal Green made a point of matching ID photos to faces before signing the visitor list and letting them in. "Good, you catch on fast, corporal. Where is he?". The corporal showed them on the wall map. "This way" ordered Captain Lazarus.
They headed down one level, then through one checkpoint. The episode at the front desk had filtered down this far already, so the efficiency had increased markedly. One of the guards asked "Who's the guy in the suit?" only to receive a curt "That's classified, soldier" from Captain Lazarus. "Which cell is Harrigan in?". "Twelve, sir" replied the nearby corporal "Over there". The corporal entered the combination that opened cell twelve's door, and Captain Lazarus and DK went in. "Ah, Captain! Sound carries in here. I thought I recognised the dulcet tones of your voice, reaming that sorry excuse for a sergeant a new asshole. About time someone did that." Lieutenant Harrigan then turned to look at the room's other occupant "DK? I thought I recognised you from Commander Crichton's description of you. He spoke well of you. Pity he's gone" Harrigan's head dropped down. "I wanted to talk to you about that actually. Anywhere private around here?" DK asked. "Not inside. We'll go to the car park out the back" Harrigan replied. They all marched out of the back door to the car park. A couple of guards wanted to stop them, but one look at the captain's face convinced them not to.
Once they were outside, DK started explaining the whole thing. "OK, here's the short version. We need to find out what happened to Crichton. To do that, we need to get him back here on Earth. Unfortunately, we don't have a pilot. Your name was put forward as a possibility by this corporal here", pointing to the corporal, who was trying to avoid attention "You knew him before his flight in Farscape 1, he says". "Not well" Harrigan replied "We talked a little about space flight, I found that quite interesting. It was him who first got me to try for pilot training. He gave me some advice about normal stuff too. He's an interesting guy. One of my few non-military friends". Then DK continued "We need you to find him and bring him back. If he won't come back, I'll give you a list of questions to ask him; ask him those and come back with that and any other info he gives you. If you can't get back, stay and keep him safe. He's not so good at combat stuff like you lot are.". Harrigan piped up again "Yesterday the Captain said there'd be flying involved. That was one reason I agreed to see you. I hate being grounded, it's like being a caged circus animal unable to escape.". ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "Yeah, there will" said DK "But not quite what you're used to. You'll be going up in the shuttle". "Woohoo!!" yelled Harrigan "I've always wanted to go up!". While Harrigan was screaming and yelling, Captain Lazarus pulled DK aside. "He's a great pilot, despite watching too much damn Star Trek and similar crap for my liking. But he's got a bit of a hero complex. Likes watching old good against evil fantasy and sci-fi movies; you know, rescuing people from evil wizards, dragons, aliens and so on. Just watch what you say and how you say it around him" then Captain Lazarus turned to Harrigan "Calm down, Lieutenant! You can go. Just keep quiet and listen, will you?". A chastened "Yes, Sir!" and he quietened down. "Good. That's settled then" said DK. "We'll need a comm officer and one engineer. That's the minimum required for the shuttle. We don't need a mission specialist or anything like that". "That corporal with you is a airplane maintenance tech" Harrigan walked over to the corporal and put a hand on his shoulder "It's your lucky day, Corp. You're coming with us, we band of brothers, we prospective astronauts! Call your CO and any family you have, you're on classified TDY with us for the next... How long, DK?"queried Harrigan. "Two, maybe three months most likely" was the reply. "OK, three months" Harrigan continued.
As the corporal went to find a phone, DK spoke up "Pardon me you two, but you don't sound quite like regular pilots to me". Harrigan and Lazarus exchange knowing looks, then the Lieutenant continued "I was wondering when you would catch on. What you are about to be told is classified. If our superiors find out we told you, we'll all be crucified. We're in the Air Force's Special Operations Wing. Captain Lazarus is our main air- superiority training officer, secondary speciality demolition. Me, I'm an air-to-mud pilot by preference, secondary speciality heavy-weapons. Great fun, that is" Harrigan treated them all to a big cheesy grin "Also reserve sniper. So all we need is a comm officer now. Hmm...". "How about that Israeli exchange officer with 2nd Company?" replies the Captain "She's a signals officer in their military". Harrigan immediately replied with "Mary's also Mossad, Captain. But that can't be helped, I suppose. I'll talk to her tonight". The corporal jogged back to Captain Lazarus "All set. I had more trouble convincing my girlfriend it wasn't a military conspiracy to kill me. Sometimes I think reading too much National Enquirer has fried some of her brain. My L-T grumbled a bit, but I think he was glad to get me out of his hair. Did I miss anything?". "Just sorting out the rest of the crew, corporal" replied DK. "There's one thing we seem to have left out, guys" said the corporal "Namely this. How on earth are we going to get the charges against Lieutenant Harrigan dropped? He can't go up, or even do flight training, from inside that cell."
After the obligatory collective "Whoops!" Captain Lazarus spoke out. "That'll have to be my job. I'm not looking forward to talking to General Franklin, but the sooner the better. He's fairly understanding towards us spec-ops types, so as long as I can convince him Harrigan's the only one for the job we're safe. There's a big get-together at the O-Club tonight to welcome all the new officers on base. He knows I hate that formal bullshit; just the fact that I'll be there should tell him it's important. Mary will be there, of course; so you'll have to come too, DK, and explain the situation to her. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Before that, DK, you'll have to arrange an accelerated training program for our corporal, so he knows which buttons not to press and which gauges mean the shuttle goes bang if the needle's in the red zone. You'll be busy tonight". DK grabbed the corporal and drove the pair of them off to the shuttle flight sim building.
Captain Lazarus turned back to Lieutenant Harrigan "Right, that's that sorted out. You get back to your cell before the guards get suspicious. I'll have to prepare for tonight as well. All that fraggin' formal hoo- rah, really gets up my nose" he muttered. "Give them the old Harrigan hello from me, sir. That ought to brighten up the evening" Harrigan added, sniggering. "What'll it be this time, green paint in the sprinkler system?" snapped the Captain. "Or maybe laxatives in the canapes? That's what got you banned from these things, because a bunch of VIP's wives ate a few too many and were stuck in the base hospital for three days! Oh well, it will make the evening more exciting" he sighed. "If I can get past these guards I've got something I'd like to try. Shouldn't be too hard to make an appearance; even after the situation earlier the guard route back here will be slow, and probably only one guard too" replied Lieutenant Harrigan, perking up. "A perfect opportunity to practice escape and evasion training, as well as infiltration. I've been a bit slack there". "I don't want to know, L-T" cut in Captain Lazarus "Just make sure you don't get found out". The Captain took Lieutenant Harrigan back to his cell and drove back to his quarters, muttering various things about formal occasions in general and military ones in particular.
Back in the IASA flight centre, DK was setting up their corporals's training. "Report to Mr Scott here every morning for engineering training. After lunch, you'll be brought up to scratch with Captain Lazarus and Lieutenant Harrigan's unit; that'll be tough, you won't have trouble sleeping nights after that. OK, that should cover it all. I'll have to go and get ready for tonight, there's only two hours to go". The corporal went to shift his gear to the spec-ops barracks and DK then went back to his house to get a better suit. After mulling over how he was going to get the Israeli in on their plan, he was startled to hear a knock on the door. It turned out to be Captain Lazarus in dress uniform. "Didn't recognise you there, Captain" said a surprised DK "You look a lot different without combat fatigues". "Enough pleasantries DK, we don't have much time" the Captain interrupted "When we get there, I'll buttonhole General Franklin, while you get Mary on-side, got it?".
In the jail, Harrigan was wondering how he was going to get past the cameras when the whole building blacked out. "Damn" muttered the guard "Probably the breakers let go again. Don't anyone go nowhere, ya hear?" he laughed as he walked off to the fuse box. Harrigan muttered "Pompous asshole" and slipped out of the cell. Pausing only to pull the power cords from the cameras as he went, Harrigan managed to leave the jail unobserved. Moving quickly but stealthily, he got back to the spec-ops ready room to grab a few essential pieces of equipment he'd need for tonight's little endeavour. "Hmm... lockpicks, blackjack, chloroform pad, striptape cuff dispenser... that's it.". His squad medic came in to find out what the noise was. "Harrigan!" he exclaimed "What are you doing? I thought you were in jail!". "Not so loud, Needle Ned!" hissed Harrigan in reply "Got to practice escape and evasion somehow, ain't I? Anyway, I'm going to make an appearance at the General's reception tonight". "Up to your old tricks again?" queried the medic "What do you need?" he sighed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- After three seconds of frantic whispering, Harrigan walked out with a couple of small vials in his pocket and a grin on his face.
Back at the jail, thing went from bad to worse. "The whole damn fusebox is slagged! Those damn engineers can't get anything right!" one guard complained. "Can it!" Corporal Green replied "It was a lightning strike, idiot! The weather's been bad all day, and it's been raining hard for the last two hours. Just keep calm, act normal, and don't let anyone else know. If this gets out, that damn Captain Lazarus might come back, and then..." Corporal Green proceeded to draw his finger across his throat. "Let's get back to work, people, before something else goes wrong".
Unseen, Lieutenant Harrigan crept up to the guard post outside the service entrance to the main auditorium. "Why does it have to be us on guard duty?" moaned one hapless private. "Especially when its (a) raining, and (b) there's a good movie in the base cinema tonight". "We just drew the short straw tonight, I guess" replied the other one "Go do the walkround, it's your turn". Not being able to back out, he grabbed his rain cape, walked down the the path a short distance and met Harrigan's cosh coming the other way, fast. Harrigan cuffed the unconscious private, and dropped him outside the guard shack. The other private stuck his head outside, muttering "What the hell..." and met the same fate as his colleague. Harrigan cuffed this one too and put both of them back inside the shack, after relieving one of them of his radio. After locking the door, Harrigan slowly inched his way in through the kitchen entrance. He poked his head round the corner and almost swallowed his own tongue in surprise. "Things are going well" he muttered "Major Beasley coming in for a snack, is he?" and promptly bopped him on the head. After taking the uniform, Harrigan used about half a reel of striptape to tie the unfortunate Major to the nearest lampost, after smashing the bulb and gagging him with gaffer tape. Then, after replacing his prison clothes with the stolen uniform he made his way through the kitchen to the main banqueting hall, pausing only to empty the two vials in his pocket into the punch when no one was looking. He then stationed himself by the buffet so he could watch the door relatively unhindered.
Captain Lazarus and DK had just pulled up outside. "The sooner this is over the better. I can't stand this damn dress uniform, and I especially can't stand a bunch of bureaucratic idiots congratulating each other on how great they all are" the Captain rumbled. One of the guards tried to stop DK. "No civilians tonight, sir" he said. Captain Lazarus cut him off. "He's with me" the Captain growled, and the guard let him through, not wanting to risk the Captain's wrath tonight. The two of them walked into the main hall. There were a number of buffet tables laid out around the periphery, along with an extensive bar on the right side. The middle of the room was open for a dance floor, as many officers had brought spouses or girlfriends/boyfriends. As the Captain and DK were slightly late, the hall was already full.
General Franklin immediately spotted the Captain heading for the buffet. "Ah, the good Captain Lazarus" he drawled "And in a suit as well. Must be something really important happening". "Yes sir" Captain Lazarus replied "Something's come up that I need to bring to your attention. If I could just have a few minutes in private, sir?". ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "OK, Captain" General Franklin replied "This had better be good". He sent his aide away, and led Captain Lazarus into a side room. "Spill it, Captain" he ordered. "It's like this, sir" Captain Lazarus explained "We've got a mission in the works and we need Lieutenant Harrigan in on it". The General shook his head back and forth "It would have to be him, wouldn't it? Can't the mission go forward without him?". "No sir, it can't." continued the Captain "It would take too long to find, train, and clear security for a replacement now. You know how long clearances take before someone's let in on one of our missions. We've got two months. The security clearance alone will take four, minimum". "I can't get the charges dropped, not after Harrigan pulverised those marines. One had to be medically discharged, he'll be in a wheelchair for life. But I can get the trial put back until after the mission".
DK looked left and right, scanning the room for the Israeli. He fished out a photo and checked again. Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning round, he was very surprised to see who it was "Harr..". "Quiet!" Harrigan hissed "Someone might hear you!". "Nice uniform" DK said. "I thought so too, which is one of the reasons I, er, liberated it from its former owner. He'll get it back later, I promise." Harrigan replied. "Mary's over by the bar. See, just on the end, by the punch. She's wearing her Israeli uniform". Harrigan pointed out exactly where she was "Let's go, shall we?".
Mary saw the two of them coming towards them. "I swear, if one more drunken officer makes a move on me I'll hit him right in the...". "Don't worry, Mary. You're quite safe with us" laughed Harrigan. "John!" she laughed in return "Good to see you! I thought you were...". "Not so loud!" he replied "Anyway, we need your help on something. We can catch up on gossip later". DK steered their little group towards one of the empty offices down a side corridor. After shutting the door, DK sat down behind the desk. "OK, here it is. We're setting up a little something and we need a good comm officer. You're on top of the list. As a matter of fact, you are the list" DK explained. "What's the mission?" Mary asked. "Ah, yes. A friend of mine went missing on his last flight. We need to find out what happened, and get him back if we can" DK said. "Anyone I know?" Mary asked, concerned. Harrigan piped up "Commander Crichton, Mary. Remember, I told you about him. The astronaut". "Oh, yeah. But if he went missing on his last flight, that means that we'll..." Mary queried. "Yep!" Harrigan grinned "We're going up! We've only got a skeleton crew, but shouldn't need any more. Flight engineer's sorted, I'm pilot, and you're comm officer. Are you in?". "Damn right!" she replied excitedly "After that last Israeli astro died on Columbia, we need another one to make our presence felt outside atmosphere. It's me!". Mary hugged DK out of over-excitement. "Sorry DK" she said sheepishly "Not only do I get to find out what space is like, it gets me away from all this", she wave her arms at the hall, and events around them, "as well. I'm in!". "Good" replied Harrigan "That's settled then. You two had better mingle, and I'd better get back to my cell before they get the power back on-line and discover me gone. Oh yeah" he remebered "Don't touch the punch. I've added a little something to it to get the party going". They all separated, Harrigan went out through the toilet window, and Mary and DK went back into the main auditorium. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Captain Lazarus replied "It'll have to do, sir. How long can you give us?". "I should be able to get you four months. Any longer and someone will smell a rat." General Franklin continued "We'll say this mission is classified Top Secret, that'll keep all but the most persistent OSI investigators off your backs". "We're short of funds as well, General." Captain Lazarus added "I'd like your permission to access the discretionary budget for black ops, sir. I'll need extensive resources for this mission; partly for equipment and transport modification; but we'll need a fair amount of money to take with us as well". The General screwed up his face "It'll be tricky, but as we haven't used our allotment this financial year yet, I should be able to get you access. Don't waste it" he ordered. "No sir, every cent well spent sir, that's me" Captain Lazarus assured General Franklin. "Good. Now get back out there, and try not to hit anyone this year, Captain, please?" asked the General. "Since you asked so nicely, General" Captain Lazarus responds "I'll do that, sir. Just for you". "Get on with it!" the General laughed, as he returns to the throng.
Harrigan put his borrowed uniform back in it's owner's car, after putting his prison uniform back on. He noted that the guards he found on the way in have come round and started struggling frantically against their restraints. When morning shift change happens, they'll be freed, and then they'll have some fast explaining to do. He quickly ran back to the jail, stopping off at the squad ready room only to drop off his gear, snuck in through the back door, walked quietly through the still blacked-out corridor and back into his cell. Not more than twenty seconds later a guard with a torch came round, checking the cells. "We should have back-up generators on soon. You won't miss the baseball results" he said. "Whoopee" muttered Harrigan. This was followed by a flickering from the lightbulbs, which settled down to a steady, if dim, glow. "Much better. I'll be able to get some hot coffee at last" the guard said under his breath as he walked back to the checkpoint. "I'd like to take that coffee and drown him in it" grumbled one of the others. Ignoring the calls of agreement from the other inmates, Harrigan got some much-needed sleep. He'd need it.
Back in the auditorium, the party was getting into full swing. Captain Lazarus walked around, chatting with other spec-ops officers. He then lurked in the corner by a radio, so it would look like he's listening to the baseball results, but he's really waiting for Harrigan's little surprise to kick in. About ten minutes later, it finally started to happen. Several of the wives and one or two officers start staggering a bit and quickly sit down. Some others were staring at the ceiling fans with really spaced-out smiles on their faces and one or two were snoring in the corners or under tables. General Franklin looked suspiciously at the glass of punch he'd just poured himself and put it back down. "Hmm" he muttered "If he wasn't in his cell, I'd say Harrigan was up to his old tricks again. This is just his style". Then it spread like wildfire. Almost everyone who drunk the punch that evening started staggering around the room or slumped on the floor, staring at nothing with a mysterious grin on their faces. General Franklin quickly stopped his wife from drinking the punch, and then took her home before she could complain. "Everyone was acting very strangely, dear." She asked her husband "What's happening? It looks like something Harrigan would do if he wasn't in jail. I remember the green paint in the sprinklers. It took five wash cycles to get that stuff off the ballgown". "Don't worry about it" the General assured her "I'll deal with it later". ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- The next day dawned bright, clear and without any sign of the previous night's torrential rain. Power had been restored over the whole base by now, and some very tired and grumpy power company engineers were going back home to catch up on their sleep.
"Rise and shine, you lot!" shouted the morning guard "Court-martials for the day start in one hour. Those of you due to appear before the General today know who you are, so get yourselves cleaned up pronto. Harrigan, you've got another visitor at 9am". The guard's radio squawked. He picked it up, saying "Yes sir...What?!.. Yes sir...Yes sir...I'll tell them sir". The guard came back in. "The General just called" he said "It appears that someone put something in the punch at the function last night because at least half the officers, including the MPs, ended up so badly stoned last night they couldn't tell what planet they're on. Those affected are either sleeping it off at home or in the base hospital. Court-martials are off until there's enough MPs who can actually stand up straight and remember their own name" The guard turned to Harrigan "If you weren't in here, you'd be number one suspect for this one, sonny. I remember the paint episode" he growled. "Me too. Security uniforms look better in fluoro green, don't they?" Harrigan replied, grinning. "But I was here" he continued, with a look of wounded pride now on his face "In this very cell, in fact, grumbling with the others because we couldn't get the baseball results due to power being off". "Yeah, yeah, Harrigan, I know" the guard grumbled "Get yourself cleaned up and over to the visiting room". The guard walked off to the checkpoint for that level, grumbling that there'd better be some coffee left, promising inventive and painful retribution on those responsible if there wasn't.
"Hah" muttered Harrigan "I ought to have put something in the guardroom coffee, it would've been much funnier". He then made his way to the bathroom for his floor, and came out looking and feeling at least 80% human again. Then he made his way to the visitor's area, wondering what was in store. He found both Captain Lazarus and General Franklin waiting for him. "Sit down, Harrigan" ordered the General "Though I can't prove it, I'm pretty sure it was you that was responsible for that debacle last night. The only time you aren't creating merry hell somewhere round here is when you're on a mission. Since these gentlemen here have one for you, I'm adjourning your trial until the mission's over, in the hope that I might actually get some peace round here and get through a week without receiving a report of one of your escapades to give me a headache again. Now get out of here before I change my mind". Captain Lazarus grabbed Harrigan's arm and marched him out of the building. "You're lucky the General can't pin this one on you, Harrigan" he growled "If he could, you'd probably be shot. Three-quarters of the general staff out of action from come-downs off whatever you put in the punch. About half of the other officers can't even remember last night at all, and those that do wish they didn't. We were lucky that the military reporters that were there drank that muck too, and can't remember what happened to their notes". ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Captain Lazarus called everyone together in the spec-ops ready room "OK, here's the good news. Harrigan's available for the mission. We've also got full access to the discretionary military budget for black ops". DK chimed in "Mary's agreed to be comm officer for us. Crew list is as follows : Harrigan as pilot, Mary as comm officer, and our pet corporal as flight engineer". "Now the bad news" added Captain Lazarus. "The charges against Lieutenant Harrigan have only been postponed. General Franklin can't squash them. We've got four months, providing he doesn't find out that last night's fiasco was Harrigan's fault. If he does, we may have to move the schedule forward. DK, get Harrigan started in the flight sim now. He'll need every minute of training he can get". Then Mary added "I'll probably be able to operate the comm gear on board the shuttle anyway, but I'll go over it until I've got it down cold". "The corporal starts engineering training this morning" added DK again "You'll have him for weapons training and PT in the afternoons until lift- off, Lieutenant. You'd better get off to training, people. Captain? A word, please?".
After the others had gone off to training, DK took Captain Lazarus aside. "The one thing that's worrying me is where we'll run the mission from. We need a secure location where we can provide ground control for the mission as we probably can't use the usual control room" DK explained worriedly. "Don't worry" assured the Captain "I'll get one of the air force mobile HQ trailers nearer the day. We can override the main control room from there. Some of my troopers will provide security". "So now all we need to do is train them" said DK. "And hope we have enough time" added Captain Lazarus.
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