by John Jonas
CHAPTER 11
Cindy Young could not believe what she was seeing. One second she was in her friend’s apartment, the next second she was inside a space vehicle on the other side of the moon. Jarvick had retracted the shield on the front of the ship to allow her to view the craters on the moon and to remove any doubt in her mind that all of this was, in fact, true.
“You can take that belt off now. Strap yourself into that seat and get comfortable while I get the ship ready for travel.” She watched him manipulate some controls on the panel in front of them as she removed the belt and fastened the straps that were at her sides. Then Jarvick said “I’ve got to pilot the ship manually for a few hours; don’t touch anything, please. After that, I’ll brief you on the rest of the trip.” Cindy watched as the view of the moon changed as the ship seemed to shudder, then it went off the screen replaced by moving stars. She felt her weight settle into her chair as Jarvick stabilized the onboard gravity and increased the speed of the ship. The stars appeared to move faster and faster toward the screen as Jarvick’s hands were moving from one control to another. A yellow light in the corner of one screen was blinking, as were the letters CAS; and then he touched a control that changed it to a display that had many little red dots on it. Jarvick said “Once we get through this asteroid field and get past Jupiter, I’ll put us in hyperlight; but I want to check out a rogue asteroid, first.”
Three hours passed like minutes because Cindy was fascinated by what she was seeing. She watched as Jarvick piloted the ship through the maze between Mars and Jupiter, then watched as the brown and gray planet appeared larger and larger on the screen. When Jupiter looked like it could get no closer, it slid off the screen to the right as Jarvick steered the cruiser toward a small, round object that was grayish in color. He touched a few spots on the screen to his right and looked at the figures. “Wow, that thing is really moving fast. I hope Earth has it in their sights, it looks like it’s going to be close.” A few more buttons touched, then he closed the front metal screen and turned to Cindy.
“I’m going to put the ship in hyperlight speed and we’re going to go into hypersleep. What that means is we are going to sleep while the ship traverses the trillion miles between here and Gavilon. It will take about three weeks, and you’ll have to put on a suit, which I’ll help you with.” Jarvick stood and motioned for her to follow him down the ladder. When they reached the lower compartment, he handed her a suit, which he help her put on.
“I’m going to program the computer to wake us before we get there, lie down on this bed and get comfortable. I have to insert an IV in your arm, so don’t panic, it’s done all the time.”
When everything was ready, Jarvick closed the transparent lid above her giving her a thumbs up. Cindy watched him as he touched a panel next to her bed and she drifted off into darkness. Jarvick climbed into his bed and closed the lid.
Cindy awoke and felt like she was going to get sick, Jarvick was standing next to her bed holding a cup of water. “How do you feel?” he asked.
“Like I’m going to vomit. What’s that nasty taste?” she said while sitting up and putting her feet on the floor.
“I know; it’s an unavoidable side effect. Here, take these pills. You’ll feel better.”
Cindy swallowed both and drank the rest of the water, asking for more. Jarvick retrieved another glassful, and as she was drinking it he said “One of those is for the nausea, and the other is to keep your telepathic powers from activating.”
Startled, she said “Excuse me? What did you say?”
Jarvick took the cup from her and said “When I heard about your ‘vision’, then I saw his face, I was convinced. I’m pretty sure you have a twin brother here. From what I saw in that video, your brother was the one who stole the uranium. He is being detained at the Directorate and I don’t want him alerted to your presence until the right time. “
“Okay, so what next?”
Jarvick helped her out of the bed and talked as they climbed the ladder. “I’m going to land the ship, then we are going to the station. Get up here and strap in.”
Jarvick parked the patrol car in front of the station and they both got out. When they reached the Captain’s office, they both sat down and Jarvick introduced her.
“Captain, this is Cindy Young, from Earth. I think she can help us with Drago.”
The Captain shook hands and said “I sure hope so, he’s refused to talk with us. How can she help?”
“She is his twin sister.”
The Captain’s eyes got big and he said “Oh, Really?”
“Yes sir. If we do it right, she can find out what he’s planning.”
“Then let’s get to it. I’ll bring him in from detention. Let’s put her in the next room.”
Jarvick said “I’ve got her suppressed, so we’ll have to hook her up to an I.V. and slowly counteract the meds.”
The Captain said “Understood. Get her ready.”
Jarvick motioned for her to come with him. She was led to a room and a med tech was summoned. Cindy was hooked up to an I.V., given a paper tablet and a pen.
“In a few moments, you are going to begin feeling your brother’s feelings and hearing his thoughts. He is in the next room with the Captain under restraint. Try to remember everything you feel and write down what you can.”
Cindy started feeling lightheaded and her vision began to blur. A look of bewilderment showed on her face, then she started to yell “NO! NO! You can’t do this! I’m here! Don’t do this! You have to stop it!” Then she tried to rip out the I.V. from her arm in a panic.
Jarvick told the medical technician to calm her while trying to grab her arms and hands. The drug took effect in seconds which calmed Cindy, who began to breathe normally and sat back in her chair. Jarvick picked up the tablet and returned it to the table but Cindy said “I don’t need any paper, I remember it all. It’s just too horrible not to remember.”
“What did he tell you, Cindy?” Jarvick asked.
“It’s too late. The Earth is going to be destroyed, and Drago is responsible.”
Jarvick asked her to explain everything, in detail, which Cindy began.
“Drago has altered the path of a large asteroid headed toward Earth. It was supposed to crash into Jupiter, but he built some sort of device that pushed it in a different direction. He built it in his warehouse, here on Gavilon. He wanted to destroy Earth because of me. He knew about the policy of twins being split up, and also found out he had a sister that was sent there. He heard through someone that I was killed in an accident before we could be reunited and that made him angry. He thought if he destroyed Earth it wouldn’t happen again.”
Jarvick asked “Did he tell you what type of device it was and where it is?”
“All I could tell was that it used uranium that he stole from Earth.”
“Okay, thanks Cindy. Relax and I’ll be back in a minute.” Jarvick went to the room where the Captain and Drago were. As he entered, Drago said “She’s HERE? My sister? Where did you find her?”
“We found her right where she was supposed to be, on Earth. You didn’t sense her when you stole the uranium?”
“I thought it was the effects of space travel and I was only there for a few seconds. Can I see her?”
“No. Tell me about the asteroid. What did you do?”
Drago hesitated, but then opened up about how he built the Ion Particle Beam Thruster and transported it to the asteroid. He left out the part about his assistant, Hemet, he didn’t want to admit to murder.
“Where is the thruster engine now? Is it still on the asteroid?” the Captain asked.
“It might be, or it’s drifting near it. I didn’t anchor it to the asteroid.” Drago said.
In the next room, Cindy was busy writing down everything on the tablet that she was hearing in her thoughts; details that Drago was trying not to talk about. How he had discovered the asteroid and tracked its path. How he had recruited Hemet and discovered that he, too, had a twin on Ea
rth. How Hemet had gone to Earth and convinced his twin to get a job at the uranium facility to assist in the plot. Hemet’s brother got hired as a security guard, and placed a homing beacon in the vault, a beacon that Drago’s jump belt honed in on for the theft. Once the thruster engine was built, it was transported to the asteroid and put in place, then Drago murdering Hemet. The thruster engine’s job was to deflect it off the collision course with Jupiter and cause it to slingshot around the planet and crash into Earth. The timing was perfect, Drago thought; but after finding out that his sister was alive, everything had changed.
Jarvick read this and thought about his brother, and the disaster that was about to happen.
He walked into the next room, threw the tablet on the table in front of Drago and waited for him to read it.
“You are going to help us change the path of that asteroid. When is it supposed to hit Earth?”
Drago said “It should take ninety days to travel from Jupiter to Earth. You’re too late.”
Jarvick did some quick math in his head. He thought about the rogue asteroid they passed on the way here three weeks ago, that one must be it. That leaves 69 days, give or take a day or two. Three weeks to get back there and that leaves about a month and a half to avert the disaster. Plenty of time.
Jarvick thought about his brother again.
“You are going to come with me and help stop this thing, or I will take you to Earth and leave you there to die with everybody else.”
Drago thought for a second, then reluctantly agreed. “Okay”.
“What are we going to need? What do we have to do first?” Jarvick asked.
“We are going to need a cargo ship, one that has the capability of going to hyperlight.”
Jarvick contacted the transportation division and found out it would take a week to get one in shape for the journey, and then told Drago that he was going to be assisting in the work.
“Fine. Can I see my sister now?”