When the Earth came into full view Admiral Armstrong rose from his chair, "Master Chief Jearyn, I suggest we get dressed for the occasion," he said half chuckling.
The Terrandian was up in a flash from his chair and at the Admirals side. "You find something amusing sir?" he asked in his digitized voice.
"No rest for the best." the Admiral laughed.
"There is much truth to that I am finding sir."
"I'm just glad we were already home bound when the call came in that we were to escort The U.A. dignitaries. Riley would not have been easy to tear away from that blasted wormhole."
"I agree sir, your son dose have a passion for deep space exploration, and finding a new wormhole that may be used to travel to the edge of our known universe is a major discovery. One he will no doubt go down in history for. And if we succeed in transporting the politicians and the treaty is signed we will as well."
Admiral Armstrong had to agree. If the treaty was not signed, the Terrandians were doomed. Their world was drifting away from their sun, due to fact it was in the middle of a galactic collision. It was to be agreed that the Terrandian population would be dispersed among the three remaining habitable planets, and with their biomechanical nature, they could breathe any atmosphere. Being a part of that would be a high point in his career. Moreover, he had always known that his boy's, Riley and Cohen were destined for great things. He was almost overwhelmed with pride thinking how blessed he and his family were.
* * *
Riley was in the science lab, as he had been the entire journey back from W.H. 595, the wormhole that he had discovered while in deep space. They had successfully sent a probe through the wormhole, and it had collected over seventy-two hours of data. In addition, the data that he was seeing made him giddy as a schoolgirl. The map it made of the area was just beyond the universe, as we knew it. Two major galactic bodies, if they turned out to be the ones he thought they were, would prove it. With this evidence, the Endeavour would surely be called upon to traverse the wormhole and enter unexplored space. It would be the first time Man had ever stepped beyond what we know as the universe. The young Captain First Class rushed to put on his dress clothes, his eyes glued to the holoscreen in the lab, watching a slide show of images sent from the probe. As he was pulling up his pants, he saw it. Without a thought, he tried to run up the holoscreen in excitement. That's when he tumbled face first to the floor, moving that fast with your pants half up has a way of doing that.
"That's it!" he exclaimed as he got back to his feet. It was a picture of HUDF.YD3, the most distant galaxy we could view from our location in space-time. He was sure of it. When the images of a well-known Quasar appeared, he knew with out a doubt what he was looking at. They where the first pictures taken by Man from outside known space. Not even the other alien races had ventured past this point.
Riley was just about to send the message to his father, when static and a frantic scream filled his ears. It had become standard practice to make use of neural implants to communicate by mere thought, not to mention that the chemical interface was capable of actually physically upgrading a human. Riley fell to his knees as the static threatened to make him pass out. The static mellowed for just a moment and he heard the scream again, more clearly this time.
"Riley!"..."elp"..."elvat"..."iged"..."omb"... It was his brother Cohen; he had used an override to send a message directly to him. However, he was just out of range for clear communication.
* * *
Things on Earth where not going so smooth for Special Agent Cohen Armstrong. He and his Grey partner Air where members of the G.S.F., Galactic Special Forces. A collective of the finest soldiers, investigators, pilots, doctors, scientists and any thing else you could specialize in. They worked with all governments, colonies, corporations. Cohen and Air had been assigned to watch a terrorist cell working out of mars. They were from a larger group that had garnered lots of attention lately. Yer' Nal'eunn as they were known, a religious sect based on Cha' Isa, had claimed responsibility for six major attacks in the last year. So far, Earth had remained untouched by the religious terrorists but that was suspected to change. Air and Cohen had gathered all the intelligence they could. They had intercepted several transmissions both verbal and written that made it clear that there was a hard target on Earth. When the date for the attack was discovered, the investigation kicked into high gear. It was obvious that they planned to kill the politicians who intended to meet for the peace treaty. When the bust went down four of the perpetrators escaped, with Cohen and Air hot on their trail. They had chased them to the dark side of the moon and were able to capture one more, but in doing, so the other three escaped. With four days to catch them before their plan went into affect Cohen was confidant that there was nothing to fear.
Unfortunately, that day arrived and Cohen zoomed across the building tops of Washington D.C. He was wearing the most advanced in cyber-armor. The suite was capable of short space walks, atmospheric re-entry, and an array of sensors and weapons. From his vantage, the H.U.D. of his helmet was scanning every face in the crowd bellow, searching for the perps. "I don't get it Air," stated Cohen as he continued to traverse the rooftops.
"What's that?" replied Air
"These guys manage to pull off some crazy stunts. They take claim for them all, but never have we found anything to tie them to anything." Cohen leaped over a gap between the rooftops and continued. "Then all of a sudden we find this new cell, convenient, don't you think."
"What is it your implying Moose?"
"Dammit Air don't call me that!" scolded Cohen. He was not fond of the nickname he had acquired, though he was 6'7 and a muscular 300 pounds he was built like a moose and the name stuck. Suddenly Cohen's H.U.D. lit up. He had a confirmed target. "You getting that?" he asked as he slid to a halt.
"Yes" answered the Grey. She started to bolt in the direction of the terrorist.
"Wait!" shouted Cohen. "They don't know we see him. Do you see the other two? We should try to locate them first." It's all just too easy thought Cohen. "Just too easy..."
"What?"
Before Cohen even registered what was going on in the next few seconds he was flat on his back staring into the eyes of one of the Cha' Isan terrorists. Its crooked little smile was smug and irritating. Cohen was up in a flash, "Let's see you do that when I'm looking, you little son of bitch!"
The just over three foot tall alien rushed in with a knife, it could have probably killed him had it wanted to. It should have. Moose was not so forgiving or playful. This was his business, his planet, and he would be damned if he was about to play around with the stakes at hand. In one fluid motion, Cohen grabbed the alien’s wrist that held the knife. Taking advantage of the Cha' Isan's massive strength and short stature he slid his left shin across its lower stomach and swung his right leg over its head. With the aliens elbow firmly locked in place Cohen thrust his hips forward, effectively applying an arm bar and snapping the limb at the joint. The alien screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Cohen was on it in a rush, a five inch spike flashed out of the wrist of his glove as he slammed his fist into the base of the Cha' Isan's skull instantly killing it.
With the high tech sensors that were linked between Cohen and Air's armor, she knew her partner had been attacked, and had killed his alien adversary. She was still undercover of a hologram. To the average eye, she appeared like an average Grey visitor, here to sneak a peek at history. Little did she know more than average eyes were upon her. A projectile slammed into her, knocking her backwards a matter of feet. She kept her balance by crouching low and racking her fingers deep into the marble pathway. The electronics started going haywire in her H.U.D. rendering all the technical support from the suite useless.
"Good thing this stuff is so light..." she thought to herself "or I'd be toast." She knew well enough a high voltage round from a railgun had hit her. The massive dent in her armor attested to the power of the round. "Sniper," she ran in the direction of where she last knew the Cha' Isan they had seen. She kept low and tried to keep as many obstacles between her and the sniper as she could, she had not seen him but it was not hard to get a general direction from the impact of the bullet. The alien terrorist had not moved. He stood there laughing as she approached. A look of confusion came over her face.
"What’s the matter Psionicist? Mind drawing a blank?" It laughed allowed.
Something was wrong. Some Greys were born with very strong psionic powers that could manifest in many ways. Air was one of those few, and very gifted and highly regarded among those few. She had only encountered this several times, and every time made for an unpleasant story.
With a crash, Cohen came diving in from above, slamming right through the mindless drone that had been camouflaged as a terrorist. In a rain of robotic components, lubricants, and sparks the anger within Air had reached the brink. "They are stalling Cohen!"
"That's what I was trying to say..." Cohen was slowly getting up to his feet from the impact, trying to shake the fuzz from his mind.
"You get to the Space Elevator!" she shouted. "I got that one!" and she pointed to a window in a nearby building. She had located him. He was scared, and that was a good thing.
Cohen rushed to the massive structure that was Space Elevator D.C. 1. It was a several stories high and a trail of circular magnates that hung from each other at regular intervals. They were suspended by the strongest fibers in the known Universe. It was able to make space available to all. A space station the size of New York City was in perfect orbit on the other end of those magnates. Many shuttles made trips back and fourth between Earth and D.C.1 nonstop. The only chance Cohen had was to get the station evacuated. The diplomats were already on their way up to rendezvous with the Endeavour 7.
Cohen needed to get to D.C. 1 in a hurry. "Express shuttles." With a mere thought, his H.U.D. displayed the shuttle schedule. Just his luck they were either in route, or down for maintenance. "Open the doors to express shuttle bay E-5!" He was broadcasting to all emergency frequencies to all agencies. This was going to get bad and the sooner and more organized emergency response is, the more lives could be saved. He told the short version of the story and told them to prepare for the worst. If the magnate rails were compromised, the damage could be global if not properly contained. That was over 220 miles of rail falling to earth. "And contact Riley! Endeavour can help! Repeat, the elevator maybe rigged with a bomb!"
With that, Cohen jumped into the express elevator bay. The magnetic circuit sent him soaring space bound at about nine G's. The crazy G.S.F. agent was the first being in the known universe to enter space from a planet with nothing but a bio-suite. The trip was exhilarating and the most frightening experience in his twenty two year old life.
* * *
The Endeavour 7 received the full message moments after Riley had received his brother’s jumbled and static ridden transmission. In a scramble, the young Captain First Class made his way to the bridge. He arrived just as his father, Admiral Armstrong, and the Master Chief Jearyn. They entered the bridge and went immediately to their respective stations."Ensign Mulder, get me Navel command!" ordered the Admiral. "We need to know what the hells going on. Mrs. Lee set a course for D.C.1 full thrust, and give me an arrival time." The Admiral looked to his son, "Mr. Armstrong try to contact your brother, and find out what he knows."
"Admiral at full thrust we will arrive in 53 seconds," announced the pilot Lee. Moulder transferred the feed to the main screen of the bridge. "Naval command online sir!"
An old man with grey hair and worry line that showed the stressful life he had lived was on screen. "Admiral Armstrong, you revived the primary G.S.F. transmission?"
"Yes sir. Vague as it was."
"It would seem that Yer' Nal'eunn has breached our defenses and eluded the G.S.F., we must prepare for the worst case scenario."
"Jason are you trying to tell me you think D.C. 1 is going to re-enter Earth's atmosphere?"
"Joe I'm sorry, I know your wife is on board that station. But so are the diplomats."
Admiral Armstrong clinched his teeth in anger and frustration. "What is our mission in all this sir?" All he could do now was his mission, and put faith in the hands of those who were on D.C. 1.
"You are to get into position to harvest the escape pods. The evacuation order has been given and is underway."
"Yes sir Admiral Chief Hill sir." The transmission ended abruptly. "You heard the man!" shouted Admiral Armstrong. "Lee, maneuver us into position." He ordered. By this time, they had reached Earth Space and were in stationary orbit.
Riley stood up from his station and slammed his fists into the console, "That's it!" he exclaimed, "We just sit back and watch this happen?"
Before the Admiral could respond, Jaeryn interjected. "We can not risk putting more lives on that station to die Captain. It would be foolish to board the station when we don't fully understand the dangers. It is my belief that they do not know the location of this explosive device or devices and are positive that it will go off."
Riley hung his head. "There has to be something." He mumbled. He slumped in his seat in deep thought.
Admiral Armstrong took control of the situation. He like his son believed that they could not just sit here.
"Give me full scans on every inch of that station," Ordered the Admiral.
"We have already received the scans from both the D.C. 1 and Earth sir," replied the Sensor Array Officer.
Joe shot the Ensign a glare that could have killed if it were possible. "Give me a scan of that station now!"
The bridge went silent and everyone went to work trying to find any scrap of information they could on their present situation.
Riley was plugging away at his terminal, he was running mathematical simulations of the disaster that had befallen D.C.1, and none of the outcomes looked promising. He decided pull up the evacuation plans for the station, searching for some clue that my help them in preventing it's re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. "Admiral!" he announced. I think I may have found a way to save the station!"
"Well Captain let's hear it."
"By design just in the case of an emergency the station can detach from the magnates. If we send out a Tug Barge we could pull the station into deeper space."
"You and Jearyn make it happen," ordered the Admiral. "I will inform naval command and oversee the harvest of the escape pods."
Riley and Jearyn rushed off the bridge and onto a tram that would take them to one of the many flight decks aboard the Endeavour 7. When they arrived, the Tug Barge was being prepped and checked by the maintenance crew. "Is she clear to go," asked Riley. "We haven't much time!"
"Yes sir Captain Sir," answered a crewmember. "But you’re not wearing a flight suite sir. I shouldn't clear you for departure."
Riley snapped in frustration at the maintenance man, "Dammit D.C.1 is about to crash into Earth and you’re worried about me wearing a flight suite!"
"Captain Armstrong," started Jearyn "he has no way of knowing what is going on beyond this flight deck sir, and is performing his duties, quite admiral by I might note. It takes gumption to correct an Officer."
"Your right," said Riley. "I swear to put on the flight suite on our way to the station. But we need to go now."
"What are you waiting for sir!" exclaimed the crewman.
The Captain and Jearyn entered the Tug Barge and prepared take to space. With a hiss from the hydraulics, the Tug Barge was sent upwards on a lift to the launching bay. The stars came into view and the adrenaline began to pump through Riley‘s veins. The craft lifted off and was in free space. "Switching to manual control," remarked Riley, he loved space flight and took over control when ever possible, which was not as frequent as you may think. It was standard practice to send unmanned drones to do most of the work in space.
* * *
Air was in pursuit of the sniper that had taken a shot at her. She could sense him. She could feel his fear. If it had been nearly any other agent he may have had a chance to escape with all of her sensors dead. Nevertheless, Air was a powerful psychic and her abilities were getting stronger. The shooter had jumped out the second story window opposite the side of the building she had entered. He thought he had some time. The Grey would surely head upstairs before she realized that he had made his exit. He was wrong. Air smashed through a window near him and landed in a roll quickly springing to her feet. The sniper spun around to see the Grey standing in front of him, in a low crouch with two swords in hand. He began to level his rifle to fire, but in that instant Air let loose her attack. Before he could aim, he was hit with a wave of psychic energy that sent him sprawling to the ground. In a flash of movement, Air relieved him of his head as he tried to regain his footing.
Cohen was struggling to keep his wits as he neared the station. The magnets did their job and slowed his momentum just as if he were a shuttle. With a loud ping, he came to rest, stuck to the shuttle that was docked in bay E-5. “Close the air lock to bay E-5.” The bay doors snapped shut and the magnetic field was disengaged sending Cohen to the floor. “This is not my day.” He thought as he rose to his feet. Shaking the cobwebs from his head, he entered the D.C. 1 to find evacuations underway, and all seemed to be going well. “Air what’s the status on ground?” he asked, sending his partner a private transmission.
“The Terrorists have all been neutralized.” she replied. “But I don’t think they were working alone Moose.”
“I think your right; this whole op has been a disaster,” answered Cohen. “Any reports from the Endeavour?”
“Yes, they will harvest the pods as they eject, and your brother is going to attempt to tug the station into deeper space,” Air went on. “You need to make sure the diplomats get aboard those life pods, and that the station detaches before the bomb goes off.” As she said the words, she realized how impossible it would be for one man to accomplish this mission.
“Air I need you to contact command and find out which mission is priority one.”
She could hear the sadness in her partner’s voice. He too realized it was one or the other, and it was a decision that he was not happy to make on his own. “I will sir. You be safe Cohen. Air out.”
Cohen pulled up a map of the station in his H.U.D.; at the same time, he broadcast a message to the security team that was escorting the diplomats. “This is G.S.F. agent Cohen Armstrong; can I get a signal to track? I’m sending a secure link.” He made contact with station control next. “D.C. 1 control do you copy?”
“We read you loud and clear.”
“Have you been in contact with the Endeavour?” Asked Cohen
“We have sir. We are standing by for station detachment as instructed, as is the ground team.”
A chirp from his H.U.D. alerted Cohen to an incoming message from command. “Agent Cohen do you copy?’
“Rodger that command, I copy.” Cohen noticed the pace of the evacuation was to slow. He had the sinking feeling things were headed for disaster. A disaster he could not help but feel partially responsible for.
“The diplomats are priority one. Do you copy?”
Cohen stood there in a trance. His mother was aboard the station. She was a Chef in a fine dining restaurant, The Stellar Experience. For the first time he was torn between duty and self interest. Could he find her in time to rescue her and the diplomats?
“The diplomats are priority one. Do you copy?” The message was repeated several more times when another voice took control of the transmission “Special Agent Armstrong this is Director Ebryn, I know what’s going through your mind right now.”
Cohen snapped out of it at that moment, he had barley registered that director Ebryn was on line. “Cohen if those dignitaries die then Yer’ Nal’eunn has succeeded. The Cha’ Isan government will have the excuse it has been looking for to close its borders. Do you copy?”
“Yes sir, in route now sir.” Cohen sped off towards the location of the diplomats; he had sent him their location on the secure link he had provided. They were quite some distance from him so he let this combat suite take control. The suite could run three times the speed he could on his own. As he rounded the final corner and had the diplomats in sight, he realized it was not fast enough…
* * *
Without warning, it happened. A sudden bright flash and followed by a powerful shockwave erupted from the second ring from Earth of the Space Elevator. There was no flame, no energy pulse, just the immense shockwave that sent the second ring shooting across Washington D.C. Reducing the nearest few buildings to ruble. Everyone in a mile radius that was not wearing some kind of protection was killed instantly as the shockwave reduced their insides to mush. Air was sent flying through the air from the concussion. A small crack appeared in the visor of her helmet, with the functions of her suite shut down and the limited life of the rebreather she had been forced to use, she could only hope she was found before the rebreather malfunctioned and stopped providing her with the precious carbon dioxide she needed to sustain her life. Her last thoughts before she lost consciousness where not happy ones.
* * *
Admiral Armstrong watched the monitors light up as his worst fears played out in his mind. Everyone he held dear to his heart either was on the D.C. 1 or was just about to put their lives in its disasters way. He closed his eyes and began to prey…* * *
Riley and Jearyn had attached the magnetic anchor to D.C. 1 and were inputting the final thrust calibrations into the Tug Barge’s navigational systems when the alarms rang and red lights flashed throughout the cabin. “No, no, no, no! Detach the sta…” a violent shake rocked the ship and nearly rendered the Captain unconscious. He never did put on his protective flight suite.“Captain!" shouted Master Chief Jearyn. "Captain!” “It’s too late we need too let her go!”
Riley fought trough it and switched into manual control. Even the bio-mechanical Terrandian Jearyn was impressed at the young mans reflexes as he thrust the ship to full power and put the Tug Barge back on course. “We will be…” Jaeryn was cut off by another sudden and more violent shake…
* * *
D.C. 1 was plummeting to Earth. The weight of the magnets drug it into the Earth’s atmosphere before the station operators could react. The sheer size of the station nearly made it certain that it would break apart during its crash course. Now Special Agent Cohen only had minutes to get the diplomats aboard a life pod. To make things more difficult the free falling station gave way to the laws of gravity and with his next step, Cohen was air borne, tumbling uncontrollably towards the diplomats. The automated flight system kicked in and did it would best to correct his course, the many air jets throughout the suite struggling to do so. The sound of the station breaking apart was defining. Beyond his belief Cohen managed to get the dignitaries on board the life pod safely ejected them. His only chance of escape was to re-open the air lock once the pod was clear. Cohen said a prayer as the door swooshed open and he was sucked out of the station as it lost compression…* * *
Riley put all power towards the engines. He knew that the ship was incapable of flight in Earth’s atmosphere. All he wanted to do was create enough inertia to pull the station over open waters. The last thing he wanted was D.C. 1 smashing into a heavily populated area. “Sir we must eject now or we will not make it!” demanded Jearyn. “We are breaking apart sir!” The ship was creaking and moaning in complaint to the extreme forces. As Riley hit the ejection button, he uttered a prayer…
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