Parallel Connection
Page 30
CHAPTER 15
The man sitting at the long range sensor console touched the comm. button and said “I think we need to contact the Director; I have a small, unidentified ship that is inbound and not answering our hails. It is not coming from Gavilon, it is headed toward it from outside our area and is ignoring all attempts at communication.”
After a minute, he heard the voice at the other end say “Send a ship to intercept it, use the next pilot that’s on call and find out who is on it and what they are doing in this area.”
Terand was just waking up when his intercom sounded out two short beeps; so he stood up and touched the “call” button.
“Hello, I’m awake.”
The voice said “Terand, you’re needed immediately. Please report to the briefing room.”
“Understood, give me a few minutes.” Terand released the call button and stretched. Must be important he thought, they usually knock on the door. He decided to skip the shower and got dressed hurriedly and headed for the Pilot Briefing Room on the surface level. His small box of a pilot’s quarters was two levels underground and a little cramped, but he didn’t complain. The only thing he did down here was sleep between missions, which were every twelve hours. He wanted to do everything he could to kick the invaders out and get back home to Gavilon. Before the invasion, he had a wife and two sons, plus a nice home in Vendorra. After the invaders took over, they were ordered to report to the labor camps when he was on a trip to Rylos. When he returned to his home, his wife and sons were nowhere to be found and Terand barely escaped with his life. After finding his way to Eos, he joined up with the colonists here and settled in for the fight.
When he reached the briefing room, the Watch Commander said “We have an unknown ship inbound that we need to intercept. Grab one of the armed cruisers and try to contact them. If it is a friendly, they need to be warned about Gavilon. Try all the radio frequencies you have. If it isn’t friendly, or if you are fired on, destroy it.”
Terand picked up his helmet and said “Got it. When I establish contact, I’ll call it in”, and then headed out to the Number Two landing pad.
There were three cargo ships and two fast cruisers sitting on the pad; Terand had piloted all of them before, but mostly the cargo ships. The cruisers were much faster and more maneuverable; he climbed in the nearest one and strapped himself in. After getting the last known position of the alien craft, Terand activated his long range scanner and located it on a path headed for Gavilon from a trajectory outside their solar system. He increased speed and set a course for intercept, ETA approximately five minutes, programming his radio to broadcast his hails on all available frequencies. When he was close enough, he began his message… “Unknown craft headed for Gavilon, this is approach control Eos. You are advised to detour to Eos immediately. Please respond.” He set the communicator to repeat every ten seconds and looked up at the screen. Is that ship green?
On the lowest frequency he had, there came a response…
“Approach control, we acknowledge, awaiting your instructions.”
Jarvick was startled when he heard the message to detour; he wasn’t expecting to be contacted while they were so far away. Then again, he didn’t know what to expect, having heard nothing since he left so many months ago. Now, he was staring at an armed cruiser in his path demanding his attention.
“Please identify yourself and your destination” came the voice.
“This is Jarvick of Gavilon, Vendorra Police Department. I am returning from a trip to another solar system. Why do I have to detour?”
“Everything will be explained on Eos. Follow me; we will be landing on Eos, Pad 2.”
“Understood” said Jarvick. The small cruiser was just ahead and increasing speed. He made a few adjustments and followed it until he could see the terrain on Eos. Pad 2 was a large flat area next to a series of buildings arranged in a square. The cruiser waited for him to land and then it followed suit. Jarvick and Cindy were met at the bottom of the stairs by two armed men, who escorted them into one of the buildings where they were placed in a room with a large table and six chairs.
“Wait here please, someone will be here in a moment” said one of the guards before the door was closed and an audible click could be heard as it was locked.
“What’s happening Jarvick? Why are they holding us?” asked Cindy.
“I don’t know, but we’re about to find out. Something bad must have happened in the nine months since we have been away.”
Five minutes passed, then they heard the door unlock; and in walked a large man followed by a woman Jarvick recognized.
“Matea!” said Jarvick.
Calek turned to his assistant and asked “Do you know these people?”
Matea said “I used to work with Jarvick on Gavilon. He was a detective on the Directorate Police force.”
The four of them stayed in the room for over an hour; Jarvick telling them about the two trips to Earth and the asteroid, Calek explaining that Gavilon had been invaded and taken over by aliens and that Eos was now a base of resistance.
“Why haven’t they attacked Eos?” asked Jarvick.
“We think they only want to focus on one planet and may see Eos as a non-threat” said Calek. “Eos does not have any resources the aliens can exploit, either.”
“Did you say that most of the population is being controlled by them? Why not ALL of them? Why are some people immune to their control?” asked Jarvick.
“We haven’t discovered that yet. We have run chemical analysis of the few prisoners we get and found no differentiating factors. If we could find out what it is, we could win this war.”
After a few more minutes of questions and answers, Calek told them that Matea would assign Jarvick and Cindy living quarters at the base. Matea stayed behind as Calek left, then Jarvick asked her “How did you end up here? The last time I saw you, you were working as a crime scene tech in Vendorra.”
“When the aliens arrived, I hid for a while and survived on what I could find in the neighborhood. Then my sister showed up and told me about a group of people that had not fallen under their control; and had formed a sort-of resistance force. We moved around from place to place and I ended up here as Calek’s assistant.”
“Is your sister here too?” asked Cindy.
Matea replied “No, she stayed on Gavilon to help with the resistance and got captured. The last I heard, she was taken to the Eastern Province and I haven’t seen her since.”
“I’m so sorry; I hope you find her soon.”
Matea stood up and said “I hope so too. Now, let’s get you a place to stay”, then Jarvick and Cindy stood and followed her out the door.