Earth United
Chapter 6

Jack Buchanan sat behind his desk in his office in the Presidential Mansion. Armin Dietrich was seated on the couch. Nobody else was in the room. Things had been quiet, both on Earth and intergalactically. Too quiet. Things were going too well, Jack thought, too well for his presidency, now in its eighth year. He had two years to go. Two years. How would he be remembered? As the president that had a Legion headquarters successfully attacked during his first year, or as the president that served over eight, and hopefully ten, years of peace? He hoped for the latter.

“Mr. President,” Armin said, “may I continue?”

“Yes, by all means,” Jack replied. “You were saying?” Jack unbuttoned his collar, then stuck his forefinger between his neck and collar and tugged, first right, then left. He felt warm. The air in the room seemed stale. He wondered if the electro air system was working properly. Or maybe he was just tired of listening to Armin. The guy was great at what he did, and he had a gift of seeing two steps ahead of everyone else. That’s one reason Jack had picked him for the job. But sometimes Armin would look too long and hard in the wrong direction. It was those times that Jack dreaded hearing him out. This seemed like one of those times.

Armin continued, “As I was saying, I’m getting a little nervous that we’ve been at peace for so long.”

Jack always felt odd holding one-on-one conferences in his office. Him seated behind his large desk, and the other person lost in the large half-moon couch facing him. He felt like he was supposed to be a king or something. Smaller, retractable furniture had never been installed in this room of the mansion. He guessed some former president liked the king feeling. “Nervous.” Jack shook his head. “Why?” He really didn’t want to ask that question, but he knew he had to.

Armin stood up. “Well, I fear that it’s causing us to become complacent. I mean, our best inventions have come at the most critical times. When we were facing our darkest hours. When we had to design a solution. Look at the defense shield. EarthNX invented it at the height of the largest intergalactic war in history. Without it, Earth would have been eliminated. And since then—” He paused for a moment. “Well, EarthNX hasn’t given the Legion anything new in the last eight years.” Armin took off his suit jacket and laid it on a chair.

Jack leaned back in his chair, noticing the perspiration on Armin’s white shirt. “What you mean to say is that EarthNX hasn’t given the Legion anything new during my presidency.”

“Well, yes sir,” Armin replied. “Peace has caused even our greatest corporations and our greatest minds to become passive.”

Now Jack saw where Armin was going with this. Maybe Armin wasn’t as far off target as Jack had originally thought. This might end up being a very relevant discussion after all. He still felt hot, though. He made a mental note to have his assistant look into the solar panels. Electro air was a great invention for HVAC, despite the fact that it required all those white-domed roofs, but it did have occasion to malfunction. But you would think the Presidential Mansion would have top of the line equipment.

Armin walked toward Jack’s desk. “Jack, the next step is weakness.”

Jack leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk and folding his hands. “Armin, you can stop beating around the bush with me. You’re not concerned about too much peace. You think that since I have openly disapproved of Edgardo’s tactics, that he is not supporting my presidency. He’s not helping me out, so to speak. Am I right?”

Armin stepped back. “Well,” Armin started to answer, then sat down. “Yes, sir. Never has EarthNX gone eight years without adding something new to the Legion’s arsenal. I fear that Edgardo is holding back for the next president. And you’ll go down in history as, well, just another president who got lucky during his term.”

Jack knew Armin was correct to a certain extent, and he was pretty sure Armin’s motives were pure, but there was no way that he was going to give accolades to or support a man of Edgardo Ramirez’s character. Jack spoke softly. “Armin, I respect your opinion and advice, and I appreciate it, as always, but there is no such thing as luck. But even if you want to call it luck, I’ll gladly go down in history as the ‘lucky president,’ if it means that we are at peace. If nobody is senselessly being killed.”

“But Jack,” Armin said, cupping his hands together and leaning forward, “there have to be new weapons or upgrades to existing ones. Offensive weapons, or defensive, like upgrades to our defense shield. We need to continue to secure peace, at least for Earth. It’s been so long. Other planets have surely moved past us by now. I’m sure that someone has developed superior weapons.” Armin leaned back, placing his hands on his lap. “I’m just saying, if a new defense upgrade, or any upgrade for that matter, is presented by EarthNX or by whomever, won’t you consider it?”

Now he wasn’t sure where Armin was going. Sure, he would consider anything new for the betterment of Earth. “Armin, I would be glad to consider upgrades to anything, even the potatoes served to our soldiers, but I will not publically, privately, or in any other manner, condone the actions of EarthNX to get them.”

There was a knock at the door and Jack paused.

“Yes, come in,” Jack said.

Marco Veneto entered and walked quickly to the front of Jack’s desk. Jack noticed how Marco intentionally ignored Armin, not even acknowledging him.

“Mr. President,” Marco said, “we need to talk. Some new information just came to us from Vernius.” Marco handed Jack a data pod.

Before the president could answer, Armin, still sitting on the couch behind Marco, spoke up. “Mr. Veneto, the president and I will gladly speak with you about this, just as soon as he and I are finished.”

Jack could see the grimace on Marco’s face as Armin spoke. He knew that the grimace wasn’t so much from the interruption, as it was from the high-pitched tone in Armin’s nasally voice. He also knew that Armin used that tone to add emphasis to what he was really saying, that ‘I am the president’s chief of staff and, well, you aren’t.’ Or to drive the knife deeper into his colleague’s back. Jack generally liked to just let it go, and monitor how things progressed. He liked the differing opinions of his staff. They helped him make the best decisions based on all the facts. But Jack did wish that his chief of staff and his chief legion advisor got along a little better. He thought that eight years of serving as two of his highest ranking advisors would have softened their relationship. However, if anything, the two had grown to despise each other even more. He could tell that Marco loathed the fact that Armin was in a position to give Marco an order on behalf of the president. What made matters worse was the fact that their dislike for each other was no secret to others on his staff. The best he could do without terminating one of them was to try to keep the peace between the two of them.

“No,” Jack said, reading the first page on the data pod, “we were finished, Armin. What is it, Marco?”

Marco, with his back still to Armin, grinned ever so slightly. “The Legion has received a report from Vernius. The Vernetions have apparently detected a hilaetite crystal. They sent us the coordinates and have asked us to investigate.”

Armin spoke up while Jack was reading the information on the data pod. “Again. Why are they the only planet that seems to detect crystals? And maybe we should tell them to investigate it themselves. After all, they still don’t believe that we found nothing in our investigation of the attack on Sector Four headquarters eight years ago.”

Marco, still facing Jack, replied, “Mr. Dietrich, Vernius is our greatest ally. The Imperial Majesty has stated publicly that she unequivocally supports Earth and the Legion.”

Armin stood up and walked to the side of Jack’s desk. “That’s because she’s new and it’s the politically correct thing to say. And besides, of course she’s going to say that she supports us. Earth’s Legion is the only thing standing between them and half the planets in the galaxy that would like to have a piece of Vernius. A planet without a military. What kind of operation is that anyway?”

Jack held up a hand. “Okay, that’s enough. Let’s stay focused on the issue at hand. Eight years ago was a unique situation. This time we don’t have a crystal hidden at a Legion headquarters.” He looked straight at Marco and then at Armin. “Do we?”

Marco cleared his throat. “Of course not, sir.”

Armin folded his arms and leaned slightly against the desk. “How can we be so sure that the Legion hasn’t done something to cause this? I think we should keep away from any investigation.”

Marco looked at Armin and leaned on the desk with both fists. “Why are you so worried about an investigation? The Legion is clean. And you know the Vernetions haven’t the ability to conduct such an inquiry off the surface of their planet, nor the resources to do anything about it if they did replace something. They may be the most technologically advanced planet in the galaxy, but they haven’t the transportation or weapons to move that technology anywhere.”

Jack was becoming frustrated with their bickering. They weren’t laying out options or discussing different sides of the issue. They were just arguing to try to one-up the other. And the warmth of the room was adding to his frustration. He could feel his armpits getting damp and a bead of sweat slowly rolling down the middle of his back. “Enough, I said! We will investigate if the matter warrants an investigation. It’s part of our alliance with Vernius. But you know that already, Marco. Why are you bringing this to me?”

The room was silent. Jack stared at Marco’s blank face, trying to read him. The news must not be good. Marco was hesitating too long.

Marco stood up straight. Jack watched him as his gaze went first to Armin and then to Jack. “Sir, the detection coordinates show the crystal somewhere on the planet Craton. And because of what happened eight years ago when Vernius detected a crystal,” he paused for a moment, then continued, “the attack on Sector Four, our failed attempt to replace a crystal, or, as far as Vernius knows, our failed attempt to even determine why we were attacked, Vernius doesn’t fully trust us to conduct a thorough investigation.”

Jack looked up at Marco. “But you just said that the Imperial Majesty supports us and asked us to investigate.”

“She supports us,” Marco replied, “but she doesn’t always trust us.”

“Well, I can’t really blame her,” Jack said. “Neither of you, nor the Legion, gave me much to work with. I wasn’t too happy with the investigation into the attack myself.”

Armin shot Marco a cold glance. Jack read that as Armin blaming Marco for the poor investigation.

“So, what does the Imperial Majesty want?” Jack asked.

“Sir,” Marco replied, “she wants the new Vernetion ambassador to investigate.”

Armin winced and stepped back from the desk. “Diane Danielson? No, we can’t send a civilian on such a mission, especially to Craton.”

Marco kept his gaze directed at Jack. “Sir, our ambassadors are not civilians. They are Legion soldiers, and Legion trained.”

“Not combat trained,” Armin replied.

“No,” Marco said, looking at Armin, “but they know the risks when they sign up for the job. I recommend that we send her. She’s on her way to Vernius right now with two Legion soldiers as escorts. They’ll give her the protection she needs. I think we should divert them to Craton, have them go to the coordinates and take pictures and sensor scans only. If they come back negative, then we will have satisfied the Imperial Majesty’s request. If they come back with evidence of a crystal, then we can discuss how to handle it.”

Jack looked at Armin, knowing that he would have a counter position. He wanted to hear both of them out before making a decision.

“I don’t like the idea of investigating at all,” Armin said, “let alone sending an ambassador with just two soldiers to Craton to do so. You know where I stand, Mr. President.”

Jack thought for a moment. He didn’t like the idea of sending an ambassador either. So many things could go wrong. And they needed to be completely open and honest with Vernius if something did go wrong. No, he didn’t like it, but it was his best option. He wanted to honor the Imperial Majesty’s wishes. He knew she had reason to not trust the Legion, and he needed to earn her confidence in the Legion and in Earth. He stood up, stretching his legs. He could feel his shirt stick to his back. He turned his back to Marco and Armin and walked to the one-way window behind his desk, looking out. “We need to comply with the Imperial Majesty’s wishes. I don’t like the idea of sending an ambassador to do this any more than you do, Armin.” He turned and looked at Armin. “But I like Marco’s plan. Only three people, under cover, with orders not to engage. That’s about as safe as we can make it. Whose command are the soldiers under?” He turned toward Marco.

“Frank Cantor’s, sir,” Marco replied. “The commander of Sector Four.”

“Yes.” Jack nodded. He knew of Frank and remembered meeting him on one or two occasions. He was a good man. “Marco, notify Commander Cantor. Make this happen.”

* * * *

Cal was in the pilot’s seat of the Legion transport. Jake was to his right, sitting in what was normally the copilot’s seat. But for now, it was being used by Jake as an easy chair. The copilot’s seat to Cal’s left was empty. A transport could be handled by a single pilot. However, the controls, including the weapons system and communications, could be turned over to one or two copilots in times of trouble or in an emergency. Although, most Legion transports, including this one, had minimal weapon capabilities. Diane was the only other person on board and was seated just behind Cal and Jake.

Diane peeked over Cal’s shoulder. “What are you doing? You’re not playing a game, are you?”

Jake, sitting with his head laid back and his hands folded on his lap, opened one eye and turned his head toward Cal. Cal was focused intently on the small portable transponder in his hands, with his thumbs moving frantically from button to button. No problem, he thought. Playing video games anyplace he could replace a minute was normal for Cal. And he assumed the spacecraft was on autopilot. Jake turned his head back and closed his eye again.

Cal stared at his transponder. “Yes, it’s a brand new game, Intergalactic Combat. It’s the most realistic battle game yet. It uses real planets in the galaxy. Supposedly, the person who developed it had connections inside the military at various planets like Centaur and Craton, who gave him access to all the military technology and codes. He used them to make the game. I don’t know who the guy was or even if he’s still alive for doing it, but word is, he got rich off of black market sales.”

Diane sighed. “Black market, probably illegal on every planet, and my brother, a Legion soldier, is playing it.”

The game made an explosive sound. “Aaah, bad move,” Cal said.

Jake opened one eye again and spoke with his head still laid back. “Could you keep it down a bit? Some of us are trying to sleep.”

“All right. I’m dead anyway.” Cal turned toward the spacecraft’s viewing screen and took the spacecraft off autopilot.

“That’s better,” Jake said, closing his eye. He started to think again, about Diane, about what lay ahead for him, and for her, on different planets. He didn’t want to think about it. He changed his thoughts. Like he always did when his mind wandered where he didn’t want it to go. That’s when he would think about his uncle’s death, Romalor, the government cover-up. What he wanted to do if he ever met Romalor, or if he ever found out who was behind the cover-up. It could go all the way to the top. Even to the president himself. But what could he possibly do if that were the case? Jake Saunders against the most powerful man on the planet. The spacecraft jolted and then started to vibrate slightly. He opened his eyes. “Why are we dropping out of quantum drive?”

“Our sensors are picking up an odd distortion. Some sort of nebula, I’m guessing,” Cal replied.

“There’s never been a nebula reported in this region of the galaxy,” Jake said. He sat up. “It’s always been a straight, clear shot from Earth to Vernius.”

Just as Jake looked out the viewing screen, he saw a bright flash and felt a plasma burst pound their spacecraft. All three of them bounced and shook in their seats. Jake grabbed the control panel to steady himself. The lights went off for a moment, then on, and then blinked off and on once more.

“What was that?” Diane asked. She pulled herself back into her seat, and then got up and plopped into the empty co-pilot’s seat.

“I don’t know,” Cal replied, “but it took out our weapons, our quantum drive, and our long-range communications. It knew exactly where to hit us.”

Diane looked toward Cal and Jake with a raised eyebrow. “We’re being hailed.”

Cal slowly turned their transport. Another spacecraft came into view. It had been behind them. Jake enlarged the viewing screen. The spacecraft was three times the size of their transport. It was rough looking, without much form or contours. Sort of like a long cylinder with a roughed-up surface, that had been smashed a little on each end.

“That doesn’t belong to any planet I know of,” Cal said.

“Pirates,” Jake said.

“They’re hailing us again,” Diane said. She turned on the video com.

Jake looked at the screen. It was apparently the spacecraft’s captain, seated in a chair, with what looked like two guards or officers, one standing on either side of him. Jake looked closely at their appearance, trying to determine where they were from. All three had dark green, scaly skin, with flat faces and no nose, only two nose holes. They had no hair, but rather, small spikes, covered with their scaly skin, sticking up on their heads where hair would be. They didn’t have on uniforms. Each was dressed in similar brown clothes. And each of them had a multitude of different types of weapons hanging from their shirts and pants, from knives and sabers, to clubs, to various types of plasma guns.

The captain spoke in a rough, hoarse tone. “I am Captain Lionslarth. You are now under the control of the pirate spacecraft Labyrinth. You foolish Earth creatures. You fall for the simplest tricks. Now your foolishness will cost you. What cargo are you transporting?”

It was obvious that the captain had done his homework. He knew that the spacecraft was from Earth and was a transport. He also knew where to strike a transport to disable all major functions in one blast. He would not have tried the same maneuver against a quantum light fighter, as they were specifically designed with multiple weapons functions. Jake could feel his temper start to flare up. He was going to tell Captain Lionslarth a thing or two. But Cal held out his hand, down low out of sight of the video com, his palm toward Jake. Jake caught the signal. Cal didn’t want him to say anything.

Cal whispered, “I have an idea.”

“I’m waiting. What is your cargo?” Lionslarth grumbled.

Cal replied, “We are transporting Queen Diane back to her homeland. Our cargo hold is full of her diamonds, jewels, and precious gems.”

What was Cal doing? The cargo hold was empty. The sole purpose of their trip was to deliver Diane and her few belongings to Vernius. Jake whispered, “Queen?”

Diane shot Cal a glare. Jake knew that look. She was telling Cal that he better know what he was doing, or else. He had no idea what the ‘or else’ could be in this predicament, but he was sure Cal got the message.

Cal spoke again. “Diane, won’t you get a few samples and show them to the captain?”

Jake wondered what Diane was going to do now. She was playing along; she seemed to know what Cal was thinking. She went to her suitcases, out of the view of the video com, and pulled out what little jewelry she owned: a couple of pearl necklaces, a few rings with diamonds, jasper, and amethyst stones, and a number of bracelets with various mixtures of turquoise, rubies, emeralds, and jasper. She mixed them up in the palms of her hands and returned to the video com. Very good, well done, he thought. He would never have thought of that. But now what?

Cal turned toward the video com. “Captain, these are just a sample of what’s in our cargo hold.” He stretched out Diane’s arms, pulling her hands closer to the viewing screen. “If we give them to you, will you please let us live? Please.”

Pitiful, Jake thought. Cal’s plan better be good. If he was going to die here and now, he didn’t want to do it pleading for his life. He wanted to go down fighting.

“V-e-r-y n-i-c-e,” Lionslarth commented. “They will fetch a nice price on the black market. As for your lives, give me the jewels, then I will decide whether you live or die. Now open your cargo door. We will send a tractor beam into the hold to secure the cargo.”

“Okay, Captain, but I need a little time to secure the jewels in their crates,” Cal said.

“You have ten minutes,” Lionslarth replied. He turned off his video com. Diane did the same.

“Okay, what’s your plan?” Jake asked. “It better be good, or Frog Man over there is going to kill us,” Jake paused for a moment, “in just about ten minutes.”

“I don’t have time to explain,” Cal said. He quickly climbed down into the cargo hold. “When I tell you, move the quantum drive control to one quarter pulse.”

“I thought you said the quantum drive is disabled?” Jake replied.

“It is,” said Cal, “for going to quantum speed, but its power pulse within the spacecraft is still working. Just move it when I tell you!”

“Okay, okay.” Jake could tell Cal was getting agitated at his questions. He did ask a lot of questions. But it was one thing to follow Cal’s plans in a game or training exercise, and quite another when their lives—and Diane’s—were at stake. He hoped his friend knew what he was doing.

After a few minutes, Cal yelled up from the hold, “Okay, move it now, to one quarter pulse, and no more.”

Jake slowly moved the lever. He could hear the quantum drive power up. With his eyebrows raised, he looked at Diane. “I still don’t know what he’s doing.”

“Me neither,” Diane replied. “But you better just do what he says. You know Cal.”

The hailing signal sounded.

Diane got up and stuck her head in the cargo hold opening. “It’s Lionslarth.”

Cal climbed out of the hold. “Okay, ready, put him on.”

Diane sat back down and turned on the video com. Lionslarth spoke. “Your ten minutes are up. Now open the cargo hold.”

Cal punched a couple of buttons. “There, done.”

Lionslarth turned to one of his guards who had moved over to a control bank. “Engage tractor beam. Target their hold.”

Jake watched on the video com. The pirate guard turned to Lionslarth. “Sir, we’re not locking on to anything moveable. Their hold appears to be empty. No, wait, there, I’ve got something slightly moveable, but I’m not sure what it is, sir. It’s not a crate or container.”

Lionslarth turned to face his video com and yelled, “Where are the jewels? Your time is up. The game is over and you lose.” He turned back to his guard. “Destroy them!”

Cal punched the quantum drive lever to full throttle.

A low rumbling noise filled the ship, growing louder and louder. The transport started to vibrate. Jake grabbed the back of his chair. Cal and Diane grabbed hold of each other. On the viewing screen, he could see the pirate ship start to vibrate.

The pirate guard turned to Lionslarth. “Sir, something’s wrong.”

The pirate ship’s vibrations grew worse, then it started to shake violently. The pirates were hanging on to whatever they could to stand up, and those that couldn’t replace anything, fell down.

Lionslarth turned to the guard, then looked at the control bank, and then turned back to his video com with his eyes wide. He shouted, “What have you done?”

Cal smiled into their video com. “Oh, I don’t know. We’re just foolish Earth creatures.”

That was the last thing Lionslarth heard before the Labyrinth imploded in one massive explosion. As the fire cleared, Jake could see nothing but space in front of them, marred only by a few floating fragments of what was once the Labyrinth.

Jake and Cal high-fived each other. Diane looked at them and just shook her head. “Boys.”

Jake plopped down in his chair. “What in the world did you do? That was awesome!”

“Just a little Cal ingenuity. Pretty brilliant, wasn’t it? I just used our quantum drive, or what was left of it, against them.”

“I still don’t get it,” Jake said.

“All right,” Cal said, “let me spell it out for you slowly. Maybe you’ll learn something. I rerouted the quantum drive system into a small control bank in the cargo hold and left the pulse signal in the bank open. With the quantum drive at one quarter pulse, it sent out enough power to create a signal, but not enough power to do anything. With nothing moveable in the hold for their tractor beam to latch onto, it latched onto the quantum drive pulse signal. Then when I moved the quantum drive lever to full throttle, every last pulse of the spacecraft’s quantum drive power was sent to the cargo hold control bank and into the tractor beam. Are you still with me, or am I going too fast for you?”

Jake shook his head. “I have it. Keep going.”

Cal continued, “The tractor beam then pulled all that power back to the pirate spacecraft. At the other end of the tractor beam, there was no place for the quantum drive power to go. It kept building up and building up until ka-boom! And without any shield to soften the impact of the blast, well, you saw the result.”

“Not bad. Not too bad at all,” Jake said. “When did you come up with that?”

Cal smiled. “Oh, about ten minutes ago.”

Diane waved her hand between them. “Okay, if you two are finished with your ego trip, can we work on getting us going again? Queen Diane might not have enough jewels to save us the next time.”

Cal patted Diane on the back. “Oh, yeah, you were key in this too. Good job.”

Diane grinned and shook her head.

Cal got up and started back down into the cargo hold. “Okay, don’t worry. I think I can get us going. But it’ll take me an hour or two to reroute the quantum drive and fix the damage the pirates caused. Come on. You guys can help.”

After about two hours of work, Cal sighed with satisfaction. “There, that should do it.”

As they climbed out of the cargo hold, the hailing signal went off. Diane looked at the controls. “It’s Frank.” Diane flipped on the video com.

“What have you cowpokes been up to?” Frank said. “I’ve been trying to reach you for an hour.”

Jake smiled. “Our stagecoach ran into some bandits, sheriff. But don’t fear, they got no loot.” He loved to talk ‘western’ with Frank. He felt badly about his less than excited reaction to watching the new movie. Hopefully, he hadn’t hurt Frank’s feelings. He would make it up when they got back.

“Are you guys all right?” Frank asked. “Do we need to send out a posse or are the bandits long gone?”

Jake grinned a little. “I guess you could say that they’ve been eliminated, sir. We’re set to continue now.”

“Okay, you guys can give me a full report when you get back,” Frank said. “Right now, I have a change in plans for you. This is coming directly from the Presidential Mansion.”

“We’re listening,” Jake replied. That sure got his attention. The Presidential Mansion.

Frank continued, “It seems that Vernius has detected a hilaetite crystal and given us the coordinates. The president wants you three to go check it out. Only check it out. That means, go to the coordinates, and take a sensor scan and video com picture of it from long-range. Nothing more. Under no circumstances are you to engage.”

“Engage what?” Cal asked. “And why us three? What’s the secrecy?”

Frank paused for a long moment, then answered, “The coordinates are on Craton.”

Jake’s grin disappeared immediately. He looked at Cal, his eyes narrowed. Cal was staring right back at him. Jake could feel his heart start to race. Could this be his chance?

“No. No way, sir,” Cal said. “We can’t take that risk with Diane with us. Why would the president send us?”

Frank replied, “As I understand it, the Imperial Majesty no longer trusts Earth or the Legion to investigate a detection alone. He wants his new ambassador to witness what is or isn’t there, herself. And there’s no time for you to return and then for the Legion to send another spacecraft there with Diane.”

“But we only have a transport, sir,” Cal responded. “What if we’re attacked?”

Jake just sat there. Thoughts of his Uncle Ben, Romalor, the attack eight years ago, all raced through his mind. Then his mind jumped to Diane. Would she be safe going to Craton? After all, it wasn’t a very hospitable planet—not the terrain, the weather, or the people. But they wouldn’t be landing. And besides, Diane could take care of herself. He noticed the change in the tone of Frank’s voice, and the less than happy look on Frank’s face.

“Look,” Frank said, “I don’t like this any more than you do, but it’s an order directly from the president. I understand all too well the circumstances. That’s why you are to get in and get out. No touching down. Pictures and scans only. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Cal replied.

“Jake,” Frank said, “you got it?”

Jake didn’t answer for a moment. He knew the orders, but he didn’t like them. He wanted to go, to have a chance to face Romalor. He wanted to land. He wanted the opportunity he had thought about for so long. But again, there was Diane to think about. He just wasn’t sure.

Frank spoke again. “Jake, you got it?”

He hesitated a moment longer, then said, “Yes, sir, I have it.”

“Good,” Frank said. “After you get the pictures and scans, send them to me, then get back on your way to Vernius. I’ll take it from there.”