Chapter 6
"Hmm" Doctor Quill Vieira pondered the screen before him.
"Hmmmm" he said again "Would you like to know the sex of the baby?"
"I already know; it's a girl" April declared.
"Did you get an ultrasound back on Mars?" Sarah Spencer asked
"No... It's just that she's late" April noted "Henry was born three weeks early but both Abigail and Saffy were well overdue."
"Is she right?" Sarah asked Doctor Vieira.
"I can only say so if April asks me to" the Doctor replied with a smirk on his face.
Sarah looked to her friend expecting her to ask the question, but April just put her head back on the pillow and sighed.
"Tell me we're doing the right thing Sarah" she said.
"Well I don't know; does Luis want to know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"Not the baby, about Sage and his band of not so jolly pirates" April huffed.
"I really think if we try to fight them, we'll only succeed in delaying the inevitable... and end up losing a lot of good people in the process" Sarah nodded.
"True, but I trust Sage about as far as I could throw him."
"I bet you'd like to try throwing him" Sarah smiled.
"Yeah... but there's never a convenient volcano around when you need one" April sighed again.
With the ultrasound done, Doctor Vieira picked up a towel and stared wiping off the gel from Aprils belly, speaking softly but sternly as he did so.
"You are going to have to trust Sarah and her people to get this done without your input. Until this baby appears you need to relax and avoid any stress" he insisted.
"Quill is right" Sarah agreed "We're going to remove most of the personnel from the complex. I hope this will mean Sage's forces won't feel outnumbered and get all defensive and trigger happy. We'll do our best to get the lot of these raiders up into space and off to Mars as soon as we can. Then when Sage has what he wants, everything should go back to normal and we can resume work on the asteroid settlement."
"I know the Mars Transfer Vehicle is over twenty years old and not as good as it used to be, but I still don't like the idea of giving it back to Sage" April sneered.
Sarah took her friends hand and smiled.
"It won't be long, and we'll have something better under construction" she said reassuringly "Work has already begun in secret with some of the new ship sections already hidden at the bottom of the Railgun Tunnel with our remaining Dream Chaser Shuttles."
"What if Sage finds them?" April noted with fear.
"Firstly I doubt Sage will want to search that far down and secondly, we've bricked off the end of the tunnel so he'd have to do some serious excavating" Sarah noted.
"You always were sneaky" April smiled.
"Speaking of sneaky, you're sure the cube sat launch went well?"
"All I can tell you Sarah, is that the shuttles onboard computer verified all cube sats were launched at the right time, well before the ship docked with the Star Cruiser" April informed her friend.
"Then I supposed we'll just have to wait and see if anyone tries to make contact" Sarah looked impatiently forlorn.
"Alright April it's time to go to your room" Doctor Vieira ordered "Now that your fears have been put to rest, I want you to do the same."
"Mars or Earth, it matters not" April glared "You doctors are all the same."
As soon as they were alone in the corridor, April leaned close to Sarah's ear.
"Are you sure you don't want to let anyone else know what we're up to?"
"I want to, bt I' dare not risk it" Sarah whispered back "It would only take one slip of the tongue for Sage to find out and then all would be lost. I just have to trust in the hope that everyone will trust me."
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Calla had planned to continue working with Abigail for the rest of the day but when the time came to change jobs, Blues sister had been sent off to learn more machine maintenance skills with a few experienced mechanics, while Calla was ordered back inside the old railway tunnel. She soon found herself being escorted back to Gran's outer office, where she was stared at for a small eternity by the imposing woman.
Eventually Gran rose from her chair, walked around her desk and stood uncomfortably close behind the young girl. Calla shivered as she felt the older woman's breath on the back of her neck. Just as she was wondering what was coming next, she violently found out. Grabbing the back of her hair, Gran pulled back on Calla's head and growled in her ear.
"I don't like thieves" Gran barked.
"Well I don't like kidnappers" Calla replied, poking the bear.
Gran angrily pushed Calla's head, throwing her forward onto the desk.
"Give it back" Gran sneered as Calla stood up again.
The young girl reached into the left knee pocket of her pants, pulled out a small novel she had taken from one of the outer buildings and tossed it onto the desk.
"I just wanted something to read during the long boring evenings; I'd have put it back when I was done."
"You could have asked to borrow it" Gran hissed.
"Could've, should've, didn't" Calla shrugged.
Gran face turned red with rage as she drew back her hand, having every intent of striking Calla with great force. But instead she took a deep breath, thought better of it and returned to her chair.
"You're up to something" Gran said accusingly.
"Before you made me give the book back, I was up to page 79."
"That's not funny."
"Neither was page 78" Calla smirked.*
Gran sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head.
"Look... I know you have not been here long, but why can't you try to fit in... just a little bit?"
"I was fitting in nicely where I was till you stopped me from going back there" Calla snorted.
A sly smile crept across Gran's face as she leant back in her chair.
"I assume you mean Sumatra with Linton Adisa and his band of blind fools."
The surprise on Calla's face was plain to see as she wondered who would have told Gran the details of where she had come from.
"Don't worry, neither of your little friends talked but the look you just gave confirmed my suspicions. I had a feeling if the other girl had come from Mars, then Professor Adisa must be involved somewhere along the line" Gran nodded.
"If you know the Professor, then you know he can help you to..."
"I KNOW HIM BETTER THAN YOU DO GIRLY!" Gran thumped her fist on the desk, cutting Calla off.
The muscular woman turned her back and took a few steps towards the back wall of the room.
"Oh yes... I know Professor... Linton... Adisa... and let me tell you, he is not as smart as he thinks he is."
So many come backs about Calla's faith in the elderly Jamaican man, in comparison to the low opinion she held of the lady in front of her, flashed through the young girls mind but she decided this would be a good time to show some discretion.
"He seemed pleasant enough" Calla decided those words may get her some more information without getting her head bitten off again.
"Being 'pleasant' didn't help when billions of lives were at stake, and it won't help now either. If Adisa had listened to me, we could have saved so many more people. Do you know how many were sent to Mars?" Gran asked
"About two thousand I think" Calla replied.
"EXACTLY!" Gran exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air and pacing back and forth "Two thousand... two... damn... thousand. Billions died so we could save two... ... ... ... thousand."
The stocky woman's head dropped as she fought back the tears, while Calla just stood there not knowing what to think about the ouburst.
"I'm sure he did his best... and it's better than nothing" Calla shrugged.
Gran suddenly turned back to face Calla, almost pleading to be heard.
"You... don't understand... you can't... ... ... no!"
Whatever Gran was going to expose, some part of her mind simply refused to let the information out. Composing herself once more, the lady barked one last set of orders to her prisoner
"You! Keep your nose clean, don't steal anything else and concentrate on your work; you can learn a lot here, and it could save your life someday."
Storming over to her door, Gran threw it open and surprised the two people who had brought Calla down the tunnel.
"Get her out of here, put her back to work" she ordered.
'
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Later that night, Calla told Blue and Abigail about her strange encounter with the enigmatic woman and the questions she had.
"The way she carried on, anyone would think Professor Adisa was to blame for everything" Calla noted.
"Maybe she blames the Professor for not sending her to Mars; or someone close to her" Abigail suggested.
Calla pondered the idea for a few seconds.
"No it sounded more like she told him something important, but he didn't believe her."
"How did you come up with something so specific?" Blue asked.
"It was like Gran wanted to tell me something, but was too scared. Maybe she thought I'd laugh at her; maybe someone laughed at her before."
"Well I'm sorry but under the circumstances, I don't feel like giving her any sympathy" Blue stated as Abigail nodded in agreement.
Calla lay back on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
"Don't you think it's weird though, meeting someone else who was involved with the Mars Project?" she noted.
"If you had asked me that question back when we landed at Edwards, I would have agreed wholeheartedly. But now that I think about it, during the times of greatest devastation, all the people working on the Mars project were working mostly in deep underground workshops; and so they were the most likely to survive. Add that to the number of people we have met in settlements and towns during out journey across the North American continent and we were bound to meet some eventually" Blue pointed out.
"Good point" Calla nodded "But I still think it's freaky that she personally knows Professor Adisa."
There was a short silence as the three considered the odds until Blue asked a question none of them could answer.
"I wonder how the Professor is doing right now?"
'
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At that very time, Professor Linton Adisa was doing something of vital importance; trying to keep Captain Reed Branson alive. It was humiliating and totally unnecessary, but Sage had given standing orders that the man he called Branson the Betrayer be always kept chained up. This meant the only way he could eat was to be spoon fed by the Professor.
"Hurry up, I want to get back to the bridge as soon as possible" Carson Rake barked.
"You know this would go much quicker without the handcuffs" Professor Adisa noted to no avail.
"Just get on with it" was Rakes only reply.
Ever since Sage had taken over the remains of the Earth First Alliance from the now deceased Prime Governor Redding, he had shown nothing but contempt for his prisoners. With the help of Captain Branson's crew on the ship One and All, Adisa had managed to get information to Doctor Sarah Spencer about Sages planned attack. These two men were also the primary reason why Sage had less of everything; troops, ships and time. This was why he always kept the Professor close by his side, while keeping Branson locked up in his flagships brig.
"Alright, we've finished" Linton informed their guard.
He then stepped aside as Carson Rake holstered his side arm and stepped forward to undo the chain that held Branson's cuffs tightly bound to the floor. The second silent guard trained his rifle on Branson, almost daring him to make a wrong move. Sage knew full well that Reed Branson was an ordinary man and did not have the kind of secret skills needed to steal a fork and then use it to unlock his cell door in daring escape attempt, but he still insisted on treating Branson as if he were some kind of superhuman escapologist.
Sage had two reasons for doing this; the first was to humiliate and punish Branson for acting as a spy for the Professor and Doctor Spencer, and the other was so Adisa would always keep in mind that Branson's life was dependant on the Professor doing as he was told.
"Come on, back to the bridge" Rake said when he had finished.
"Say hi to Sage for me" Reed called after them before he lay on his bunk.
As Carson Rake shepherded Professor Adisa up the stairs, he could hear a strange voice coming from the ships radio but whoever it was, they had signed off before he entered.
"Ah... Professor" Neville Sage smiled as the two men stepped onto the bridge.
Linton did not like it when Sage smiled. To be fair, he also did not like it when Sage frowned either; or when he was overly sad, angry, happy or indeed showed any other kind of emotion. The only time Professor Adisa felt anywhere close safe, was when Sage was contentedly neutral; and that was only when he slept.
"You'll never guess who I was just speaking to on the radio" Sage continued without giving Linton a chance to try "None other than the one and only Doctor Sarah Spencer; and you'll never guess what she wanted."
"Err... me?" Linton replied.
"Oh I'm sure she does want you back safe and sound Professor, and that would be why she requested we talk to discuss terms."
Sage turned towards the window and smiled as he looked out over the ship's bow and to the horizon.
"I'll give her terms alright" he said menacingly "She either gives me what I want, or she watches her people suffer."
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As usual, the North Atlantic was vast, cold and windy. This made level flight quite difficult for the small dragon but to be fair, even a beast with the mass of a Rumblehorn would find the weather somewhat of a bother. The creature's internal navigation served it well though and before the day's end, it had found the island it had sought.
Unlike the last rocky outcrop it had rested on, this new place seemed to be almost devoid of life. Once again there were a few seabirds, but the feathered flyers did not nest here and were only using the island to rest their wings; as well as indulging in a quick feed before moving on. Feeding was also high on the list of priorities for the dragon so after circling the island once to get his bearings, the determined beast dove sharply into the south bay and snatched a good sized salmon before emerging from the water and rising back into the air.
With its prey firmly secured in its jaws, the dragon flew up and into the islands most prominent geological feature; a dormant yet smouldering volcano.
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As I work ahead on this story, I have just stared writing Chapter 19 which should be the end of Act One. Some of you will remember that I am a bus driver IRL and because schools are out for two weeks, I've had a lot of free time to write.
Thanks to Madhuntr and SukiLei for following, Vin and Draco38 for your messages and reviews, and to all the other readers for... well... reading.