“We only got a few hours before we reach Pluto,” she said. “I’ll have a check done on all systems.” John didn't immediately say anything and for a long moment there was nothing but silence.
“Have the fighter pilots loaded up in their launch bays and ready to go,” said John, breaking the quiet mood. “We don’t want to be caught off guard when we reach Pluto.”
Julie nodded, but John wasn’t looking at her. She thought about how only a few hours ago they were worried that they wouldn’t survive a Screen attack. They had achieved the impossible, but it did nothing to eliminate the underlying problems between Julie and John. Admiral Johnson had said that John was vital to the success of this mission. What if he was wrong? What if John was a bigger threat than the Screen? The situation was complicated and Julie wasn't optimistic that could get past their differences.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The shuttle flew dangerously close along the ground, dodging rocks, trees, and the occasional hill that littered the landscape. No human could fly a vessel so close to the ground and avoid these obstacles so fast. Luckily for Admiral Johnson X was in the pilot seat flying the craft.
It had been an interesting journey for the house bot. The admiral was increasingly uttering phrases that made no sense to the bot. X referenced numerous encyclopedia entries in an attempt to understand his statements and properly converse with him, but the bot could not reliably determine what the admiral's phrases were alluding to. Occasionally, the admiral did make phrases that X could comprehend, such as, "Are they following us?" or "Hold this knife while I rip out the interface unit" and "I'm not driving anymore, I'm tired."
The admiral had flown the shuttle off the coast of California and away from the North American continent. However, he then changed course and headed eastward towards Mexico only to change direction again and head south towards South America. When X took control of the shuttle it repeatedly requested a destination from the admiral. But all he would mutter was heaven or the fiery brimstone and X could not locate either destination on any of its geographic files on any of the three inhabited planets. The bot concluded that these locations must have been recently built and not part of its outdated geography software. X made an addendum in its memory bank to download the latest software at the earliest possibility.
With no viable direction from the admiral, X flew the shuttle across the ocean to the continent of Africa. Logically, the bot should have returned to its home base, the Roberts residence. But for whatever reason X concluded that returning to home base was not a viable option and flying to the other side of the world was in the best interest of the admiral. As X flew the shuttle it analyzed its mode of logistical thinking, attempting to determine what errors it contained that was causing it to make such erratic decisions.
"It's almost bouncing me," said the admiral from behind X. Again the bot tried to interpret his statements, but there was no ball in the shuttle cockpit. Perhaps there was an underlying medical condition prompting the admiral to make such strange statements. The explosion at the house initiated a shockwave in the sound spectrum that could have damaged the admiral.
X slowed the shuttle to a stop and landed it in the middle of the Serengeti. As it turned to walk towards the admiral at the back of the shuttle one of its legs stepped on his coat. X sensed the cracking of a plastic bottle and immediately went to investigate. It pulled a red bottle out of the coat and scanned the label affixed.
"Supraxium," stated X. According to its databank supraxium was a medical pill to treat the most severe cases of dementia. If the admiral was taking supraxium then it was logical to conclude that he was suffering from the effects of dementia, which would explain his erratic statements. X reevaluated how it would approach the admiral. The bottle X held was empty of any pills so it searched the other jacket pockets. Several more pill bottles were found but they were all empty.
"Admiral Johnson," said X. "Your behavior is consistent with an individual suffering from neurological dysfunction. It is necessary to take you to the nearest medical facility so that your condition may be treated."
"No!" screamed the admiral. "You can't! They'll get me. The devil's everywhere. You can't stop. We must continue. Heaven is too close…"
X placed its claw arm on the admiral shoulder in an attempt to quiet and comfort him. It was a physical motion X performed countless times when Nicole was upset usually after breaking up with her latest boyfriend. X could not correlate how such an action could bring so much relief to an individual. The tactile sensation was barely audible to the human touch. X dwelled on this unique phenomenon for hours but could not come up with a logical explanation. But since this method always produced a positive effect X continued to use it in its interactions with humans.
As soon as X touched the admiral he quit his rambling and looked at the bot with a scared look. He tried to focus on the bot, but the voices were too loud in his head. There was no escape from them now.
"You won't let them hurt me, will you?" he asked in a desperate tone.
"I will ensure no harm will befall you," replied the bot. The admiral looked around, fumbling his hands as he was looking about his surroundings. Feeling his gun right behind him, he grabbed it and handed it to X, making sure the bot had a firm grip on the gun.
"You can use this," said the admiral. "You can protect me by eliminating our enemies."
X examined the gun for a moment, verifying that it was indeed a weapon. The bot had never held a weapon before and it wanted to process as much information as possible before initiating its next action.
"Admiral, it is against my programming to harm a human being."
"But they're going to kill me."
"As I stated previously you are suffering defects in your neurological process. That is most likely causing you to believe that you will be killed by a devil. Treatment at an appropriate medical facility..." X stopped its statement abruptly. Its sensors alerted it to a shuttle landing nearby. Since the admiral destroyed the interface unit X could not interface with the shuttle's sensors and get a detailed scan of what was unfolding outside. X instead had to rely on its own meager sensors to garner any readings.
"I am detecting a shuttle containing multiple human life signs on board," reported X.
"The devil has found me," said the admiral panicking.
"Silence."
"You need to kill them!"
"Negative." X's sensors picked up the humans exiting the shuttle and beginning to swarm around them. X moved to the front and activated the blast shields so that they could not peer into the shuttle through the front window. It seemed odd to X that it was conducting such actions. Logically, the humans would gain entry in the shuttle and declare their intentions, providing much needed information to X and the admiral. Yet for some reason the bot chose to hide itself and the admiral for as long as possible.
Suddenly, loud blasts could be heard from outside. The humans who surrounded their shuttlecraft were yelling and screaming. X recalibrated its sensors to determine what had occurred, but whatever was causing the blast noise was interfering with X's ability to monitor outside events. The admiral, unable to discern whether the screams were real or in his head, began to cry out loudly. He wanted it all to stop, for the noises to be silent. X detected the agony in his voice and crawled right next to the admiral, extending its arms around him in a cradle. It slowly rocked the admiral, trying to provide some comfort to him. John was so easily comforted by X as a baby when the bot rocked him to sleep after awakening from a nightmare. It was the only thing the bot could do to help the admiral.
Soon the blasts stopped, however X's sensors were still being scrambled. After a long moment of silence a large thump could be heard coming from the side door of the shuttle. X's upper sphere rotated so its ocular sensors could focus on the door. A few more thumps could be heard around the door.
"Please don't let them kill me," whispered the admiral.
"I will permit no harm to you," replied X. A few more thum
ps and then the door opened. X saw a gun popped up from the open door.
"Please do not inflict damage on us," announced X. "We have no weapons to defend ourselves."
The man holding the gun emerged at the door's entrance. He was dressed in a black attire with guns hanging from his belts as if ready to go into battle. He wore dark sunglasses so X could not see his eyes. He looked at X, then at the admiral.
"He's here," said the man. He quickly moved towards the admiral, but X blocked his way. Three more individuals came up behind the man.
"I have given the admiral my word that no harm would come to him," said X. The man seemed taken aback by the bot's behavior. He'd never seen a bot act in such a manner.
"We're agents with the president's office," said the man. "We've been ordered to find and bring you in for safe keeping. TERRA has their people all over the planet trying to locate you."
"Lies," hissed the admiral. X rotated its upper body and could see the admiral in desperate need of help. X contemplated what course of action to take. None of its programming offered any assistance in analyzing the situation. The bot had never been placed in such a predicament. John had told X to do whatever the admiral requested, but it was quite obvious now the admiral was in no condition to make requests. But could X trust these people? The bot determined it could, after all, none of them had harmed either X or the admiral.
The bot handed the man a prescription bottle. "I located this in the admiral's jacket. He appears to be suffering from significant neurological impairment. It is imperative that he is attended to by a physician."
The man took the bottle hesitantly from the bot. X turned and took the admiral's hand gently. "These people are here to help you. It may be difficult; however you must try to dispel any notion that they will harm you. I will stay by your side and ensure you are treated properly."
The four agents couldn't believe how compassionate the bot was acting. It was unheard of for a bot to show any sort of emotional display. They were designed to perform numerous tasks to improve the lives of people. They weren't programmed to act like humans themselves. It was considered a waste of resources to add such programming to them.
X helped the admiral to his feet. "I will assist you in transporting Admiral Johnson."
"We've got a shuttle right outside," said the agent. "We're to bring you directly to Sydney." He motioned for the others to clear a path and let the bot and admiral through. They all watched as X patiently helped the admiral out of the shuttle. Although none of them could hear clearly, each thought they could hear the bot calmly speaking to the admiral as if it were trying to ease his pain.
As Admiral Johnson and X were being brought to safety, David and Billy were working feverishly in Virginia on the communications equipment.
“Try to route the frequency through the secondary buffer,” instructed David as Billy worked the makeshift communications terminal in David’s hideout. The cadets had been working nonstop the past few hours as David instructed Billy on the fine art of electronic spying. Billy caught on the mechanics of it as if it was second nature. Communications was one of his strong suits at the Academy and he easily caught on David’s instructions.
“You know,” said Billy as he worked the system. “Even if we figure a way of sending a message out without alerting the fleet, it’ll be difficult for John’s ship to detect it without knowing what to look for.”
“If John wants to communicate with us, he’ll find a way. He always does,” said David. He looked over at Billy’s progress. “No, no...you’ll lose the signal if you do it like that. Tighten up the gap on the bandwidth.” As Billy followed his friend’s instructions a large beep went off. Billy put his hands up, thinking he did something wrong.
“What’d I do?”
“It’s not you,” David pulled his DAT out. “Someone’s calling me.” He looked at the incoming identification. “Shit, it’s dad. Turn off the equipment.” Billy quickly compiled, shutting down everything. David fumbled with his DAT, almost dropping it, before answering. He didn’t expect his dad to be calling now, figuring he was busy dealing with the EXODUS.
“Dad,” said David.
“Where are you?” David could see his father was in a bad mood. Whenever he came out with a question so forcefully meant he was looking to go into a tirade.
“Uh, I’m out at the barn house.”
“I’m at the house. Get up here now and bring Billy with you.” Admiral Block shut his DAT off before giving David a chance to respond.
“He sounded pissed. What the hell does he want with me?” said Billy. David looked at his friend nervously and Billy could see him stressing out. “Relax, you haven’t done anything. He’s probably had a bad day.” But Billy couldn't help but be nervous that the admiral was already suspicious of what they were doing.
“We need to get up there now,” said David as he headed out of the hideout.
"Wait! David!" Billy quickly jumped to his feet and chased after his friend.
It took only a few minutes for the cadets to get back to the house, mainly because David ran the entire way. Billy tried to get him to slow down but David wasn’t listening to him. All his talk of bravado earlier seemed to go out the window in the face of his dad. He just hoped that David wouldn’t completely crack under the interrogation of Admiral Block.
The cadets entered the house, looking for the admiral. He was waiting in the living room and spotted them first.
“In here,” he yelled. David was startled and almost lost his footing as he rushed in the living room. Billy, trying to maintain his own composure, walked into the living room in a slow, deliberate pace.
“Dad? What are you doing home?”
“I want to talk to you about John Roberts. Have you been associating with him?”
“John? Uh, no. I haven’t talked to him since you told me not to.” That was lie number one.
The admiral got up real close to David. “Don’t lie to me. I can find out if you’ve been lying to me.” Billy couldn’t believe the agitation the admiral was displaying. He knew he had to deflect attention away from his friend.
“David hasn’t talked to John in two years. If you want to know about John ask me.”
“You’re still friends with him?”
“Well, yeah. I know you don’t think much of John but he’s always been a friend to me.”
The admiral moved to face Billy. “Do you know where he’s gone for winter break?”
“The past two years he’s stayed with a friend in Arizona. That’s all he’s told me.”
“Has he ever talked about Admiral Johnson? Has he ever mentioned meeting him?”
Billy shook his head. “No, never. Why are you so interested in him?”
“Your so-called friend has gotten himself mixed up in a lot of trouble. If you two know anything about him you better tell me now. Has he ever made conversations about trying to leave the solar system?”
“We don’t know anything,” insisted David. Admiral Block looked at his son, then to Billy. "Why are you badgering us?"
The admiral ignored his son. “You’re a good boy, Billy,” said the Admiral. His entire demeanor changed, which Billy found creepy. “You've always been like a son to me. I hope you know you can always come to me to talk about anything.”
“Thank you, sir. And you’ve been like a father to me.” Billy could lay it on just as thick as the admiral. Two could play the same game of bullshit. He knew the admiral was only trying to pump them for information. “I wish I could tell you what you would like to know about John, but even with his friends John doesn’t say much.”
“What about Julie Olson? Can you tell me anything about her?”
“Only that she’s a dedicated student at the Academy. We’ve hung out a few times together at NEON.”
“And her relationship with John?”
“Oh no, there is no relationship. They hate each other. I think she even tried to move to a new apartment because they argued so much.”
The admiral was aware of that situation as it was documented in Julie’s file. He wanted to see if Billy would say anything to contradict that information. It seemed he was telling the truth about what he knew of both individuals.
“I want you boys to do me a favor. Do not discuss either cadet with anyone. If you come across anything regarding them you must come to me with it. I can’t stress that enough.”
“Of course, sir,” replied Billy, knowing full well he had no intention of keeping that promise.
“Are you staying here for the night?” asked David. He was hoping his father was heading back to Mars and wouldn’t return home for awhile.
“Just for the night. I have to take care of some business here. I’ll be leaving first thing in the morning. I’m afraid I will not be spending any time here while you two are on winter break."
David couldn’t have been more pleased hearing that and Billy wanted to clap his hands to celebrate. He didn’t want to be working on trying to communicate with the EXODUS with the admiral around.
“When you’re mother gets in let her know I’ll be in the study,” instructed the admiral to David who only nodded. As soon as he exited the room the cadets quickly huddled together and whispered to one another.
“Let’s get back to the hideout and continue working.”
“Are you kidding? I’m not going back there with your dad around. Let’s just sit tight tonight. As soon as he leaves tomorrow we’ll get back to work. We just have to act normal until he goes.”
“I think I can do that.”
“You didn’t stand up to him, so I think you acted completely normal.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The planet Pluto grew larger as the EXODUS approached it. The ship had slowed its advance as it got near the lonely planet. The crew was at their battle stations ready with charged weapons, shields, and fighters waiting on standby. The past few hours seemed to stretch on an eternity. With the Screen fighter defeated near Mars many assumed the ship would quickly make its way out of the system and jump. Instead they received orders from the ship commander to maintain battle alert status. John did not share any information with the crew to ease their apprehension.
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