Chapter 10
"I think that's the twentieth hour I've logged in that simulator." Princess moaned. "And I still don't have any idea of what this new mecha is capable of!"
"You're telling me!" replied Jason. "I feel like I've driven that simulator all over the galaxy but that's all I've done… drive. I have no idea where we're actually going to drive the thing, or what we're supposed to do when we get there."
"And we have yet to lay eyes on the real thing." complained Princess. "This sure is taking a lot longer than I expected."
"Well who knew that the Spectrans put so much time and effort into mecha design and planning?" asked Jason. "The way we destroy them you'd think they wouldn't bother."
"Well presumably they're hoping that we won't destroy them this time." answered Princess. "I know that they sent another ship to Earth today. Xati was on it."
"What was it going to do?" asked Jason, concerned.
"I'm not sure." answered Princess. "All I could get out of Xati is that she was supposed to deliver something. But I'm not sure what. I just wish I could have informed Chief Anderson about this."
"Well hopefully our illustrious Commander was able to intercept the delivery." said Jason.
"If anyone could, it would be Mark, Keyop and Tiny." said Princess. But inside she wasn't convinced. They all knew that G-Force never functioned as well when the five of them weren't together.
Jason apparently had the same misgivings. "See what you can find out from Xati when she returns." said Jason. "If she returns…" he added hopefully.
88888
Xati did return. Princess saw her the next day in the apartment building. She rushed to greet her fellow Galaxy Girl.
"Xati, hello!" called Princess. "I'm glad to see you safely back!"
"Princess!" grinned Xati, "My mission was a complete success! I'm getting promoted!"
"Congratulations!" said Princess. "You must be very proud!"
"Well, "said Xati, her eyes shining, "everything went perfectly. We even managed to evade the Phoenix!"
"You saw the Phoenix?" asked Princess, surprised. "What happened?"
"Oh it went even better than the simulations…" crowed Xati. "They barely got off a shot at us! And a lousy one at that. It's like they couldn't even use their targeting scanners…"
'Not without Jason manning them.' thought Princess. She knew that the others weren't used to dealing with the Phoenix's weapon systems.
"I guess G-Force wasn't up to snuff them." remarked Princess.
"No." grinned Xati. "They don't seem all that invincible after all. I…" she paused. "Oh I guess I can talk to you about it now that the mission's over. I'm dying to tell someone!"
She dragged Princess back to her apartment and shared her excitement.
"Our mission was to drop a secret weapon onto the Earth." stated Xati.
Princess sucked in her breath. "What kind of weapon?" she whispered.
"I don't know." said Xati. "That was confidential. All I know is that we weren't allowed to exceed double impulse speed while the payload was onboard. It must have been something delicate."
"Our ship incorporated the new stealth technologies." Xati revealed. "I think the vehicle you're training on has them too."
Princess nodded. She had just learned about this feature of the mecha yesterday.
"G-Force barely had time to meet us. They waited until we approached the Earth, but they were too late. By the time they tried to attack us we had already made the drop and were able to return home."
Princess blanched. Perhaps if she had been at the navigational scanners she could have detected the Spectran ship earlier. Jason could have targeted the weapons more efficiently. It sounded like the team was in trouble without them.
"Having delivered the payload we were able to return at hyperspeed." continued Xati. "They could barely keep up with us and they turned back when we left Federation Space. So as I said: a complete success! Mission accomplished with no casualties and no damage to the vessel."
"It sounds like you did a wonderful job Xati." said Princess. "I only hope the tasks ahead of me go as smoothly."
"Oh I know they will Princess." assured Xati, "I know they will.".