30 Worlds: Megaforce, Episode XI: "A Marriage Made in Meatballs"
CHAPTER TWO
The next morning, with four days remaining before Flint and Sam's wedding, William woke up in his hotel room in the Swallow Falls Regent and reached for his Mobilates. "Prince William to Enterprise. Come in, please," he said.
"McKessie here, Your Highness," the voice of Taylor McKessie said. "Good morning to you." "The same to you, Taylor," William said. "Give me a ship's status report, please."
On the Enterprise, Taylor stood at the Galaxy Map and tapped a control. "All systems are at green alert and fully functional," she began as she read from the holographic display before her. "Gold Squadron pilots are at Level 1 standby. All tactical systems ready for deployment."
"Good," William said. "We still don't know what Xur's game is, so it doesn't hurt to be ready. Continue at present status until circumstances demand otherwise." "Yes, sir. McKessie, out," Taylor said before gesturing for Rocky to end the transmission.
As William closed his Mobilates, a knock sounded on the door. "Who is it?" William asked as he put his Mobilates in a drawer. "Hotel security, Mr. Pine. Ms. Sparks is here to see you," a voice called out.
"Just one minute," William said before tying on a robe embroidered with the Columbia "Torch Lady" logo. "Send her in."
Sam opened the door, a concerned look on her face. "What's wrong, Sam?" William said. "I just got this message e-mailed to me," Sam said, pulling her smartphone out of her pocket. A few quick swipes later, Sam held the phone so that William could see.
The image of Flint appeared on the smartphone's screen. "Hello, Sam. I don't know how to tell you this any other way, so I'll just come out and say it," Flint said. "I don't think we should get married—at all. We're just too much different to be able to make a go at it. I'm sorry, but at least you found this out now instead of at the altar. See you around." The screen went blank.
William looked back up at Sam. "Do you think you could send that to my e-mail? I could have my head of security analyze it to see if it is fake," he said. "Sure," Sam said. Tapping a few buttons, Sam then held the phone out. "Just tap in your address," she said.
William tapped in an e-mail address that E.R.I.N. had set up for the mission. "MESSAGE SENT" appeared on the phone's display.
"I'll have Liz get back to you with her findings," William said. "In the meantime, proceed with the wedding plans as if nothing has changed."
"Got ya. And thanks," Sam said before leaving William's room.
A few minutes later, William was watching the message again, trying to locate any hints of alteration or outright fallacy when there was another knock on his door. "Mr. Pine, it's Flint Lockwood. We have to talk," the voice said.
"Come in," William said. The door opened, admitting Flint and his pet money Steve. Steve had an angry look on his face.
"Flint, what's wrong?" William said. "A few minutes ago, I got a message from Sam, saying that she had to cancel the wedding," Flint said.
A frown creased William's face. "Flint, a few minutes ago, I was visited by Sam, saying that you sent her a message saying the exact same thing," William said.
"When Steve saw me viewing the message from Sam, Steve started blurting out, 'FAKE! FAKE! MESSAGE FAKE!'," Flint said. "Do you have the message that Sam says I sent her?"
William picked up his laptop and brought it over to where Flint and Steve were standing. "Watch," William said. After only a few moments, a loud shrill cry came out of the thought translation unit around Steve's neck. "FAKE! FAKE! MESSAGE FAKE!"
The cry repeated several times. William had to yell for Flint to hear him over the sound. "FLINT, I THINK I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON! FIND SAM AND BRING HER BACK HERE! I'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING THEN!" William said.
Flint nodded, then picked up Steve—still yelling "FAKE! FAKE! MESSAGE FAKE!"—and left William's room. As soon as the sound faded, William pulled out his Mobilates. "Prince William to Enterprise. We have a situation. Have the away team rendezvous in my hotel room immediately," William said.
"Aye, aye, sir," Calhoun said. As soon as the channel closed, William stood and walked over to his hotel room window. Opening the shades, William could see the recovery work progressing on the streets below.
Humans in SFPD uniforms were working with civilians and foodimals to clear some of the detritus that had developed during the time that the town had laid abandoned. William took a deep breath and closed the shades.
"Here's hoping the recovery can recover from this," William said out loud to no one in particular.
::TBC::