Parallel Connection
Page 31
CHAPTER 16
The living space Jarvick and Cindy were given was modest but comfortable; it had a bedroom and a bathroom, and a living area with a couch and a table. It was on the fourth level down from the surface near the elevators. All meals were provided in the cafeteria on level two; it was safer to confine all meal preparation to one area of the base. Cindy volunteered to work in the cafeteria and Jarvick was asked to join the pilot squad.
He was scheduled for a briefing the next day but at the moment he was sitting in Calek’s office with Matea, waiting for him to arrive. The Director had asked for this meeting because he wanted to hear more about his journey and his ship.
They had only touched on a few details and Calek had more questions about the green oddity sitting on landing pad two. The only thing he was told was that the Director wanted every ship available and was interested in his.
Just then, Calek walked in with another man and then Jarvick stood with Matea.
“Jarvick, this is Terand, the pilot who greeted and escorted you. You will be working with him. Please be seated.” Calek motioned for everyone to sit.
“That is an unusual color for a ship. Why is it green?” asked Terand.
“It’s a side effect from the way it was constructed” said Jarvick, who then told a short version of how it was built with parts of an asteroid.
“In fact, I have some samples of the crystals still on board and I’m sure we can use them here at the base.”
“Do you need help unloading it?” asked Calek.
Jarvick said “It will only require one other person besides myself to carry it off.”
“I can help” said Terand.
“Very well then” said Calek. “Now, about your ship. How fast is it? Can we use it?”
“You can have it for whatever you need. It has a hyperlight drive, but you will have to gut it to haul cargo” said Jarvick.
“Hyperlight?!?” asked Terand. “We can really use that.”
“Yes, it has that. It runs off of a power source that can be adapted to supply power to the base, too. Are you still using Solinium?”
Calek replied “Yes, but supplies are running short.”
“This crystal can supply all the power you need” said Jarvick. “I’ll show your engineers how it works and they can put it to use. I also have two other materials from the asteroid that might be useful.”
Calek said “Excellent. Why don’t you two go unload your ship and take it to Engineering, our power plant is in dire need of repairs.”
As the two men were unloading his ship, Jarvick struck up a conversation with Terand; wanting to know more about the invasion and how they were fighting it. The boxes were on a Gravitite cargo carrier and they were walking down a long corridor toward Engineering.
Jarvick asked “Why hasn’t the population combined their forces as a whole and attacked them?”
“Because they are under some kind of mind control. The aliens have them under a spell and they don’t resist, or can’t”
said Terand.
“It doesn’t affect you when you go there on a supply mission?”
“No, some people are immune.”
“What about your family? Did you have anyone close there?” asked Jarvick.
“My wife and two sons are still there, I don’t know where, my older brother was killed the first day of the invasion, and my twin brother is part of the resistance on Gavilon.”
They arrived at the Engineering section and Terand started talking with the Chief Engineer. While they were talking, Jarvick was admiring all the work that had been put into the power plant; then he was introduced to the man in charge.
“Jarvick, this is Chief Engineer Merton, he is the one to talk to about your crystals.”
After the introduction and pleasantries, Jarvick began to explain about the blue crystals and how they produce power. He stressed the point about how dangerous they were and how his brother crafted the ceramic mounting devices. The Chief was quick to grasp the technicalities; but as Jarvick continued to go over the details, something kept nagging at him in the back of his mind. Some little detail he had heard since his arrival was bothering him.
What is it? He kept thinking.
Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, but he had one more piece of the puzzle to put in place. He abruptly interrupted the conversation that Terand and Chief Merton were having and said “I’m sorry, but I have to go.” Then he ran out of the room and back down the long corridor towards the exit. When he reached the landing pad, he darted across it narrowly missing an incoming cargo ship, and ran into the main building. Calek’s office was the fifth one down the hall on the right, and he was looking for Matea. Just when he got to Calek’s door, Matea appeared and was startled by Jarvick running towards her.
“Matea! Tell me about your sister!” yelled Jarvick.
She was taken aback a little and began to stutter her answer, then Jarvick stopped her and asked “Is she your twin?!?”
Matea answered “Yes. How did you know?”
Jarvick grabbed her by her arms and said “That’s it! That’s why some people are immune to the alien mind control! Twins!”
Jarvick ran into Calek’s office with Matea following behind. The Director was sitting at his desk and was startled by the two of them entering so hurriedly.
“Director Calek, I have an answer why some people are immune to the alien’s mind control” said Jarvick.”Look at the list of the resistance forces that are able to operate on Gavilon and you’ll find that all of them are either a fraternal or identical twin. That’s the common factor.”
Calek looked puzzled at first, then he looked at Jarvick with a surprised expression as he began to realize he was right. He then typed a few commands into his computer and looked at the screen, then said “You are absolutely right. I have the list here, and they are all twins. But, how can we use this information, Jarvick?”
Jarvick smiled and said “I have a plan.”