Chapter 9
A few hours later the entire G-Force Team sat down for a conference with Chief Anderson. Everyone had been briefed by their Commander regarding Zoltar's claims, and they were all eager to learn what Galaxy Security had discovered about the situation. While everyone wanted to believe that the Spectran Leader was full of hot air, Zoltar had never been the type of man to simply invent a threat without the means to back it up.
"Give us the good news first, Chief." Jason suggested, as Chief Anderson entered the office.
"There is none, I'm afraid." Anderson sighed, sitting down heavily at his desk and burying his face in his hands. He looked up again, surveying the young people in front of him before speaking once more.
"What Zoltar said is true. There is a health crisis on Earth."
"What's wrong?" gasped Princess.
"We didn't see anything strange while we were there a couple of weeks ago." Jason thought back.
"You might not have." the Chief replied. "This is an issue involving only young babies less than a year old, and pregnant women."
"How horrible!" Andie cried.
"What is the problem?" Tiny asked.
"Apparently anyone suffering from this illness is severely ill at all times: in pain, unable to keep down any food in their stomach, and extremely weak."
"Sounds like the flu." Jason remarked.
"Or some kind of severe morning sickness for the pregnant women." Princess added.
"The Medical Centers on Earth thought so as well, at first." Anderson informed them. "Those possibilities were some of the first they considered. But the usual treatments did nothing, and symptoms only got worse. It is estimated that without treatment, every individual impacted by this illness will be dead within the next sixty days."
"No one has gotten better?" Tiny was aghast.
"To date, no one diagnosed with this illness has recovered, save pregnant women who deliver, and seemingly pass the illness on to their newborns." Anderson confirmed.
"How long has this been going on?" Mark asked, his brow furrowing.
"Since about a week after the liberation of Earth." the Chief revealed.
"Did the Spectrans somehow send this disease to Earth in a fit of spite, because we routed them?" Andie suggested.
"Actually, quite the opposite." Anderson answered her. "We think the Spectrans left this behind when they fled from Federation Forces, during Operation Homefront. After careful research, Federation medical experts have determined that in fact, this is not a disease, but a genetic condition."
"Which would explain why it seems to be incurable." Princess deduced.
"Yes." the Chief nodded. "The affected babies appear to have an strange form of DNA that is completely unknown to our scientists. Just an hour ago, this particular DNA sequence was determined to be Spectran in origin."
"But, how did they change the DNA of those babies?" Tiny asked, confused.
"They didn't change it." Jason said grimly, looking over at Princess.
"They created it!" the Swan gasped, as her eyes met those of the Condor. An expression of horror covered her face. "That's what they were doing!"
"The 'operation' that Zoltar mentioned to Captain Sohot?" Mark asked, a sinking feeling in his heart as he realized what Jason and Princess were thinking.
"Care to fill the rest of us in?" Anderson asked dryly.
"I can, Sir." the Commander turned to address everyone in the room. "I believe Jason and Princess are referring to a conversation the three of us overheard on the Ramstein Aerospace Base, just before we escaped from Earth. A man named Sohot, the Captain of the Bee mecha that attacked Mars, was being lectured by Zoltar. Apparently, the Spectran troops were regularly conducting organized rapes of Terran women, and it was Zoltar's intent to impregnate millions of Terran females."
"To pass on this genetic defect…" the Chief whispered in shock.
"That would be my guess, Sir, yes." the Commander nodded grimly.
"Do they really have a cure, if this is a genetic defect?" Princess asked Chief Anderson.
"No." Anderson shook his head. "From what we've been able to determine, the affected infants are missing a vital component to complete their genetic structures. Now interviews with the babies' mothers indicate that they all suffered from 'severe morning sickness' and that they were given special 'medication' by the Spectran government to combat this problem. Their babies were also given a special ongoing 'medication', from birth onward, but of course the supply of this 'medication' stopped when the Earth was liberated and the Spectrans fled."
"And ever since, infants have been getting sicker." Jason muttered angrily. "Zoltar has no shame!"
Mark opened his mouth to respond when a strange image flashed across his mind…
Long red gloves held the barbed whip, lashing its full length out at its victim's naked form again and again, as nearby green-uniformed soldiers poured acid into the fresh wounds.
The Commander had done all he could to remain silent during his 'conversation' with the Spectran Leader, but after a few hours of this treatment, his face gave him away. An expression of anguish was deeply etched into his once distinguished features.
The man in the purple mask only laughed, his red-gloved hand plying the whip again and again.
"You see, Commander? You will tell me what I want to know…"
Mark's head spun as the unexpected vision faded away.
"No." the Eagle replied coldly to the Condor's statement. "He doesn't."
"That would imply that every soldier who was participating in that travesty also had this particular genetic defect." Princess muttered angrily. "And from what I saw, that was pretty much all of them."
"I would guess that the Spectran Empire keeps its troops supplied with this same 'medication'." Anderson surmised.
"Can't we manufacture this drug too?" Tiny asked. "That seems like the simplest solution. Why do we need the Spectrans to solve this crisis?"
"We have been unable to analyze the few samples of the drug that we have so far been able to obtain." the Chief sighed. "For some reason, our systems are unable to penetrate their chemical structure. We suspect that the Spectrans have integrated a resonant fuornical configuration into its chemical makeup."
"So, we can't manufacture it ourselves?" Andie asked dejectedly. "We need the Spectrans to make it for us?"
"The price is too high!" Tiny declared. "We can't surrender the Earth to Spectra again!"
"But the lives of thousands... maybe millions... of innocent children are at stake!" Princess protested.
"There's got to be another alternative." Mark declared. "We just have to find it."
"I think I already have." the Chief smiled thinly. It was the most optimistic sign he had given since the meeting had begun. "Andie was right in that we cannot manufacture the drug ourselves… right now. But, if we had the chemical formula for this 'medication'…"
"All we have to do is find a place where the Spectrans are manufacturing this stuff!" Jason said excitedly. "Then we can break in and locate the formula!"
"That's what's so heartbreaking." Anderson sighed. "The Spectrans were in the process of building just such a facility on Earth… in Okinawa, next to the Kadena Aerospace Base. But they had not yet completed the complex at the time of Earth's liberation, and we have not been able to locate the formula in the computer databanks we recovered from that facility. If we had stuck to our original timetable for Operation Homefront, perhaps the Spectrans would already have been manufacturing…"
"If we had stuck to the original timetable, Operation Homefront would probably not have been so successful, and would likely have cost the lives of many more Federation soldiers." the Commander retorted coldly. The Eagle was leaning forward, his eyes boring into those of Chief Anderson.
"This is not the time for second-guessing, Sir." The tone with which the Commander was addressing the Galaxy Security Chief was one that caused the rest of the G-Force Team's jaws to drop to the floor.
But there was not one of them there who did not agree with their Commander one hundred percent.
For his part, Chief Anderson appeared flabbergasted that the Eagle would speak to him in such a manner. His face turned a bright shade of red, but just as he opened his mouth to retort, Jason stood up.
"This isn't the time, or the place, Sir." he said to the Chief, his eyes staring hard. Anderson gulped nervously, clearly intimidated by the Condor's glare, especially when it was joined with the Eagle's. It was obvious that the Chief was viewing the team of warriors that he had created in an entirely new light.
For his part, Mark suddenly appreciated how Spectran soldiers must feel when facing the Condor in battle. But he was especially grateful that his second-in-command had chosen to express his support at this opportune moment.
Anderson looked back and forth from the Eagle to the Condor, and then to the rest of the Team, whose expressions were only slightly less fearsome. The Chief coughed shakily, taking a deep breath. Mark's memories were still sketchy, but he couldn't recall ever seeing Chief Anderson so uncertain before.
"Well, isn't this a switch from the usual." the Chief grumbled. "We will return to this matter later, Commander. Insubordination is not a matter to be taken lightly. But your second officer is correct that we have other priorities at the moment."
The Eagle nodded, leaning back in his chair, and the Condor sat back down, allowing the Chief to regain control of the meeting and wrap the tattered remains of his dignity around him.
Mark was amazed at this unexpected shift in the balance of power between himself and Chief Anderson. Perhaps it was due to his lack of memory, but ever since he had first arrived on Riga, he had been more of an equal with the Galaxy Security Chief, as opposed to playing the subordinate role that Anderson clearly expected of him. But whatever the reason, the Commander was not going to let the Chief make decisions for him that hurt his Team.
That's what had led them all to this point to begin with…
The Commander's mind reeled at this discovery that had just surfaced. Thoughts that had been buried deep in his brain for over a year were suddenly revealing themselves, and now the picture was finally clear.
It had been the Chief who had insisted that after the destruction of the Space Center, the Spectrans were not likely to attack again for awhile. It had been the Chief who had sent the Phoenix to Moffett Field to be repaired. It had been the Chief who had re-assigned all available Federation troops to assist Zark with the data recovery and reconstruction necessitated by the loss of the Space Station.
It had been the Chief who had been completely unprepared for the Spectran Invasion of Earth.
Of course, the blame for the Spectran Invasion could not solely be placed on Chief Anderson's shoulders. The G-Force Team itself had failed in their mission to defend the planet as well. But Mark recognized that it was the Chief's tendency to hesitate, to analyze everything thoroughly before acting, that was their greatest weakness. Sometimes, a quick, decisive action was necessary.
And that was the kind of thing at which the Commander excelled.
Chief Anderson was an important leader for Galaxy Security and the Federation, but he couldn't do it alone.
He needed the G-Force Team to help him.
And that was all that Mark had ever wanted to do.
"What do you suggest, Chief?" the Eagle asked calmly. Anderson appeared slightly surprised at the Commander's sudden change in tone, but responded accordingly.
"The factories that manufacture this drug are clearly all within the boundaries of the Spectran Empire." Anderson began. "The primary facility is, of course, located on the Planet Spectra."
"Are you suggesting that we go to Spectra to locate the formula?" Tiny asked, surprised.
"Are you suggesting that we aren't capable of doing that?" Jason accused the Owl.
"No…" Tiny backtracked. "But there's got to be an easier way… a way that doesn't invite the Spectrans to invade the Federation again!"
"I agree with Tiny." Andie said. "If Zoltar is trying to force us to give the Earth back to him, he won't appreciate us attempting to solve the problem for ourselves."
"I concur with that assessment.." the Chief said wryly. "Fortunately, I have another alternative."
"What's that?" Princess asked eagerly.
"Recently, Galaxy Security Intelligence discovered a strange facility on the Planet Pirolted, on the edge of Spectran Space. On a hunch, I had a few agents investigate the relevant data this morning. It would appear to be a factory involved in the production of medicinal products, based on the large numbers of shipments the facility makes to hospitals and Spectran Military Medical Centers."
"That sounds promising." Andie grinned.
"It's worth checking out." Princess added.
"I like this idea." Mark said quietly. "Is investigating this facility your recommended course of action, Chief?"
"Yes." Anderson replied, fixing the Commander with a curious stare. "It is."
"So, when should we depart?" the Commander asked respectfully.
"Immediately."
"Then we're on our way." the Eagle declared. The rest of the Team rose to their feet, saluting in unison.
"G-Force!"