“You have to listen to her,” said Jonas, wiping his tears.
“Will, it’s good to see you. I wish circumstances were different.”
“Anna, what is all of this?”
“Jonas can fill you in on the whats later. We need to discuss the whens now. Will, there’s a large asteroid just over four hours from Mars. Its trajectory and speed are confirmed. Will, it’s a planet killer. We’ve sent the coordinates to Jonas, and we need you to warn the people.”
“Anna, I thought you were…”
Devon leaned into the console to stop the inevitable questions that Will was going to ask. He knew Trace wouldn’t be as abrupt under the circumstances.
“O’Neil, there’s no more time for questions. I know we haven’t seen eye to eye on things over the years, but none of that matters now. You have to get a message to the quorum or whoever else you trust and warn the people. You have to do it now.”
“Commander Devon, there aren’t too many people I do trust anymore, but I do know of one who can confirm this. If indeed this is true, what can we do?”
“There isn’t anything to be done. It’s too big and traveling too fast.” said Trace through her tears. All at once, her grief became unbearable, and she had to take the opportunity to tell Will once more before the end. “I want you to know that I love you, Will. I’ve never stopped loving you, and I will never stop loving you. Our prayers are with all of you, with all of Mars.”
“I would only ask one thing,” interrupted Devon. “If there’s any way you can stop Larsen from getting on that ship—do it. That son of a bitch doesn’t deserve to be one of the people to carry on our species. We’ll try to make a home on Earth, so if you have any information you think might be helpful, please transmit it to us. I know that might be a lot to ask under the circumstances.”
Will now began to realize that they thought the Telos project was still at quorum headquarters on the surface of the planet. They didn’t realize that he was on Collosum high above the surface. He felt numb as he tried to process the information he’d just been given. He’d forgotten about Daniels and Ileana, and now his thoughts turned to his daughter.
“Anna, we’re not on…” Will could see the monitor begin to flicker and eventually go black.
“No! Anna!”
“Will, the Guardian is behind Earth. We won’t get signal again until…well, until after.”
Will sat on the console, put his hands over his face, and tried to clear his thoughts.
“What do we do? What if it’s true?” asked Jonas.
Will remembered the com that Stanzic had given him. He reached into his pocket and dialed the number. A few seconds later, Stanzic appeared on the screen.
“Will, how are you, my boy? I’ve been anxiously awaiting your call to find out what’s going on.”
“Lars, listen to me. Don’t ask me how or why I know, but I need you to use the observatory to confirm something for me. Jonas will be sending over coordinates of an object. I need you to confirm its trajectory and get right back to me.”
Will motioned to Jonas to send the transmission. As he did, Will could see Stanzic receive them on his console.
“I haven’t been able to look to this sector for over a month now on quorum orders. They claimed there were top-secret activities in that area and it was off limits.”
“Who gave those orders?” asked Will, expecting the answer that Stanzic would give.
“That buffoon, Larsen.” said Stanzic.
“Damn him! I need that info right now Lars.”
“What’s this about?”
“Just get the info, and I’ll ask one last favor of you, my old friend.” Will disconnected the com and turned to Jonas.
“What are we going to do, boss?”
“I don’t know. They have Daniels. Even if this is true, who are we going to tell? We can’t trust anyone in any position of authority up here. We’ll have to go through Stanzic once he gets back to us.”
“Where is Captain Daniels?” asked Jonas.
“I think they have him in the black corridor, which means he’ll be taken away, probably for helping us. What am I talking about—none of this matters if what Anna said is true.”
Will tried to call Edena and Janie but kept getting the message that they weren’t available. As he clicked off his personal com, the com that Stanzic had given him rang out. He answered it, and the image of a shaken Lars Stanzic appeared on the screen.
“What did you find?” asked Will.
“There’s an enormous mass at those coordinates, and it’s coming right for us. We have less than four hours. How did you know?”
“I don’t have time to explain. What’s your estimate of survivability?”
“There’s no question. There’s no chance for survival on the surface. It’s too big and is traveling too fast.”
“Then in that case my old friend, I have to ask you for that last favor I mentioned.”
“Luckily Ivana is already in Manikar at a conference, and I’ve already sent her to get Edena and Jane. We’ll take them with us to Abysson, it’s our only chance now. I’m hopeful that they can all make it back here in time. She has the observatory’s transport, which I modified—it’s fast.”
Will began to feel the crushing anxiety of loss closing in on him. It was worse than hanging from the building, or the rock ledge on Mount Meinar. It was only his life at stake then, and in some ways, he’d made peace with his own death each time. This time, his daughter’s life was in jeopardy, and he knew there was nothing he could do about it. He’d never felt as helpless and empty before in his life.
“Thank you,” said Will, wiping tears from his eyes. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you for this.”
“Damn you, Will! You do know how to thank me!” yelled Stanzic through the com.
Will looked curiously at the image of his old friend. “What do you mean?”
“What I mean is that you can live through this and find a way to save us someday. We can survive indefinitely, but if no one knows we’re here, we’re doomed to live underground for generation after generation without end.”
“What can I do?” asked Will.
“The first thing you have to do is get off that station. You are at as much risk as we are right now. This thing is going to send a shock-wave through the atmosphere, ripping it apart, and Collosum will be destroyed. Find a way to get off the station into a higher orbit, and let the generations that follow you on Earth know we’re here. Someday your ancestors will return to save us, to save their brothers deep under the ground on their sister planet.”
Will gathered himself quickly with a renewed sense of purpose. He wasn’t sure why, but something was driving him forward, away from his grief.
“I swear to you I will survive, for my daughter’s sake. I promise, I won’t let humanity forget you or her. You have to let all of Mars know. They deserve to know before the end.”
“I will, my boy. But first I have to destroy the main entrance to Abysson. Once word gets out, the people who created this place will try to save themselves. I have to keep that from happening. I’ll take the science teams from the observatory and any other good people I can to build some kind of world that doesn’t include the corruption that Mars has seen. Now get your ass out of there, Will!”
Stanzic clicked off his com, and the picture faded from Will’s view.
“It’s really all over, isn’t it? asked Jonas. “We’re just as doomed as the rest of the planet.”
“No, we’re not. Jonas, call the command deck and get Ileana down here alone. Tell her we cleared the lens on rover five and she needs to see something. She won’t take a chance on having any government cronies with her if she even remotely suspects we’ve found something that might lead her to her brother.”
As Will spoke to Jonas, he continued to try to reach Edena on his com to no avail.
“What are you going to do?”
“I have a call to make in my office.”
<
br /> “A call! To who?” asked Jonas.
“Larsen.”
17
NEW WORLD ORDER
Will closed the door to his office while trying desperately to raise Edena on his com. He wiped the tears from his eyes using the sleeve of his shirt and sat in his chair. He punched several numbers into his com console, and a Space Quorum representative came on the screen.
“This is Dr. Will O’Neil; I need to speak with Commander Larsen immediately.”
“I’m sorry, Doctor. He’s in final preparations for launch in three hours and cannot be disturbed.”
“This is a matter of extreme urgency, and you will patch me through to him now!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I have strict orders.”
“Damn your orders! Commander Larsen’s mission is in extreme jeopardy if I don’t get this information to him. You can see where I’m calling from, and you know who I am, so you know I’m no crackpot. You need to connect me, and you need to do it now or you’ll be held responsible for the repercussions! What is your name?”
“Ah…my name, sir?”
“That’s right. I want to be sure to report the person that caused the destruction of the Sirocco.”
“I’m, uh…I’m Ensign Dietz, sir. Maybe under the circumstances I can patch you in. I think they’re in preflight preparations, so he may be available after all.”
“That would be a wise move.”
A few minutes passed, and Will once again tried to call Edena, unsuccessfully. He had never felt so helpless in all of his years. As his impatience turned into anxiety, Ensign Dietz appeared back on the screen.
“Sir, I was able to contact Commander Larsen, and he is accepting your communication. Stand by.”
The screen went black while the communications link was established. Will felt his anger swell as the image of Larsen filled the view screen. He had his usual smug look, but this was somehow slightly different. He could sense the desperation Larsen felt in trying to make his escape.
“Ah, Dr. O’Neil, to what do I owe this rare pleasure? Are you calling to wish me luck?”
“You bastard! I know all about the object bearing down on us, and your pathetic plan to escape before it hits. I also know that you had a chance to warn the people and you chose to save your own skin. How can you sell out your entire race?”
“As usual O’Neil, you fail to see the bigger picture. You should be thanking me. Without me, you’d never have had a chance to survive this. You were part of this plan from the beginning. Don’t you see, I need you. Nobody knows Earth better then you. If you weren’t already safe above the surface, I was going to make sure you were on this ship, one way or another. Strange how it all worked out. Think of it: Will O’Neil, Science Minister of the New Earth Order. You’ll have more power than you could ever have imagined.”
“Power? Is that what you think I want?” asked Will disdainfully. You aren’t going to get away with this. I can promise you that. I’m going to do what you should have done forty-five days ago, and warn the people about what they face. Your launch is officially cancelled; they’ll never let you get off the ground when they find out what you’ve done. So much for your great plan. This station will be destroyed and me along with it. Even if you get off the ground, you’ll have to deal with Earth yourself.”
“There’s still time. I can come get you off that station, and you can live. I’m your only chance now. You must know that.”
“I’d rather die with dignity than contribute to your perverted new world order.”
“Ah, yes,” said Larsen. “You will die, but not with the satisfaction you expect to have at the end.”
Will could see him reach across his console and pull a large lever.
“Maybe you recognize this Dr. O’Neil. I have just used the Alexon Array to jam all signals from the station—with the exception of mine, of course. We usually do this before a launch, to prevent any conflicting signals from getting through. Sadly, you won’t be telling anyone.”
The Alexon Array was a huge chain of high-powered proton energy dishes used to send signals into deep space. The array sat on a large expanse of land just west of the Meinar Observatory, and was comprised of over one hundred giant proton dishes. It acted as a static buffer to all communications that attempted to pass through its area of influence, and would effectively block standard communication signals from the station.
Will had to hope Stanzic would be successful in warning the people of Mars about the impending doom. He also realized that his last chance to see Edena, before the end, had just been destroyed by Larsen’s treachery.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a launch to prepare for. In the final tally, I guess it’s fair to say that I am the winner. Everything up until this point means nothing, I’ll be sure to think of you each time I smell the fresh tropical air of Earth,” he said as he leaned closer so that his face was the only thing filling Will’s screen. “It’s a shame,” he said, his voice full of hatred. “about your daughter, Edena is it? You have my condolences.”
Larsen snapped off his console, and his image disappeared from view. Will once again pulled out his com and tried to call Edena, but a message appeared that said the com was offline. In a moment of fury, Will picked up the chair he’d been sitting and smashed it against the com console, shattering its many buttons to pieces and cracking the main screen. He screamed at the top of his lungs as he thrust the chair a second time into the controls, causing it to recoil and hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
He lay there, ready to give up, when Stanzic’s words echoed in his head. He had to survive for Edena’s memory and the chance she’d survive this calamity. He couldn’t let Larsen control the direction humanity would take with his twisted, corrupt vision. Will pulled himself up using the console for leverage, and as he did more cracked glass and plastic fell to the floor. He swung open his door to see Jonas looking distraught and in a daze.
“Jonas, c’mon. You have to snap out of it. We need to get off this station, and Ileana’s ship is the only way!”
“I tried to call my mother. I can’t get through.”
“Listen to me. Larsen is using the Alexon Array to block our communications. You can’t get through to your mother, and I can’t reach Edena, and there’s nothing we can do about it. We have to get out of here! Did you contact Ileana?”
“Yes, boss,” said Jonas, his voice devoid of any hope. “She’ll be here in a few minutes. You were right; she sounded intrigued, and from what I saw, she left the command deck alone.”
“Good. Patch your com into the main screen and queue up the video.”
Will heard a familiar sound coming from his pocket. It was the com Stanzic had given him. He quickly hit the button to answer. Lars Stanzic appeared on the screen, and in the background people scrambled in all directions.
“Lars! How can this be? Larsen is using the Alexon Array to block any signals. How could you be getting through?”
“He truly is a fool. I designed that com to be resistant to proton energy. I had to be sure I could reach you under any circumstance. As you can see, I’m mobilizing everyone here, and we’ll be heading underground shortly. I’m still waiting for Ivana to get back with Edena and Janie, and then I’ll join them,” he said while silently directing someone to take the box sitting behind him. “I’ve taken out the main entrance to Abysson. There are only a few government personnel underground, and I’ll deal with them. It’s going to be difficult to spread this message fast enough with the means I have. You’ll have to use the station transmitter to send this message to the entire planet simultaneously.”
“The station transmitter?” asked Will.
“Yes. Remember when Telos was first a success; your images were transmitted to all of Mars by the huge station transmitter. It’s tied in to a series of satellites that allow simultaneous signals to reach all parts of the planet at the same time. It’s the only way we can do it in time.”
&nbs
p; “I told you Larsen is blocking our signal. There’s nothing I can do.” said Will.
He could see by the look on Stanzic’s face that he already had this all figured out.
“Alexon is only fifteen miles from here. I’ll take out the grid so you can send the signal.”
“How the hell do you plan on doing that? There are over a hundred transmission dishes spanning a mile.”
Will could see Stanzic opening a vault door in his laboratory.
“I’ve been working on something that might do the trick.”
In the background, Will could see what looked like fifty orbs similar to the ones he’d gotten from Stanzic. These orbs were much larger, and it looked like it would take great effort to lift even one.
“You truly are a mad scientist,” said Will. “and a good friend.”
“No worries my boy, just leave this to me; I’ll signal you when it’s taken care of.”
Will put his com back in his pocket and turned back to Jonas. “Looks like you may get that call in to your mother after all, Jonas.”
He smiled and continued preparing the video images of Ileana.
As Jonas signaled Will that he was ready with the video, Ileana walked through the door.
“What have you found with rover Five?” she asked.
Will walked around Ileana and closed and locked the door to the lab.
“Dr. O’Neil, what are you doing?”
“We have something to talk to you about, and you have to listen because there isn’t a lot of time,” pleaded Will.
“If this is about your Captain Daniels, there is nothing I can do. He apparently was seen flying a delivery vehicle of a man who was found dead shortly after. He is the only suspect in this murder and will be taken to Manikar within the hour to a government prison pending a trial.”
Will knew what that meant: a government trial, which would just be for show, and he’d be put away for life. Of course, he also knew that if Daniels were taken to the surface, he’d be killed along with everyone else on the planet.
“We need to talk about Daniels, but first we have something to show you, and you have to trust us.”
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