by L. Danvers
“It is,” Commander Ahmadi said.
Footsteps came down the hall. The four of them turned around and saw Vice President Pierce. Aes was by his side. Britt jumped up to greet the alien and invited him to sit with the rest of the group.
“I’ll be in touch,” the vice president said with an assuring nod.
The crew smiled and watched him walk away in the direction of the telepad in the foyer.
Cal wished there was a way they could listen in on his conversation with President Douglass. In her head, it went something like this: Pierce stormed into the Oval Office. President Douglass looked surprised. He rolled his chair back and said, “What is it, Teddy?” Vice President Pierce slammed down the files and photographic evidence of the storehouse on Duratus on the president’s desk. He yelled, “Want to tell me what the hell this is about?” Douglass played dumb, but Teddy wasn’t having it. “I know what you did,” he said to the president. President Douglass knew he’d been caught—it was too late. His secret was out. He tried grabbing the files, but before he could lay a finger on them Pierce, twice his age, slammed his fist into his jaw. The president stumbled and fell into his chair. “That’s for America,” Pierce shouted before spitting on him.
Okay, Okay, Cal thought. That’s not going to happen.
It was fun to imagine, though.
When Cal snapped back to reality, Aes was hounding the commander and Britt with questions about what he was seeing on the news. Given his social standing on his home planet, he wasn’t as privy to the intricacies of how things worked on Earth. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen war before. He wanted to understand why these countries were fighting. Commander Ahmadi and Britt were having a hard time explaining the political discord, especially since Aes didn’t have the knowledge of the events over the years that had led to this war.
The topic changed to the concept of freedom—about how centuries ago America had fought for freedom from control by Britain. And about how the northern and southern states had fought during the Civil War, and how that led to the freeing of the slaves. Aes was in utter amazement. The concept of people—or in his case, aliens—being freed was brand new to him. When he had begged Commander Ahmadi to take him with the crew, he had only hoped for freedom for himself, but he explained he hadn’t thought it possible for an entire group to become free. He asked Britt and Commander Ahmadi if they thought his kind, the saveen, could one day be free from Caelifera’s rule.
“Of course,” Commander Ahmadi said with confidence.
Aes was speechless.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, what is wrong with Iliana?” Britt asked. Cal had been wondering the same thing.
“I am afraid I do not know the answer to that,” Aes answered. “Caelifera is protective over her daughter. To my knowledge, no one has laid eyes upon her since her birth. We make offerings to the three Moon Sisters on her behalf daily. Her condition, whatever it is, is thought to be incurable. The poor child. That is why Caelifera is so desperate to search for genes that may protect Iliana from her terrible disease.”
“Why not ask for help?” Britt asked. “Why abduct people? She could have seen if someone would have volunteered.”
“Would you volunteer for experimentation by an alien species?” Flynn asked.
Britt slumped in her chair. “Well, I don’t understand the reasoning.”
“Madness doesn’t need a reason,” Commander Ahmadi said.
Chapter Twenty-Six
It was mid-afternoon, and neither Agent Taylor nor the crewmembers had heard anything from Vice President Pierce. They tried reaching him on his xfone, but there was no answer. It was time to come up with a plan.
Agent Taylor had every reason to believe that the vice president’s meeting with President Douglass had not gone well. What’s more, she believed the vice president was being detained. His accusations were borderline treason. The problem was these weren’t accusations. These were facts.
Agent Taylor explained to Commander Ahmadi, Britt, Flynn, Cal and Aes that she and Vice President Pierce had discussed this potential scenario. The more she spoke, the more her face hardened. Cal knew she had to be worried, and she wanted nothing more than to be able to offer her comfort as Agent Taylor had done for her, but she knew this was neither the time nor place.
Agent Taylor briefed them on what was expected of them, and the crew agreed.
It was the only way. It had to be done.
She also explained that a deal had been made. The crew would need more manpower for this task. They needed Sam. Cal protested, but her complaints fell on deaf ears.
“It’s been decided,” Agent Taylor said, her eyes curved into half-moons—an unspoken apology. “The fact is, you need an extra set of hands. We’ve interrogated Sam. He is seeking penance. We have decided, under these unusual circumstances, to afford him this opportunity to prove where his loyalties lie.”
Cal wanted to scream. She wanted to punch Agent Taylor. She wanted to cry.
But she didn’t.
She had to trust that Agent Taylor was making the best decision. And even if Vice President Pierce and Agent Taylor, or even the other members of the crew, forgave Sam, it didn’t mean she had to. And even if she did later forgive him, it didn’t mean she had to forget what he did. What he represented.
There wasn’t any more time to waste. They were racing against the clock. They had to accomplish their new mission to both rescue Pierce and the victims on Duratus and return them home. And they had to do that before Caelifera caught wind of what was going on.
Agent Taylor escorted the crew to retrieve Sam from the room in which he was being held. He didn’t say anything to Commander Ahmadi, Cal, Flynn, Britt or even Aes. He knew better than that.
The seven of them made their way to the large room that housed the telepad. Agent Taylor began entering the Stellix’s coordinates into the keypad, while the others stepped aboard the hovering base.
“Good luck,” Agent Taylor said. It wasn’t a wish. It was an order. “Fortune favors the brave.”
“Fortune favors the brave,” everyone but Aes replied.
The beeping began.
Three.
Two.
One.
A burst of ice shot through Cal’s veins, and in an instant she and the others were back aboard the Stellix.
First things first. They had to rescue Pierce. But it wasn’t a matter of barging into the White House and demanding to be told where he’d been taken. They didn’t only need to rescue him. They needed to take down President Daniel Douglass at the same time. To do that, they would need the support of the American people behind them. And the only way to achieve that was to show them what their president had done.
Commander Ahmadi, Britt, Sam, Cal and Flynn took their respective seats in the main cabin. Aes sat in the extra one on the second row—the one in which the scientist would have sat had she been approved for the mission.
After Flynn entered the coordinates for Duratus, the countdown began. Cal didn’t flinch or hold on to her armrests for dear life. She was far too focused on the mission ahead. The colors in the main cabin swirled and smooshed together. Cal could no longer make out the bodies of the other crewmembers. She couldn’t even make out the shapes of the main cabin window or chairs. It was one giant, colorful blur.
Snap!
With the slingshot maneuver, they were headed in the direction of Duratus.
They lost track of time. There was too much to plan, too much to do. While the commander steered the ship and Britt chatted with Aes, Flynn and Cal went over the details. No one cared to talk with Sam.
Flynn checked to make sure he could pull it off.
He could. He was sure of it.
This was going to work.
Hours later, they arrived at the icy blue planet. Commander Ahmadi docked the ship, and the members of the crew donned their protective gear for the frigid temperatures that awaited them outside. Flynn grabbed his FlexTab and checked one more thing.
“Okay,” he said. “I’m ready when you are, Cal.”
She took a deep breath. “You sure hacking into the satellite system will work?”
“I’m sure,” he said. “Once we go live, we’ll be streaming into every holographic projector, every television and every radio on planet Earth.”
“You can do this, Cal,” Britt said.
Cal nodded. “I’m ready.”
She stood in front of Flynn, who was holding up the FlexTab, with Commander Ahmadi, Britt, Sam and Aes by her side. Using his other hand, Flynn counted down. He pointed at her. It was go time.
“My name is Calista Cameron,” she began. “My crew and I are members of the Stellix Mission. Some time ago, Vice President Teddy Pierce grew suspicious of President Daniel Douglass and was determined to figure out what secrets he was hiding. That’s where we came in. Pierce believed President Douglass knew of intelligent lifeforms beyond our solar system. He believed he was hiding it from the American people. From the entire world. He was right. As you can see, one of them is standing by my side. Don’t worry, he’s one of the good ones. Anyway, the reason I’m speaking to you today is that when Vice President Pierce confronted President Douglass about what we found on our mission, he was detained. You deserve to know what it is that Douglass wants to keep secret from you. You deserve to know the truth. We knew trying to convince you would be difficult. That's why we’re here aboard the Stellix, a spaceship docked on the planet Duratus. But what’s more important is what we found on Duratus. Follow us. You need to see this for yourself.”
Flynn kept the camera of the FlexTab on Cal and the crew as they walked down the curved, white hallway, down the hatch, across the slick surface of Duratus and to the gray building. Sam scanned his credittat, and the circular concrete door bearing intricate celestial designs rolled open.
Cal turned to face the camera as she stepped inside. Lights flickered on behind her.
“Within these walls are hundreds of American citizens who have been believed to be dead or missing.” She went over to one of the capsules and wiped the dust away, revealing the face of a young man. She glanced at the plaque and continued, “This is Theo Davidson. He’s twenty-one years old. He’s a student. And he is alive. These people whose families had given up hope are alive. Including my own sister, Quinn Cameron.
"You may be wondering why they are here and what the president has to do with it. Without the consent of the American people, President Daniel Douglass struck a deal with Caelifera, the queen of the alien planet Creatius. Our president agreed to offer her subjects to run tests on and experiment with in exchange for Caelifera not invading our planet. American citizens were abducted and handed over without putting up a fight. That doesn’t sit well with us. It’s time to fight back. With the help of our new friend here, we are going to rescue every one of these victims and return them to Earth. We will find a way to awaken them from their frozen slumber and return them to their loved ones. You have our word.”
She gave Flynn a nod, and with that, he ended the live stream.
“Good work, Cameron,” Commander Ahmadi said. “So Aes, how do we get these people out of here?”
“Follow me,” Aes said. “I will show you.”
Aes walked to the far end of one of the aisles, the others following close behind him. At the end of the row, past the last capsule, there was a scanning device. It wasn’t a credittat scanner, though. The technology was strange. Alien, even. It was a small box that appeared to be filled with green gelatin, though Cal was sure that wasn’t what was inside.
Aes stood in front of the box and pressed his pendant. There was a flash of light, and the goo drained. At the same time, the capsules in that row unlatched from their casings.
“That is it?” Commander Ahmadi asked as Aes went to the green goo-filled box at the end of the next row.
“That is as much as I can do. I was not trained to know how to get them out of the capsules, nor how to wake them back up.”
Commander Ahmadi ordered the rest of the team to get the capsules aboard the Stellix. There was no way they would be able to get the capsules onboard at once, though. They would have to send them to the vice president’s estate via the telepad one group at a time. Using his xfone, Commander Ahmadi contacted Agent Taylor and informed her of the plan. She assured him she and the other agents could handle things from there.
Transporting the capsules wasn’t an easy task. Aes had to take a break from unlatching the capsules to show the others how to get them onto the carts.
The team split up. Flynn, Britt and Cal worked with one cart while Commander Ahmadi and Sam manned the other one.
The capsules were heavy. It amazed Cal that a tiny alien like Aes could manage to lift and maneuver them himself. It took all the combined strength she, Flynn and Britt had to get them onto the cart.
Blue lights burst from their wristbands as messages from loved ones flooded in. Cal wanted to stop and talk to her parents, but there was too much to do. Annoyed by the constant beeping, Flynn suggested Commander Ahmadi, Britt and Sam disable their xfones, but they didn’t listen.
One by one, the crew delivered the capsules aboard the Stellix, rolled them to the telepad and stacked them on the base, which could hold about ten capsules at a time. It took a couple hours to get through the first row, and there were many more to go.
The team forged on. They didn’t have a choice. There was no time for taking breaks. No time to eat. No time to sleep. They had to get these victims home as fast as possible.
So much time had passed that Commander Ahmadi thought it would be a good idea for someone to check in with Agent Taylor. He had Britt give her a call while Cal and Flynn continued transporting the capsules aboard the Stellix and to the estate. Cal hadn’t appreciated how strong Britt was until she was no longer helping push. Sure, once they got aboard the Stellix pushing was easy. It was getting across the icy terrain that took effort.
After teleporting another set of capsules, Cal and Flynn returned to the storehouse where Britt was eager to share the latest from Agent Taylor with the group. She called Commander Ahmadi, Sam and Aes over, saying it was worth taking a break to hear.
“Your livestream worked, Cal,” Britt said. “Agent Taylor said uprisings and riots have broken out across the country. People are ticked. The president was shot by a member of his own security detail. He’s in the hospital on life support, but it’s not looking good. And Vice President Pierce is Acting President now. He was released after your announcement.”
“That’s...” Cal hesitated. “That’s great.”
Her stomach sank. She was glad to hear Vice President—Acting President Pierce—had been released, but she felt responsible for Douglass being shot.
Flynn picked up on what was weighing on her. “It’s not your fault,” he said. “You did the right thing. We did the right thing. Sometimes in life you have to make hard choices. Sometimes people get hurt as a result of those choices. But think of the greater good. Think of these lives you’ve saved. Think of the changes Pierce will bring about. It’s a new era for our country, for our world.”
“And it’s because of you,” Britt added. “Because of us.”
As much as Cal appreciated the attempt at a pep talk from her peers, the fact of the matter was that despite this news, they were on a time crunch. They needed to get the rest of the victims out of the storehouse. So that’s what they did.
Cal fought back tears as she, Britt and Flynn rolled Quinn’s capsule. She patted the glass casing as she pushed, and even though she knew Quinn couldn’t hear her, she assured her she would get her home to their parents. She blew Quinn a kiss as Flynn entered the estate’s coordinates into the hovering keypad.
“I’ll see you soon,” she promised.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
As Commander Ahmadi was getting ready to perform the slingshot maneuver, Agent Taylor appeared on the holographic projector in front of the main cabin window and instructed the crew to view
the newsfeed she was about to show them.
Cal’s insides somersaulted as she braced herself for images of riots and reports of the president being shot.
Instead, a figure appeared. Tall. Slender. Skin that twinkled like diamonds and an aura encircling her head. She wore royal purple robes lined with jewels.
There was no doubt it was her.
Caelifera.
She was far more menacing than Cal had imagined based on Aes’s description. Though her mouth moved, her face was barren of any expression. She spoke in a deep, cold voice. Her words lacked inflection. She was impossible to read.
“It has come to my attention that the humans, my specimens that were given to me on the command of your president, have been stolen. I will give the human race one chance to return to me what is mine. You have twelve hours, or I will see to it that the entire human race is destroyed.”
The feed turned to static, and she was gone.
No wonder Aes was so eager to make a deal with the commander, Cal thought. Who wouldn’t want to get away from her?
“It is not an empty threat, is it?” Commander Ahmadi asked Aes, even though he already knew the answer.
“I am afraid not.”
Flynn pulled Agent Taylor up on the holographic projector. Commander Ahmadi asked how they should proceed. Cal sensed that she didn’t know the answer. How could she? There was no way they could have prepared for this scenario.
“For now,” Agent Taylor said, “I think its best if you stay put. At least until we figure out our next step. I will notify you when I receive orders from Pierce.”
With that, her projected image retracted and vanished.
“I don’t like this,” Flynn said. “We’re supposed to sit here and wait?”
“Plus, there’s not much I can do from up here to help the victims,” Britt said, her foot tapping. Given her impressive medical background, the plan had been for her to return to Earth and spearhead the efforts to awaken and care for the victims. But the victims would have to wait, too.