Ileana looked suspiciously at Jonas and Will. “Why should I trust either of you?”
Will stepped closer and softened his tone. “Because I know there is more to you than this rough exterior. I know that inside you is a woman who cares about people, or at least about family. That’s the person I need to get through to in the next few minutes.”
“I don’t know why you think you know anything about me, but I’ll play along for now. What do you need to show me?”
“We know about your brother and about EC1 being lost on Earth.”
Ileana’s posture became defensive as she absorbed Will’s words. “How could you possibly know about that?”
“Jonas, show her what we found with rover five.”
Jonas tapped a few buttons, and the video image of the crumpled shell of EC1 came on the screen. Ileana walked slowly to the screen and put her hand on the image of the ship as her eyes welled up with tears.
“Ileana, listen to me,” said Will urgently. “We have a bigger problem here. There is an object four hours from Mars, and it will destroy the planet. We know about EC2 as well, and we have to use it to escape this station. The impact will produce a shockwave so destructive; it’s going to destroy this station and everything in low orbit.”
Ileana took a few minutes to compose herself as she stepped back from the screen, never taking her eyes off it.
“What object?” she asked coldly.
Will nodded to Jonas, who pulled up a visual that Stanzic had sent along with the data showing the trajectory. Ileana studied the information before looking up with a paler-than-usual glance.
“If this is true, why should I help you? What makes you think I won’t just take this to my superiors and escape with them?”
“Because,” answered Will. “I think you don’t really care for your superiors. I also know that you want to find your brother, and no one knows more about that planet than me. I’m your only chance to find out what happened.”
Will knew he was running out of time and had no choice but to play his best hand. “If that isn’t enough to convince you,” he said, once again nodding to Jonas. “then maybe this will.”
Jonas nervously began playing the video image of Ileana pleading with Will. The clip recounted Ileana saying that she didn’t agree with her superiors, and that she was forced to do the things she was doing. He also spliced in Ileana talking about how a small group in the government had consolidated power and how she was being forced to abandon ethical principles.
Ileana’s voice quivered with anger and fear. “How did you get that? I don’t remember any of that.”
“Apparently you had a little too much to drink in my quarters the other night and were full of useful information.”
Ileana looked away from Will and directly at Jonas, who nervously pointed at Will as if to say he had nothing to do with it. She looked back at Will with rage in her eyes.
“They would kill me if they saw that.”
“No one needs to see that. I just need you to understand that I know all about the Earth project, and whether you like it or not, I know more about you than you thought I did. Please…help us. Help yourself and your brother. Now’s your chance to do the right thing and make it all right, but if we all die up here, none of it matters.”
Ileana thought for a moment as she contemplated her next move. In one swift motion, she pulled a knife from her boot. Will stepped back, not knowing what she was planning to do. He thought about the dream he’d had and thought the Ileana he’d come to know was at the very least, not a cold-blooded killer. Now he panicked, wondering if he’d misjudged her after all. She turned swiftly from Will and now looked at Jonas with the knife raised high. Before either could react, she thrust the knife toward Jonas. He pushed his feet against the console, trying to get away from Ileana’s attack, and fell backward in his chair. She swung the knife with a quick roundhouse motion, and the blade pierced Jonas’s com that was playing the images of Ileana on the monitors above. A small flash of light filled the room as sparks shot out from the com and the images disappeared from the screen. Will ran to help Jonas up. They said nothing and stared at Ileana who still had her back to both men.
“I will help you, but you must agree to help me find my brother when we get to Earth. He’s all I have left, and I won’t abandon him. Do you understand?”
Will approached Ileana, who had turned to face him, and reached out his hand to her. For the first time, Will saw a woman looking back at him, not a government agent. She looked freed from the burden she’d been forced to bear. Now she would control her own destiny and that of her brother, if possible. She took Will’s hand, and they shook in agreement of the terms.
“I’ll help you find him. I swear to you I will, but you have to help us get out of here. We need to send a message to Mars and warn them of this disaster, and then we can get out of here. We have to get Daniels as well.”
“That isn’t wise. He’s in a heavily guarded area right now, probably being interrogated as we speak.”
“We need him,” said Will. “Can you pilot that ship alone?”
Ileana realized Will was right, and nodded her head to signify that she could not.
“That’s what I thought, and last time I checked, Jonas and I weren’t attending flight school. Jonas, get to the communications control room and get ready to transmit a message to Mars. I’ll signal you when Stanzic disables the array.”
“OK, boss,” said Jonas as he tried to put together the pieces of his broken com.
“Ileana, you have to get me to Daniels.”
“It isn’t going to be easy,” said Ileana. “but I think we can do it. I hope you know how to use a sonic pistol.”
“I’m familiar with them,” said Will, thinking back on how he was almost killed by one. “and I’m a fast learner.”
“OK Dr. O’Neil, let’s go.”
Ileana and Will headed for the doorway.
“Wait, boss! What message should I send when you signal me?”
“Good point—I’ll be right back,” he said, heading for his office and closing the door behind him.
Jonas and Ileana stood uncomfortably outside the door saying nothing to each other. The awkward silence was making Jonas a nervous wreck, so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. “So—your brother is on Earth. Huh?” He heard the words that came out of his mouth, and almost immediately wanted them back.
Ileana’s forbidding expression conveyed the obvious, that she wasn’t going to discuss this with Jonas and it was a topic he’d be wise to never mention again. He stared at the floor the rest of the time.
Will finally emerged from his office, to Jonas’s sigh of relief, and handed him a small disk.
“This is the message I want you to transmit when I give the signal. Take this com, as yours is clearly out of commission,” said Will, looking at the broken remains of Jonas’s com sitting on the desk. Jonas glared at Ileana, suddenly feeling brave now that Will was with him.
Will and Ileana left the lab and headed past the entrance to the black corridor.
“Isn’t Daniels in here?” asked Will.
“No. They are holding him on the government level in a special interrogation room. They plan to move him through the black corridor when interrogation is completed. We don’t have much time, and this area is heavily guarded, so this will get ugly.”
They continued running until they reached Ileana’s quarters. As they entered, Will was surprised at how normal her living area was. There were delicate crystalline figures in a glass case that reminded him of something Edena would collect. On a shelf next to the case were several pictures. Will picked up a picture that appeared to be Ileana standing on a snow-covered mountain with a man about her age. He’d never seen her look as happy as she did in this picture. Ileana pressed a button on her com console, and a panel opened next to her. In it were several sonic pistols and one sonic rifle, with assorted other weapons.
“Well, I see you’re
prepared for just about anything.”
“We are required to be ready for anything in my line of work.”
As Ileana threw Will a pistol, she noticed him holding the picture.
“That is my brother Inando, Dr. O’Neil.
“Ileana, please call me Will. I think we can both let our guard down now. We have to trust each other.”
“That night in your quarters,” said Ileana. “I saw the picture of your daughter. I know how you must feel at the thought of losing her. I’m sorry. I know how it feels to lose someone so close. Inando and I are twins, and that’s a bond that no one but a twin could understand. The separation is like a part of me has died. I only pray that isn’t the case.”
Although Ileana spoke softly, she continued to prepare for the obvious battle that was about to take place to secure Captain Daniels. She removed her shirt, not even thinking twice that Will was standing behind her. Will was amazed at the perfect physical condition she appeared to be in as she continued to prepare in nothing but her black bra. He could see her toned back muscles and not an ounce of fat around her midsection. She had the conditioned body of a soldier, but her rugged beauty still came through. As she slipped on a button-down shirt, she noticed Will’s gaze but had no reaction. She strapped on her pistol and wrapped a sheath with three small knives around her ankle. She undid the tight bun she had her hair wrapped in and put it into a long ponytail through the back of a military-looking cap. The sonic rifle had a sling that she threw over her shoulder.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
“Not as ready as you, but I’ll give it a shot. We need to stop by my quarters. I have something that may help.”
They ran to Will’s quarters, where he proceeded to get the two orbs that Stanzic had sent him.
“What are they?” asked Ileana.
“Let’s just say they pack a pretty good punch if we should need one.”
They quickly exited Will’s quarters and headed for the government deck.
18
ALEXON
Lars Stanzic loaded the large orbs onto an anti-gravity jack and proceeded down the hallway. He continued to shout orders at his staff as they prepared to head for the underground city.
“Sam…I need your help with something.”
“Sure, Professor. I was j-just packing up some of our files to take with us.”
“When I pull up to this loading dock, load this crate into the back hatch. You have to hurry once you hear the sound.”
“What s-sound, Professor?”
“You’ll know it when you hear it. Trust me.”
Stanzic ran through a side door that led to the wooded area behind the observatory. Sam waited as Stanzic had asked him to and looked curiously at the objects in the crate. As he was just about to touch one of the orbs, he heard a loud roar on the other side of the dock door. He pulled open the door to see a large fossil fuel-powered transport backing in. This had to be the noise Stanzic referred to. The back hatch opened as it bumped up against the dock door. Sam quickly moved the large crate into the back hatch and saw Stanzic motion for him to get in as well.
“Where are we g-going with these things?” asked Sam.
“We’re going to Alexon, and I need you to help me.”
As the hatch closed, Stanzic pushed the controls that sent the transport speeding upward.
“What is this? I thought f-fossil f-fuel vehicles were i-illegal.”
“This is the GS1000 Sam, my latest and greatest creation. It’s faster than anything the government has and can carry a hell of a lot of stuff. In this case, we have fifty explosive orbs capable of leveling everything in a one-mile radius, which is fortunate because we have to level everything in a one-mile radius.”
“I don’t understand professor.”
“Just hang on Sam,” shouted Stanzic over the engine’s loud roar.
The GS1000 skimmed above the treetops for several hundred feet before Stanzic took a steep dive into a clearing. He sped just above the floor of the forest that extended out several miles past the Folands. As before, several government transports came up behind him.
“Those fools think they can keep up with me.”
Stanzic knew they’d been watching the observatory closely since the last incident, suspecting that the transport came from here. He also suspected that he and Sam would have company on their way to Alexon.
“Watch this, Sam,” he said as he pushed the throttle control farther down, and the GS1000 accelerated away from the pursuing transports. Within a few seconds, they were back on his tail, and this time, they were keeping up with him.
“Uh-oh, they must have refitted. This is going to be more interesting than I thought.”
The GS1000 shook as a sonic burst from one of the vehicles just missed. Stanzic began to take evasive action and swung in between trees and large rock formations. The sound of rocks shattering and trees snapping echoed all around them. Apparently now that they were out of the Folands, the intensity of the sonic weapons was set much higher.
“Professor, I hope y-you know what you’re d-doing. I’m getting worried over here.”
“Have I ever let you down?”
“No, sir.”
“Then you have to trust me. We have to get to Alexon and destroy the array so Will can broadcast a message to the people warning of the impending doom. In case we don’t make it, I want you to know that I think of you as my son. I know it’s been hard on you these last few years, and I haven’t pushed you, but I wanted you to know that.”
“Thank you, s-sir. I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. I don’t expect you to feel the same way. You had a father and mother for a good portion of your young life, and I know there is no replacement for that. Ivana and I, on the other hand, weren’t blessed with a child of our own, so when you came along it really filled in something we’d been missing for many years. I just wanted you to know that.”
“I d-don’t know what I would have done if you and Miss Ivana h-hadn’t taken me in. You really made me f-feel like the world was still hopeful. I’ll always be g-grateful to both of you for that.”
The GS1000 once again shook violently as a sonic blast grazed the underside of the transport.
“OK, enough of this mushy stuff. Time to go to work.”
“Yes, s-sir,” said Sam as he tightened his seatbelt.
The GS1000 emerged from the forest and into a large, flat desert. In the distance, Stanzic could see the giant dishes that made up the Alexon Array rising up like giant teeth. As he approached, he was in the open and vulnerable to the sonic weapons of his pursuers.
“Sam, get one of the orbs, and when I tell you, roll it out the back hatch. If we waste too many of these, we won’t have enough to destroy the entire array. We need to make this count.”
Sam climbed into the rear compartment and pulled one of the orbs from its place on top of the crate. He opened the back hatch and waited for Stanzic’s signal. Dust obscured Stanzic’s view as a large sonic explosion impacted the desert floor in front of him. He banked to miss it, sending Sam smashing off the bulkhead.
“Sam, are you all right?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“OK, roll out the orb now!” yelled Stanzic.
The large orb rolled out the back hatch and skidded off the desert floor, bouncing behind the GS1000. It eventually rolled to a stop and embedded itself in a small mound of sand. Stanzic hit several buttons on his pilot’s console before closing the back hatch. The orb took on the characteristics of the desert floor as the two transports approached.
“Hang onto something, Sam. Now!”
A huge shockwave impacted the GS1000 as the orb exploded with powerful force. Stanzic looked behind to see a large brown cloud of dust billow up from the desert floor. He then saw one of the transports tumbling end over end behind him as it disintegrated into small pieces.
“Sir, you d-did it. We’re safe!”
As Sam’s cheers ran
g out, Stanzic could see the second transport spinning in the air, trying to recover. It eventually righted itself and continued the pursuit.
“Not so fast my boy, we have one left.”
By this time Stanzic had reached the outer edge of the array. He weaved in between the immense proton dishes, trying to evade the sonic blasts from the remaining transport.
“We have to get into the center or we won’t have the needed effect of taking out the entire array.”
The GS1000 banked sharply to avoid the huge base of a proton dish, and continued weaving through the massive structures. A large hole was blasted into the side of the dish as the transport continued to fire, seeming to have little restraint for the delicate nature of the machinery. The pilot’s orders were obviously to shoot to kill no matter what.
“Sir, should I r-ready another?” asked Sam.
“No, Sam. We can’t spare it. I’ll need every one of these now to take this thing out. Just hang on, and get ready to climb out.”
Sam looked white as a ghost.
“C-climb out, sir?”
“You heard me. We have to ram the ship dead center and get the hell out of this transport. Hold on!”
Stanzic pulled the GS1000 into a steep climb, going right through the middle of one of the large dishes. He weaved the transport throughout the giant structure and emerged from its center, continuing to climb. The pursuing transport, seeing these acrobatics, attempted to do the same and started to weave through the center of the dish. Stanzic reached the top of his climb and hit several buttons on his console once again. Sam could see the giant orbs begin to liquefy into a molten form until the entire crate was filled with this molten metal. He once again hit a few buttons and engaged the autopilot circuit as he climbed out to the back hatch, where Sam was hanging on for dear life.
“Sam, quickly…follow me!”
Stanzic struggled to defy gravity and climbed through a hatch in the roof with Sam right behind. All of a sudden, it made sense to Sam. The GS940 was attached securely to the roof of the 1000, and this was Stanzic’s escape plan. He and Sam jumped in and secured their harnesses as the GS1000 began to fall back down toward the giant proton dish. Stanzic pressed a button and released the GS940, which quickly pulled away from the descending transport. They watched as it spiraled down in perfect position to impact the dish dead center. Just as it was about to crash, the government transport emerged from the top of the dish to see the GS1000 barreling toward it. Within seconds the two ships impacted, driving both down toward the center dish. With a brilliant flash of light, Stanzic’s orbs detonated with a force that demolished each dish one by one as a fiery wave expanded outward across Alexon. As the wave approached the GS940, Stanzic pulled a lever engaging the emergency boost, sending him and Sam away at incredible speed, escaping the blast. Stanzic screamed triumphantly as the transport streaked across the night sky.
Destiny Earth Page 23