I know the voices in my head are not real, but sometimes they give some pretty neat ideas. Of course there are also the occasions when I must ask myself, is what they are telling me worth the jail time? Short answer... no.

Chapter 56

I Spy with My Little Eye.

Reed Branson yawned as he climbed the steps leading to the main deck. He would have given almost anything for a cup of coffee, but supplies were low so he was trying to limit himself to one per day. With the One and All tied up the evening before, the crew had been able to unload all parts of the Bull Ant and complete most of the assembly before sun set so he was confident the Professor would be able to start the next leg of his journey before noon. As he walked up the plank and onto the pier, Branson was surprised to see one of the men left to stand guard was sitting cross legged on one of the Bull Ant drive sections.

"Shouldn't you be over on the shore patrolling the area?" he called out.

The accused the young man turned around and smiled at Captain Branson who could now see it was not a member of his crew.

"This is a funny excuse for a vehicle" he stated "No seat, no controls..."

"Who the hell are you" Branson said as he reached for his side arm before realising it was still in the draw next to his bunk.

"Before you start thinking it might be a good idea to call for help, take a good look at your chest" the intruder suggested.

When Reed looked down, he saw the distinctive red dot of a laser sight sitting right over his heart.

"What do you want" he asked bluntly.

"Oh... not much" the arrogant young man said "We'll return your guards to you unharmed and you will leave; pure and simple. And if you ever come back, we won't be so reasonable."

"Friendly bunch aren't you?" Reed sneered.

"Says the man with the high tech weaponry" the man sneered back "Don't think you're the first ship to raid this area. Did your friends from up north tell you we were an easy target? Well you can tell them we're no pushovers."

"Firstly, we are NOT raiders and secondly, we've come from the west; the other side of the pacific to be exact. Not exactly the kind of distance one travels to raid an unknown settlement" Reed insisted.

"Blah blah blah; now you've told me the usual lies, are you going to pack up and go or do we have to be a little more persuasive?"

"What on earth makes you think we're here to... steal, raid, whatever?" Reed asked "The only weapons we have are a few small arms for our own protection and by the look of this dot on my chest, you're the ones with the high tech stuff."

"Oh yeah?" the man jumped down and slapped his hand on top of the Bull Ant "Then what do you call this; a sports utility vehicle? I know a remote control armoured tank when I see one. What are you going to fit on the turntable; a mortar, machine gun or something more in the large bore cannon line?"

"That's not a weapons platform, it's for long distance transport" Reed explained "It's called a Bull Ant and the four of them can move a fully laden truck."

"How gullible do you think I am?" the man sneered again.

"This young man giving you trouble Captain?"

Reed turned around quickly to see Jack Sumner coming up from below deck. He carried a .22 rifle but with the barrel down in a non threatening manner. It only took a second for the red dot to move from Reed to Jack.

"Put the rifle down on the deck Jack" Branson said "That's an order."

"Aye Captain... if you say so."

As soon as Jack had place the weapon down, Reed turned back to the young man.

"He was only giving me back up; no need to be do anything we'll all regret" he said reassuringly.

"Tell your man to get everyone up on deck" the man ordered "and no funny stuff."

"Do as he says Jack" Reed ordered "and make sure no one is armed."

"Aye... will do sir" Jack nodded as he looked suspiciously at the man up on the pier.

As Jack went below deck, Branson considered the young man and his threats. Only one red dot could mean there was only one sniper, or they only had one laser sight; either way the young man may have already shown his entire hand. With a few seconds to think at last, something else came to mind; if Reed were in his opponent's position, as leader he would be the one to show himself to a potential enemy, keeping his people safe while keeping their heads down. Then he started to wonder how old this man really was. At first Reed had assumed the man to be in his mid twenties, but as he stared at what was a very nervous face, he realised the man could be much younger.

"So... raiders from the north" Reed pretended to make small talk "Funny you should say that..."

"THERE'S NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT IT!" the man interrupted "It's bad enough with the meteors, so I don't like not knowing when some pack of bullies is suddenly going appear and take the best of our crops for themselves, leaving us with almost nothing."

"Oh I didn't mean your plight was funny" Reed explained "It's just that we have a man onboard who fancies himself as an expert on ancient Vikings; the original raiders from the north. Honestly I am sorry to hear..."

"Save it" the young man barked "We'll soon find out what you're up to when I search your ship."

"So you can steal our equipment and supplies too? You're no better than raiders yourselves" Branson tried a little psychology on the man.

"Don't you DARE compare me to them" the man hissed "We are nothing like..."

Just at that moment, the first of the crew began to emerge from below deck, most still in their night attire. The young man was quiet as he studied each face in a vain attempt to match any of the people to any past crimes; it wasn't easy when many of them kept distorting their faces by yawning. One of the last to appear was a tall, elderly Jamaican man wearing blue striped pyjamas, a bathrobe and bedroom slippers.

"What are we all doing gathering on deck at this ungodly hour?" the tall man asked.

The young man really did not know what to make of the odd group. He could imagine Captain Branson and Jack Sumner as part of a raiding party, but not the rest of them. As he considered them all, the tall man suddenly noticed him and became very agitated.

"Excuse me" the tall man called out "I hope you haven't been fiddling with the Bull Ants. We haven't finished assembling them yet so unless you know what you're doing..."

Reed Branson panicked when Professor Adisa strode over to the gangway and the ominous red dot appeared on the side of his head.

"PROFESSOR, COME BACK" he called out "YOU COULD GET SHOT!"

"Don't be silly Captain; the young man doesn't even have a gun" Linton replied as he continued unabated.

If the Professor had bothered to pay attention, he would have noticed the young man waving his hands in the air, but it was not because he just didn't care. He looked as if he was waving off an aircraft, but he was in fact trying to signal an unseen person on shore not to shoot Professor Adisa.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" he shouted as the Professor began examining the machines electronics.

"Many people seem to think so" Linton smiled.

"You do know what a laser targeting sight is don't you?"

"Of course I do; it's a... oh!" as the light came on in Linton's head at last, he looked down to see the small red dot now hovering around his chest.

Without another word, the Professor raised his hands and stepped back.

"I'm sorry... didn't mean to startle you" he grinned sheepishly.

With disaster averted for now, the young man suddenly realised what he had heard Captain Branson cry out.

"Did that big guy just call you Professor?" he asked.

"Yes he did" Linton replied.

"Some kind of nickname perhaps?"

"No, not at all; perhaps some introductions are in order. I am Professor Linton Adisa and the big guy you referred to is our vessels captain, Reed Branson. Standing next to his left is..."

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait just a minute" the young man stopped him "Did you say Linton Adisa?"

"Err... yes?"

"I don't believe it; I just don't believe it" the young man grinned "I am going to get some serious gear for bringing you in."

He grabbed the Professor by the elbow and started to half drag him along the pier.

"NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!" Branson cried out as he leapt for the gangway.

He had every intention of preventing the man from taking the Professor away but the bullet that ricocheted off the top of the gangway soon changed his mind.

"Aww look what you did; you made us waste a bullet" the man complained "I just hope this Professor guy is worth the cost."

"Excuse me please" Henry Deming stepped forward with his hands raised "Whoever it is who wants you to bring in Professor Adisa, will probably want me too."

The young man stopped and thought about Henry's offer, but had his doubts about it validity.

"And who exactly are you anyway?"

"Doctor Henry Deming."

The young man thought for a moment before replying."

"Sorry but you're not on the list; luckily for you."

"Err... what list would this be then?" Linton asked.

"Known criminals wanted for trial" the man replied.

"Oh... you must be with the Earth First Alliance" the Professor gulped.

Even though it had always been a distinct possibility, neither Henry Deming or the Professor ever thought the EFA would still be looking for them; if the organisation still existed, which everyone seriously doubted. Although Linton did assume the young man would be surprised at being recognised as working for the EFA, he did not expect his reaction to the accusation; he genuinely looked shocked.

"ME? You're the EFA sympathiser" the man did some accusing of his own.

"Now wait a minute" the Professor defended himself "I've been working against the EFA for most of my life; as well as hiding from them for the last fifteen years."

The young man only considered Linton's words for a second before deciding the old man must be lying to save his skin.

"Don't think you're going to fool me; I'm gonna get a big reward for you and that's that!"

"Please let me go with you" Henry Deming begged as Linton was dragged away.

"Well... you're certainly old enough to be one of the EFA killers, but I don't think I should take you in without orders when you're not on the list."

"I would love to take a quick look at this list of yours" Linton mumbled.

"Maybe I'm on the list by another name" Henry suggested to Linton's great surprise.

"What other name?" the young man asked, still with intense suspicion.

"Henry Dias" Deming replied.

It's difficult to know what surprised Professor Adisa more; Henry's confession or the fact that he was known to the young man.

"Yup, but you're on the other list of allied spies; oh... I probably should not have said that."

She tried not to get in the way, but people often found themselves having to choose between dodging Ursula Linwood, or running her down.

"COMING THROUGH" some unknown Railgun engineer shouted "MAKE A HOLE!"

Ursula spun around and jumped back as three people wrestled another overloaded trolley across the staging area.

"What are you doing back here Mom?" Emerson asked as he shook his head.

The fretting mother did not answer but instead asked a question of her own.

"What was in those packages?" she asked.

"Freeze dried food mainly; along with a few other of life's little necessities" Emerson answered.

He waited a few seconds for his mother to say something else, but she just continued to silently watch the organised chaos going on all around her.

"Do you want me to ask if you can talk to her again?" Emerson interrupted Ursula's thoughts "Maybe if you just hear her voice..."

"You know your sister" Ursula sighed "She'd just get annoyed and tell me to back off."

"Yeah... you're probably right" Emerson agreed "but don't forget, Blue was going to bring her back to Earth but she didn't want to be left behind."

"But Mars?"

"She's with two experienced astronauts as well as her trainer; I think she'll be fine... and I don't think she'll be landing on Mars, just taking a little trip."

Ursula turned her head towards Emerson and gave him a look that would turn milk sour.

"That's what you all said about the orbital rescue flight" she hissed.

The way events were turning out may be just life taking its natural course to her son, but to Ursula Linwood it reeked like a conspiracy of coincidence. With the discovery of the large ship in orbit, Blues promise to return to Earth within a few days had been postponed in the name of 'Making the most of a great opportunity'. Rather than leave it to be slowly torn apart by the thousands of pieces of rock and junk surrounding the Earth, he planned to take the ship beyond the Moon and park it for later use. His even bribed the Linwoods with the promise of using a strange thing he called a Soyuz to bring Calla straight back to the Railgun Complex rather than finding a runway hundreds, or possibly thousands of kilometres away.

Later though, Blue's father had made contact with some friends of his on a space station orbiting the red planet. He had apparently done this secretly using something called focused laser communication, but Ursula had to admit she had not understood when it had been explained to her. After making contact, Luis Dias had declared his intention to return to Mars for reasons beyond her understanding. Retuning for his wife and children she could easily relate too, but people had been talking about other things that sounded more than a little dangerous.

All she could do now was wait and hope for the best.

Back on the west coast of the United States, Linton Adisa and the former Henry Deming found themselves walking as quickly as they could manage through the streets of San Diego, pushed along by their captors. They marched along to the slapping beat given off by Professor Adisa's bedroom slippers.

"What are you laughing at?" Linton asked when he heard Henry chuckle to himself.

"Sorry Professor but walking along in your night attire, you look like a tall elderly dark skinned Arthur Dent."

At first Linton did not find Henry's observation very funny, but he soon changed his mind when one of his captors spoke up.

"Is this Arthur Dent another one of your EFA cronies?"

"Now what are they laughing at?" he then asked his companion.

"Who knows; these guys are weird" the other captor shook his head.

The Beatles once declared 'All you need is Love' but let's face reality; sometimes all you need is a truck load of cash.

Also what I said at the start of this chapter was a joke; there are no voices in my head. Of course I'm not sure how much trust I should put in Ricky the Magic Broccoli who lives in the air vents.