“Thank you Enzo. I know the reasons for your expedition and I’m aware there are other parties interested in your whereabouts. With that in mind I’ve selected a captain I can completely trust, and who can independently make smart decisions. He is a long time associate of mine with unquestioned loyalty. Expenses for this trip will be exceedingly higher then normal. It is my expectation that I will receive some compensation for my investment. It will be of utmost importance for this mission to appear like every other. Everyone on board will be expected to pull their own weight and put in their fair share of work until you reach Mars. Listen to the captain and do what he says. Make no mistake, he is in charge of space operations. Do not bring extra attention to yourselves prior to launch. Once in space be very careful. You haven’t been properly trained and space is very unforgiving of mistakes. Launch will be tomorrow at fifteen hundred hours. That will be all for now. You can go and visit the ship and become familiar with where you’ll be spending the next few months." Randy said.
Never having been aboard any type of spacecraft Vincent was impressed. The ship was designed primarily for the transportation of cargo. Randy treated his employees well. Each crewmember was assigned their own cabin which was spacious for a transport. He wondered if all the ships in the fleet were designed this way. After taking a tour of the ship Vincent exited and met with Enzo and Randy. A slight change in plans had been made.
Thirty minutes before launch Enzo and Randy watched from the observation window as the transport was prepared. Equipment and supplies were being loaded into the ship. The ship was ready for launch as one last cargo container was offloaded and returned to the hanger bay.
In the control room the launch technicians were going through their normal routines. All eight heart rate monitors were well within the normal range and the countdown was at thirty seconds. Randy was nervous. "Do you think this is going to work?" he asked Enzo. "I do. I can't think of anything we might have missed and I've gone over it quite a bit." Enzo said.
Fire bellowed out as the transport lifted into the blue sky on back of the newest model Vanguard rocket. It would take the transport about ten minutes to reach orbit. After a system check the fission engine would be started. The ship would rendezvous with the cargo unit already in orbit, and the trip to Mars via Titan would begin.
The liftoff began without incident. After eight minutes a launch technician spoke up "Mr. Stedman, we have a problem. An object is approaching at high speed. It is on a collision course. Estimated time to impact is fifteen seconds. There is no time to intercept the object." she said. "Bring up all external cameras now." The forward facing camera picked up the missile two seconds before impact. The internal cameras had been disabled. "Sir we have lost contact with the transport. All systems are down. It appears it has been destroyed." the technician said.
"Damn it! That ship cost eight million dollars." Randy exclaimed as he and Enzo left the control room. "We knew this was likely to happen. That's why you have insurance. You just better hope PETA doesn't get wind of this." Enzo laughed. Eight large pigs were substituted for the crew on the last container into the transport. The crew had been taken off the transport and was safe. "Those poor hogs, it's too bad they have the same heart rate as humans. The CIA is going to want eight heart rate readings. We’ll give them the data for the eight heart rate readings on board the transport. The CIA has nearly unlimited resources, I’m sure they’ll request the medical data. You definitely called that one well Enzo. It was a brilliant plan." Randy said. They went outside and watched the debris from the transport as it began raining back towards earth. "I think we'll see treasure from Mars when pigs fly." Enzo quipped.
Monique was at CIA headquarters and had observed the destruction of the transport. Her boss had watched as well and didn’t show any emotion when the eight people onboard had been killed. The agency had someone inside the Leviathan complex who had provided intelligence. Vincent and Dalton had been on the ship. Once again she had argued with Benjamin. She told him the transport could be intercepted once it left earth. Once the ship had been intercepted everyone on board could have been interrogated. In her opinion she still could have got the information from Vincent or Dalton. Benjamin argued the resources available to the agency in space were severely limited, costly, and there would be no guarantee of success. The agency knew Vincent was going to Mars. Whatever he was searching for would be found by the agency now that he knew where to look. He was adamant in his belief any artifacts or alien technology belonged in the hands of the United States Government. Monique was ordered to New Mexico the next day to conduct the clean up operation and to ensure there were no unexpected surprises.
The reality of the situation was felt by all members of the crew in the safe house. Enzo himself had picked them up in the hanger and driven them to the safe location. All the employees at Leviathan believed they were dead. None of them knew the crew hadn’t been on the ship when it was destroyed. A small memorial service had already been scheduled. The danger was real and it was deadly. Vincent was angry and his need for vengeance went up a notch. The United States Government was killing people needlessly in order to keep secrets hidden.
The crew for the next launch at Leviathan was notified they had been replaced. A reason was not given, they were given a bonus, and instructed to take extended paid vacations outside of the United States. Instructions were also given not to talk about their work at Leviathan under any circumstances.
It was just over two hours before the next launch. Randy picked up the crew from the safe house and brought them back to the hanger at Leviathan. Once in the hanger the crew entered a cargo container which was immediately sealed and brought on board the transport. It was a crew of eight which consisted of Vincent, Dalton, Dominic, Captain James Basso, pilot Patrick Weeks, navigator Sarah Dew, engineer Isabella Bilotti, and specialists Julia Parsons and Gary Schmidt. The crew had been told the true nature of their mission and was nervous. They had seen the video of the previous ship which had been destroyed. The extra money for this mission would be nice, but it wouldn’t be much use to a dead person. Randy addressed the crew. “This is your last chance to withdraw from this mission. Let me know now. Once you leave it will be too late.” he said. “I’d like to withdraw. I have a family and the risk is too great.” Gary said. “I understand Gary, you are dismissed from this mission. You will get a paid vacation just like the rest of the crew who were originally scheduled. Do not talk about Leviathan while you’re abroad. Everyone else, it’s time to leave Earth.” Randy said.
Randy went to the airport and left for a meeting in Houston. He had left instructions for all personnel to be cooperative as possible with any investigation which was being conducted by the authorities regarding the accident with the transport. He had raised hell with the military, with NASA, and the government in general regarding the accident. He was assured future launches would be safe and an investigation into the tragedy was ongoing. He expected the typical government response, and wasn’t disappointed. Enzo had returned to New York the previous day. As far as anyone was concerned everything had returned to normal at Leviathan Transport.
Monique arrived at Leviathan to conduct interviews and to check the flight data. So far she had not uncovered anything unusual. As she was reviewing the video at the hanger she noticed what appeared to be hay sticking out the bottom of a container. Finding this odd she left the office for the hanger to speak with the loading supervisor. The container was missing the usual identification placard, and nothing similar to hay was listed on the manifest.
There were twenty three minutes left before launch. At this point the crew was ready and waiting for time to pass before the Constellation would take to the heavens. Vincent had been exploring the ship. The living quarters and the command center would begin to rotate once they were under way providing gravity by centrifugal force. The cargo and storage areas were already in orbit. Once in orbit the Constellation would connect to the cargo and storage bays via a tether. Insi
de the cargo bay Leviathan had placed a repair robot called Sammie to make repairs to the ship when needed. In the past the robot had come in handy when unexpected hull breaches had occurred. He didn’t like the fact there was only one airlock and it was in the cargo bay. A secondary airlock within the main ship itself seemed like it should have been a requirement. He was told the cargo bay contained a large ground transport called Big Joe. It was designed to work on any planetoid regardless of the amount of gravity to assist with the recovery of any material deemed necessary to the mission. A fission engine powered the state of the art ship which would take roughly forty days to reach Saturn.
Vincent looked out the window and marveled at the progress mankind had been making. He was looking forward to some time in space. It would definitely be something different. He hoped it would be a peaceful and relaxing journey. He needed the downtime to gather his thoughts and to escape the government. He wanted to explore and prove his grandmother was right. It was now his job to find the truth and show it to the world.
As he was about to turn away from the window he saw none other then Agent Murphy walking toward the hanger. His head spun. He had to think quickly. He called for Dominic. "Listen to me very carefully. You have a job which needs to be done quickly. Get a good look at the woman in the hanger. She is an Agent with the CIA and she likely knows who gave the order to have Maria killed. She needs to be on this ship before take off. I can't go because she would recognize me and she would also see that I'm not actually dead which would cause a problem. Get down to the hanger and put her in a cargo container and bring her aboard. Don't let anyone see you. Take her cell phone and put it in with the recycling. Take any jewelry or anything else that might have a tracking device and dump it in the garbage. Look for a necklace, watch, bracelet, glasses, and earrings. Throw her shoes away too. If you're not sure about something get rid of it. The government can place tracking devices anywhere. We have twenty minutes left. Go now and I'll tell the Captain there might be a small delay." Vincent said.
Dominic approached the hanger trying to figure out how he could quickly accomplish what had been requested of him. The agent was in the corner talking with the loading supervisor. He went to a work bench and started moving tools around waiting for a chance to approach the woman. The supervisor went into his office and the Agent began to head out of the hanger. "Excuse me, do you know where the supervisor went?" he asked as he approached her. "He went into the office. Didn’t you see him?" She was only five feet away now. "I must have missed him. Thanks for the information. We have a problem with a fuel valve. We might have to delay the launch. Another accident wouldn’t be good for the company. Are you here to figure out what went wrong?" he asked. As she turned to face him Dominic swung a wrench he had picked up off the work bench. It hit her in the side of the head with a sickening thud. The blow had been hard and she crumpled to the ground unconscious and bleeding. He quickly moved her between two shipping containers. He took her phone and threw it into the recycling. He took her earrings and watch and threw them away as well. Not wanting to miss anything he took off all of her clothes except her underwear and disposed of them.
The Captain was not happy being told there might be a delay. There were not to be any abnormalities on this trip whatsoever. After Vincent told him what he had sent Dominic to do, the Captain immediately called control. "I need a secure line with Thomas immediately." After a few seconds Thomas picked up the secure phone. "You're secure Captain, what’s the problem?" Thomas was a friend, a fishing partner, and hopefully someone he could trust. "I need the security cameras in the hanger and around the launch area turned off now. If you have any issues with this request talk to Randy only. Turn them off right now. If you don’t it will compromise this mission." Thomas turned off the cameras just seconds before Dominic appeared and kidnapped Agent Murphy.
Dominic put Agent Murphy in the shipping container and jumped in the forklift. When he arrived at the transport, the cargo hatch was open. Vincent and the Captain were waiting. "Vincent, get her strapped into a seat, Dominic get that forklift back to the hanger, and then get your ass back here. It’s time to go. We have four minutes until lift off.” Captain Basso said.
Just as Vincent finished getting the unconscious and bleeding Monique securely strapped into her seat, Dominic returned. "Get your butt strapped in Dominic. Good job getting her aboard.” Vincent said. “We are at T-minus forty five seconds and we are not delaying this launch." the Captain said. "Could someone please explain why we are kidnapping a half naked woman?" Sarah asked. "Not now. We’re about to liftoff.” Vincent said as the engines roared to life and the Constellation left the launch pad.
Her head was pounding, her body was shaking, and she felt like a load of bricks. Monique tried to open her eyes and couldn't. She decided to embrace the darkness awhile longer. A short time later she felt as light as a feather but was restrained and couldn't move her arms or legs. Her head still hurt like hell. She opened her eyes and was shocked to see Vincent Moretti floating in front of her. "Welcome to space." he said as he slapped her hard across the face.
The slap woke her up. As she watched Vincent spin away from her it was obvious she was somehow in space. “What was that for? Where am I? Where the hell are my clothes?” Instead of answering any of her questions Vincent had one of his own. “Did you give the order to have Maria’s plane shot down?” The rest of the crew was watching the exchange. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. The plane Maria was on had a mechanical failure.” Vincent had a look of disgust on his face and almost slapped her again. “That’s bullshit. The pilot found me and told me the plane was shot down. Did you give the order?” Monique knew she was running out of options. “No, the order did not come from me. That’s the only answer you’re getting out of me for now. After I get some clothes and gather myself I’ll speak with you in private. If you want answers you’ll treat me in a respectable manner.” she said.
Julia Parsons had the title of “Specialist”. She didn’t know what it really meant. She was the back up for all the other crew members and was the onboard medic. She escorted Monique to her own quarters, found her some clothes, and checked the injury to her head. She stopped the bleeding and ended up putting a couple of stitches in her head to keep the wound closed. She instructed Monique to lie down and went to find Vincent and the Captain. “Monique has suffered a fairly traumatic head injury. She likely has a concussion. I know why you need to talk to her and why you’re so angry with her. It’s completely understandable. For now I think it would be best if she had a couple of hours of sleep minimum. After that she will feel better and will be better able to answer questions. I’d like to give her something for pain which will help her sleep.” This sounded reasonable to Vincent. He could use the time to clear his own head and think of how to best proceed. His anger and frustration with what had happened recently had provoked him into slapping Monique. The extra time would help him approach the situation more clearly. He did have one idea. “That sounds like a good plan to me. Do you have something which will really knock her out?” he asked. “Why do you ask?” she replied. “I want to know if she’s telling the truth or not. I want to put mood contacts in her eyes without her knowledge.” he said.
Captain Basso interrupted. “What are mood contacts?” he asked. “They are contact lenses which change color when you’re mood changes. To be more accurate they detect changes in the blood flow around the eyes. It’s not really a polygraph but it’s the best we can do. If she’s relaxed the contacts will be bluish in color. Lying creates more stress and blood flow around the eyes. The contacts will turn reddish.” Vincent said. “I think Patrick has mood contacts. I’ll knock her out and put them in her eyes.” Julia said.
He had been in space for an hour and Vincent was going to have to contact Enzo already. Enzo hadn’t wanted to be contacted unless it was absolutely necessary. He needed some additional details from the Captain before he made the call. He found him in the command center. “Capta
in, I need to ask you a few questions. How often is the recycling and the refuse picked up at the hanger?” he asked. “It’s all picked up daily. It was a good idea for you to have Dominic put the phone in the recycling. Electronic equipment goes to Florida for recycling. The CIA will track it to Florida then the signal will be gone forever. Most of the garbage is incinerated so that won’t be a worry either.” the Captain replied. “Do we know if the security cameras were turned off in time?” Vincent asked. “According to Thomas they were. Dominic did not show up on any of the feeds prior to them being turned off.” James replied. “Thank you Captain, I’ll try not to cause any more trouble.” Vincent said. “That would be great, we don’t need any trouble. I think you did the right thing under the circumstances by the way. Sometimes you have to act when the opportunity presents itself. If at all possible check with me next time something comes up. We need to communicate and I need to be in the loop.” he said.
Enzo was looking at Vincent on his computer screen. “The Constellation left just over an hour ago Vincenzo. You know you are only to contact me in case of an emergency.” Vincent explained what had happened with Agent Murphy and told Enzo he would be questioning her shortly. “Have Dominic with you when you question her. He may be able to help. Use whatever means necessary to find out who gave the order. Call me back when you’re done. There are now new issues we will have to discuss.”
Julia told Monique she was giving her something for the pain which would help her sleep as well. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t exactly the truth either. Five minutes after taking the medication Monique was completely out. Julia inserted the mood contacts thirty minutes later. It would take the contacts around fifteen minutes to adjust to her normal heart rate. When she woke up the mood contacts would be functional. As long as she didn’t look in the mirror she shouldn’t notice any difference.
Vincent found Dominic and brought him to Julia’s cabin. He was going to try and get Monique to lie to make sure the contacts were working. They found Monique groggy but awake. “Julia, if you’d please give us a few minutes we need to have a discussion with Agent Murphy.” Julia left the cabin and they were alone with Monique. “Agent Murphy, it appears the shoe is on the other foot now doesn’t it? It’s my turn to ask you some questions and I expect you to be honest with me. No more bullshit and no more covering up for your bosses. Did the head of the CIA give the order to have Maria killed, and to have the transport destroyed two days ago?” he asked. “No the head of the CIA was not aware of those operations.” Monique said as her eye color remained blue. “Did you give the go ahead for either of these operations?” Vincent asked. “No, the order was not given by me.” the contacts were still blue. Who gave the order?” he asked. “I don’t know.” the contacts turned red. Dominic pulled out a gun. “We know you are lying. Tell us who gave the order!” Dominic said. “Dominic, put the gun away I’m sure the Agent will tell us what she knows. Agent Murphy, Maria was my grandmother. She raised me since I was very young. She meant everything to me. I know you’ve been through a lot today. I’m sorry we took you the way we did. There weren’t any other options at the time. We know you have information about who gave the order. We can do this day after day for months and make life very difficult for you. Who gave the order?” he asked.
Lost Sols 1: Ancient Treasure Page 5