I'm glad I sat on these chapters for a while as so much is being... changed is not the word... more like clarified.

Chapter 35

The Deep End

Doctor Sarah Spencer did not sleep very well at all that night. Professor Adisa's little bombshell had left her feeling quite unsure of herself, even though he stated plainly she had already received all the experience she needed to do a fine job.

"But I've got no idea what I'm doing" she complained and was surprised when the Professor gave a small chuckle.

"I think I see your problem" he said reassuringly "You mistakenly believed all these years, that I DID know what I was doing."

The former Railgun Complex Chief knew he had two important tasks to perform on the first morning of his semi retirement, but clearing his personal effects from his old office could wait and helping Sarah with the transition would require a good level of caffeine in his system.

"Hello Professor" an unfamiliar but smiling man greeted Linton in the dining room as he poured himself a strong black coffee.

"I'm sorry but... do I know you?" he asked the man.

"Don't look so worried" the man laughed "I would not expect you to remember me. My name is Fariz Amran and I was one of the local engineers who worked on this complex about twenty years ago. We talked a few times during your many inspection trips."

"I apologize for not remembering" Linton shook Fariz's hand and offered him a cup of wake up juice.

The Storm Petrel of Mild Surprise was only getting started when the discovery was made of the small town north of Padang; the mischievous sea bird had a lot more in store for Professor Adisa that day.

"No need to apologize Professor; back then your life was fly in from the US, check on the progress and then fly out again. Each trip you must have spoken to twenty people or more and your mind was definitely on the Railgun and Mars; not on social pleasantries."

"And you've been living south of here ever since? We assumed everyone had left" Linton admitted.

"I can tell you all about it if you like" Fariz offered.

Professor Adisa did indeed want to hear what Fariz Amran had to say because he hoped it may just fill in more of the blanks; and so they sat down at one of the dining tables to talk some more.

"What was your main task back then?" the Professor started with.

"I was working with a team from the Netherlands who were installing all the power capacitors along the length of the tunnel. It was perfect for me because my field is electrical engineering; also I speak Dutch and so I became a liaison with the other teams."

"And you left before lockdown?" Linton asked.

"I was only here for four or five years; when the Dutch team were finished they flew back to Europe. I was offered more work here, but I wanted to get back to my family. I greatly admired what you were attempting here and I fully supported the whole Mars Project, but my wife and children needed me to come home eventually."

Professor Adisa tried not to think about his own family, lost so many years ago when a meteorite struck northwest Germany, but it was not easy.

"There were a few others who left about the same time I did and when we got back home, we let everyone know how important it was that you remain hidden from the EFA and so you may find this hard to believe, but we gave all our friends and neighbours special training about what to do if any strangers came looking for you; and about a week after you went into lockdown, some heavily armed men did."

"Was it the EFA?"

"I honestly don't know; they asked some questions about foreigners north of town so we just pretended to be completely ignorant. At first their leader didn't believe me but I told him we didn't go north because of possible volcanic activity, he accepted it at last. After a few hours of poking around, they moved on and did not come back. Men with high tech weapons and equipment tend to assume rural people are stupid; we let them think we were, and they were stupid enough to believe it."

Linton and Fariz could not help but laugh at the story.

"It must have been frightening at the time though" Linton pondered.

"Oh it was; mostly because I wasn't sure if they had come to protect you, or stop you and without knowing for sure, I could not take the risk after what happened to ..."

A look of horror fell over Fariz's face as he realised the professor was unaware of what he was about to say.

"What's wrong Fariz?" Linton asked.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll have to be blunt; the men who camouflaged the main entrance ramp after you were locked in..." Fariz took a breath "were killed soon after they left here."

"Harry's dead? What... err..."

After so many years and so much destruction on the surface, Linton knew in his heart many of his old friends and work colleagues would no longer be alive, but hearing the word 'killed', sent the professors brain into a spin.

"Some local teenage boys were watching all the fuss going on during the lockdown from hidden vantage points on the high ground" Fariz Amran continued.

"When they returned to the town, the boys told us of a very odd looking helicopter they saw at the old runway near the beach and from their description of it, I figured it must have been a Sikorsky Skycrane. Your friend Harry and his team of civil engineers were evacuated from here in a pod attached underneath it. I didn't think it particularly strange until a day later when some of the men of the town returned from a fishing trip and told us about a helicopter they too had seen. They said the pod was dropped over the ocean and exploded before it hit the water."

"Oh my goodness" a tear formed in the corners of Linton eyes.

There was a moment of quiet as the professor thought about the last time he had see his friend of many years. It was when Linton Adisa was about to enter the Railgun complex before being locked down and Harry's crew were about to cover the raised ramp with sand, soil and dead trees.

"So as you can guess, when the armed men came by, it did not matter if they were friend or foe, we feared they just might want to kill anyone who knew about the complex so as I said before, we told them we never went up north because of the risk from the volcanoes."

"And they believed you?"

"They were not the sharpest men I'd ever met. I was relieved you didn't send up a supply capsule while they were still there; it would have been difficult to explain not knowing about you after a launch. Especially considering the noise was like a short burst from a Gatling gun, constructed from the cannons of a World War II battleship; even though such a device would be a physical impossibility."

"I'm finding it hard to believe Harry and all his men have been dead for fifteen years" Linton sighed "Wait a minute; when did the ship get here?"

"It would have been a few days after the armed men had left. The ship's captain told me he wanted to avoid another possible EFA attack, so he had taken am extreme southerly route through the Timor Sea to avoid detection."

"AH HA!" Linton leapt to his feet "That's why those armed men were here; they would have been sent to make sure the ship hadn't arrived unexpectedly. From what I've learned recently, it sounds like Prime Governor Redding and our supposedly selfless leaders, did not want us to have the capability to launch more people into space and so they tried every way at their disposal to stop it happening; even going as far as faking an EFA attack to get us off the ship so they could sink it. Fortunately for us, the ship's captain threw a proverbial spanner in the works by not staying on the planned route."

"It also explains why the base was put into lockdown so far ahead of schedule" Fariz noted.

"Yes; Redding would not have wanted me to know if the ship made it here. My guess is he sent a false message about the EFA knowing our approximate whereabouts so he could put us in lockdown before sending troops to destroy the ship, if it should turn up."

"But they weren't expecting it to take such a big detour."

"If only Harry had known who and what he was up against" Linton sighed.

"The irony is, it was Harry's fate that gave me the warning not to trust anyone" Fariz noted.

"At least something good came from his loss" the professor nodded "Excuse me Fariz; I need to see the new boss about this."

Soon after, a soft knock sounded at what used to be the professor's office door and when it was opened, a nervous looking Doctor Sarah Spencer was delighted to receive a visit from the former leader of the complex.

"I'm sorry to say I have some very disturbing news my dear?"

"And I'll be sorry to hear it" Sarah admitted "but I really need to talk to you first."

"What is it Sarah?" he asked as he sat on the couch.

"Oh... just some simple questions like; why me, why now, what were thinking and have you gone completely mad?"

"Well not completely" Linton admitted "I take it from you questions, you don't believe me when I say you are the best choice for Head of Railgun Operations."

"I could name ten better people for the job here and now."

"No you couldn't" Linton accused with a wide grin on his face "You could name ten very good people, but no one better. Do you think I just came to this decision yesterday, or picked your name out of a hat? I first started considering who would be my replacement if anything should happen to me, soon after we went into lockdown. I review my list and talk it over with Doctor Henry Deming every year, but you have been on the short list for ten years and on the top for the last four."

"But I don't know how to do what you do" Sarah protested.

"You've already done it my dear; let everyone do their jobs and coordinate when needed. Don't worry about it too much because I'll be close by for a while yet, so just guide everyone as you see fit and we can chat about your decisions any time you wish."

"I still need to know; why now when everything is changing? We've reopened the complex, there are new people here..."

"And that is precisely why my dear; I can't say I'm getting old, because I'm already old" Professor Adisa said as the Grey Heron of Stating the Obvious wandered out from behind the couch.

"But you're still very healthy and..."

"True but with the Railgun and its people here starting a new phase of operation, it is better to have you take charge from the beginning, just as I did so many years ago. As we start the rebuild and begin planning for the next round of space launches, things will go much smoother if we don't have to go through a change of leadership in the middle of it all. I can tell you most sincerely Sarah; the people here all trust you and that will help the newcomers to do likewise."

"If they decide to stay" Sarah sat heavily.

"We shall see my dear; we shall see."

After Professor Adisa had finished telling Sarah about what had happened to Harry and his team after lockdown, they both began to realise just how dangerous the people they worked for truly were.

"I need some time to think" Sarah declared.

"Yes and I need to talk to Captain Branson; I want to try and make a deal with him so he'll take me back to America."

"I'm the boss now" Sarah smirked "I may not let you go."

As he left to give her the contemplation time she needed, Linton did feel a little guilty for putting all this weight on Sarah's shoulders; even though he knew it was quite necessary for the future of the Railgun Complex and a therefore, all remaining life on Earth. At the same time, he realised it would not be a good idea to use those exact words with Sarah; she was already under too much stress.

I'm up to 15 readers – wow! Thanks everyone.

Started another Berk comic short a few days ago with Snotlout; should be a hoot.