Chapter 6

Once on board the battleship, we were showed our sectors. Robin had come over to mine to discuss what we ought to do, talk about what the SAR was doing here.

"The thing I can't work out is how they got in. I mean, they can't come in their own ships, and they defiantly cannot come in from nowhere." I said

"They could have sneaked into a cargo hold somehow."

"Yeah, we'll go for that. But how did they get their guns through the metal detector? That's impossible."

"What if they went around them, through the equipment dealer's door?"

"Yeah, that can be added too. So, they arrive in a cargo hold, and manage to get around the metal detectors instinctively. They must have had inside information. Think, who." I thought about all the people I had met recently on the Hispania.

"The lieutenant! He must be our guy. Do you know where he is kept?"

"No, but I can find out from the guy who showed us around. Stay here; make yourself a drink if you want." I had brought in some old whiskey and glasses, and he poured himself a centimetre in the bottom.

"Careful with that stuff, it's deadly. We've got a battle tomorrow, so don't get blasted on it." I looked him in the eye as serious as I could

"Cool it, I'll be fine. Go on and find that guy. Bring him here if you can." I looked at the bottle and saw that it was about a centimetre above the label height. Then I left and headed for the Colonel's quarters.

I approached the door and gave it three knocks. They followed by a sharp answer

"Come in!" I opened the door and peered around the edge. "What do you want?" He shouted. I came into the room and closed the door behind me.

"Sir, I would like to know in which sector our wing leader is in. Lieutenant Brian Parker is his name"

"Hold on a minute." He opened one of his drawers and pulled out a file. On the top, it said PERSONEL NOTES. He flicked to the 'P' section and handed me a piece of paper.

"Lieutenant Brian Parker is on deck 5, wing 3. You should see his name tad on the door." I handed him the file back.

"Dismissed!" I turned my back and walked out of the door. Deck 5 wing three. Ok, the lift is somewhere around here. I saw the sign on the ceiling. Lift three hundred metres left. I went around the corner and ran to the lift. ""OUT OF ORDER"" Ahh, crap. That had to happen today. I ran past my sector and headed for the stairs. 465 stairs later, I was on deck five. I went past the lift and saw a bloke come out of it.

"Now that is just taking the piss!" I shouted. The bloke turned around.

"I'm sorry what did you say?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just that I though the lift was out of order."

"Oh, that sign on deck one is still there?"

"Yeah."

"It should have been taken down by now mate, unlucky"

"Thanks for letting me know." He turned back and walked off. Ok, now on to wing three. I was at wing twenty at the moment, so I needed to go to the other end of this huge corridor. Instead of wearing myself out, I walked there. It took me in all about five minutes. I came to wing three and turned down its passage, seeing Lt. Parker on the door. I knocked three times.

"Who is it?"

"A member of your wing, Damon Miller." There was a pause

"Oh, hello. Come in, the door isn't locked." I pushed on the handle and the door swung open without a sound. He wasn't in the main living area, so I assumed he was in the bathroom. I looked around. His room was exactly the same as mine, and all the cupboards and closets were in the same place as well. I noticed the door open and the lieutenant came in.

"So, how can I be of service?" He said. I looked at him with concern

"Me and my friend Robin want to have a chat to you. Would you mind coming to my sector for a few minutes? I must add that what we want to say is quite urgent." He looked a bit mystified.

"Sure, why not. Lead the way." I turned and walked to the door, opened it and walked through into the corridor. Whilst he locked the door, I looked around at what was in the corridor. There were gas vents at regular intervals and the carpet was a dull grey colour which didn't quite reach the edges of the corridor. The corridor itself was a circle with a floor put at the bottom to square it off. It was barely wide enough for three people, but there was plenty of head room. Underneath the floor, in the cut out half of the circle, electricity wires and pipes led to different rooms and other places like the shower rooms.

"Ok, let's go. What deck are you on?" He said

"Deck one. We'll take the lift." I walked on, and he followed me up to the lift. I pressed the button and waited for the lift to arrive.

"So, what do you and Robin want to talk to me about? It must be important I guess."

"I can't tell you at the moment, you will soon find out, and yes, it is very important to only us three." The lift arrived, and we got into it. I pressed the second to bottom button. For a few second, my stomach was in my mouth, until we slowed down to a crawl, which was followed by the opening of doors.

"This way." I called to him. I stood out of the lift and turned right, heading to my room. I looked over my shoulder and the lieutenant was still there. I approached the door and knocked on it. Robin opened it and greeted the lieutenant. I looked at the bottle of whiskey. It was now just below the label height.

"Good, you didn't drink all of it. Come in lieutenant."

"Call me Brian." He took a seat around a table and Robin and I did the same. "So, what is this all about then?" Robin looked at me and I knew that it would be me doing the talking.

"We know that you are a captured, a prisoner still being held from the SAR. Yesterday, I eavesdropped into a conversation in the Hispania Café. They were two SAR agents and mentioned yours and my name. The problem is, is that they also had guns, and they didn't mention Robins name. Do you know anything about this?" He didn't look any different.

"Well, this may come as a shock from you, but I am not captured. I am I spy and have been working here with the Maverix for a few months. Two days ago during a patrol, I needed to make contact with SAR. I activated my homing device and headed for Malta. The homing device tells SAR that I am on their side. When they receive the signal, I am allowed to take off my clocking device without a shot being fired upon me.

"Whilst on Malta, I picked up two agents who sheltered in my cargo hold. When I got back to the Hispania, I told them to go through the equipment dealer's room to avoid the detectors." I nodded at Robin. "I haven't made contact with them since, so thank you for confirming that they are still alive. So, what did you hear from them?" I tried to think about what I had heard earlier on today.

"They said something about and extraction at ten, then they went on to say a convoy is waiting, and tens something about an operation. Operation genesis I think it was." The look on the lieutenant's face was concerning.

"Are you sure they said genesis?" I nodded. Brian brought his hands up to his face and rubbed them through his hair. "I f you are right and they did say genesis, then we are in big trouble. 'The convoy' is the codeword for an army of cap ships as you may know, but the genesis army is by far the biggest ever built. There are over three hundred cap ships in it." I swore, just like Brian did in the interview "They will be coming from Omicron Theta, as genesis is based in the Omega sectors. Half of them train in the remains few pockets of gas fields that the mining guilds have all but cleared. Now, it is almost open space apart from the few asteroids still lurking around. The Bundschuh and the red Hessians have been eliminated from these sectors. Well, I suppose I shall just call them the Maverix, shouldn't I." we sat in silence for a bit, until Brian once again broke the silence. "In the battle about to come, SAR will definitely triumph. Let's just hope the nomads don't appear. Oh, may I add this. Please do everything that I say In the battle." I asked him another question before he left.

"What did the agent mean about the extraction?" he paused. I looked at my watch. It was ten to ten.

"At ten o'clock, my agents will steal a ship from the hanger and uncloak at Malta. They will be expected to arrive at about five to fifteen minutes past ten." I shook his hand and he left. I looked over at Robin and he caught my glance.

"That is good news I guess. Thank god we have a way out of here." With that, robin stood up and walked up to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow." I raised my hand and gestured a goodbye signal.