Teardrops In The Night Sky (Steven Gordon series) (9 page)

Chapter 18

B
uzz and Brian received the messages within a few minutes of one another.  Brian almost ignored it, but decided some news had to be better than no news.  The shock almost made him collapse.

Colonel Howe grabbed him, ‘are you all right doc?’

The blood had drained from the scientists face but quickly came back.  ‘Yes I’m fine Colonel, give me a moment.’

He moved away and began to re
read the message, ‘dad its Steven, don’t let anyone else read this message.  I’m fine and still on board the ship.  As a matter of fact I’m better than fine but that will take some explaining.  There are no aliens on board either ship, will explain later.  Mum’s fine but ship is stranded at Saturn.  Will effect rescue but first need some help.  Will send text to Buzz with requirements.  Love Steven.’

Brian was forced to sit down.  He saw Colonel Howe hover close a note of concern on his face, but he waved him away.  The phone bleeped again.  He read the message and almost ran to one of the operators.

‘Patch us through to George Wells and ask him to punch in these coordinates.’

Brian wrote down the co
ordinates on a piece of paper for the operator.  A live link to the planetary telescope was quickly achieved and the pictures began to stream through.  Brian held his breath as the large telescope began to scan across the sky. 

Saturn appeared as a small blob, but as t
he telescope locked onto the coordinates the magnification was increased.  A familiar Saturn with all its rings appeared, then as the magnification was increased farther the rings themselves came into focus, and there it was, it stood out like a teardrop amongst the stars. A cry went up and pandemonium broke out.  There was a lot of back clapping and hand shaking.  A solitary tear ran down Brian’s face, he quickly wiped it away.

Malcolm came over, ‘how did you find it boss?’

Brian half laughed, ‘A message from an old friend, he only has a small telescope, but thought he spotted something of note.’

‘Christ with eyes like that we should have him on the team.’

‘Yeah maybe you’re right.’

There was only one man in the room who wasn’t celebrating, Colonel Howe’s internal alarms were already ringing, but when a frantic Buzz burst in, pale faced with feverish eyes and he and the
Doctor secreted themselves away to a quieter part of the room, the bells turned to klaxons.

He watched as the pair of men got into a quiet but excited discussion.  Buzz showed him something on his mobile phone Howe presumed was a message.  The
Doctor frowned in confusion and shook his head, then shrugged.  He followed them as they left together and went into the Doctor Office.  Buzz almost ran out with what looked like a portable PC in a shoulder bag.

He stopped the
doctor on his way out, ‘hi Doc anything wrong?’

The
doctor was startled, ‘Oh no Colonel, no, everything is just fine.’

The Colonel watched his retreating back as he hurried towards the control room.  He didn’t need his instincts to tell him the
doctor was lying. 

He got onto his radio, ‘Buzz Anderson is on his way down with what looks like a laptop.  I want him delayed at the door for at least ten minutes then let him go.’

He received a quiet roger and then made his way out of the building by a different route.  He reached his personnel Humvee, drove it round to the exit and waved over the outside guard. 

After a quick word the guard curious but without asking for a reason locked him inside.

Inside the building Buzz was being grilled by the indoor security man.  It took Doctor Gordon’s personal appearance and a radio call from Howe himself to clear him.  By now Buzz was in a cold sweat.  As he left the building the security guard approached him.

‘Excuse me sir.’

‘Oh what the hell is it now?’

‘Colonel Howe sends his apologies for your delay and suggests you take his vehicle.  It has full security clearance and is immune from searches.’

‘Yeah, how did he know I was going somewhere?’

‘
Doctor Gordon told him you were on an errand for him and needed to get somewhere fast with the minimum of fuss.’

Buzz nodded it seemed plausible, ‘is that it there?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Are the keys in it?’

The guard took them out of his pocket and tossed them over, ‘no I’ve got them.’

Buzz held them up, ‘why would you have the keys to his personnel vehicle?’

The guard grinned, ‘guy out here’s always got them.  We need something or the Colonel needs something we just go get it, no questions asked, no hassle.’

Buzz nodded, ‘he knew the guys in Howe’s unit were all pretty tight with the Colonel and could instinctively see how it would be an advantage to him for them to have a free reign.  There was many times since the landing of the ships that he wished he had the same kind of clearance as the Colonel.  There were five checkpoints going in and out of the base and he was alway
s stopped and searched at everyone, especially on the way out.’

‘Won’t I be stopped for being in his Vehicle?’

‘Nah, our guys are manning all the check points and he radioed ahead.’

Buzz grinned, ‘great, send him my love.’

The guard laughed and Buzz unlocked the Hummer and jumped in.  He took off at speed and true to Howe’s word he was waved through every checkpoint.  Buzz grinned with delight at his good fortune, but if he had the presence of mind to check, he would have found the Colonel secreted under a large piece of camouflage netting in the back.

When Buzz stopped and got out, the Colonel gave him a few seconds to get clear before cautiously peering out from his hiding place.  He saw Buzz disappear into a men’s shop and frowned.  His instinct told him they weren’t at their final destination yet so he hid back under the netting.  The next stop turned out to be a shoe shop.  The mystery deepened.  Howe was beginning to wonder if he was making a fool of himself when Buzz got back in.  He heard him toss some bags on top of the others he already had and curse under his breath.

‘I dunno what you want all this stuff for Stevie but if the money ain’t back in the bank by Thursday, I’m gonna end up in the kennels with Rex.’

Howe’s heart skipped a beat; he was on the right track.  There was a delay as Buzz punched in a message to the cell phone and waited for a reply.  It wasn’t long in coming and Buzz restarted the engine. 

Howe knew they were getting close when he felt the Hummer move off the road onto a dirt track.  After a few miles it stopped.  Buzz grabbed the bags and got out.  Howe risked a peek and found Buzz standing twenty meters away punching a message onto the cell phone.

He freed himself from the netting keeping an eye on Buzz.  As a military jet screamed overhead he let himself out of the Hummer and crouched behind it, cocked his weapon and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long.  The ship appeared overhead and he ducked down.  It hung in the air for a few seconds before finally coming to a rest broadside on.  The door opened and Buzz cautiously approached.  Unseen by him Howe left the safety of the vehicle and silently crept up behind.

Buzz had never been allowed this near the craft before and broke out
into a cold sweat, but his best friend was somewhere inside, so he took a deep breath and strode up the ramp.  As he reached the top Howe made his move.

Buzz stepped inside and shielded his eyes from the glare, ‘Stevie, you here?’

He cried out in alarm as Howe crashed into his back, ‘stay down Buzz,’ he growled, his combat senses on full alert, but he could see no more than Buzz.

He froze when he felt cold steel on the back of his neck, ‘Colonel Howe isn’t it, why don’t you get down and stay down.  You ok Buzz?’

Buzz rolled over onto his back and shielded his eyes, ‘yeah I think so, who the hell are you?’

Stevie never got the chance to reply, Howe spun quickly trying to bring up h
is weapon but the butt of an MP5 knocked him cold and he fell on top of Buzz.

‘Jezz!’  He exclaimed, trying to get out from under him.

‘Ok turn the lights down and take us back to the institute.’

Buzz blinked rapidly and his eyes swam into focus.  He found a stranger stood before
him with an MP5 cradled in his arms and grinning like a Cheshire cat, he frowned.  ‘Who the hell are you, where’s Stevie?’

Howe began to stir and the stranger knelt by the figure and stripped him of his weapons.  Using Howe’s own belt he secured his hands behind him. 

‘Cant you guess Buzz?’

Buzz shook his head although the man did seem familiar.

Steve finished trussing up the Colonel, ‘Give me a hand and I’ll tell you all about it.’

They dragged him unceremoniously back to the bridge.  By the time they got there the Colonel was fully conscious.  Steven propped him against a consul.

Howe looked up, ‘Who the hell are you?’

Buzz tapped him with his foot, ‘shut up that’s my question.’

Steven grinned, ‘it’s me Buzz, Stevie.’

‘You're not Stevie,’ his hand began to slip towards his pistol.

A hint of sadness came into Steven’s eyes, ‘remember I was going to teach all about space-time distortion, right before the accident?’

Buzz’s hand stopped, ‘yeah.’

‘Well now’s the time buddy.’

A tear sprang into Buzz’s eye, ‘jezz, is it really you man?’

‘Yeah it’s really me.’

‘What the hell happened to you?’

‘It fixed me.’

‘What the aliens?’

‘There are no aliens Buzz, it was the ship that did it.  It fixed me.’

Tears began to run freely down Buzz’s face, ‘you mean you can remember everything now?’

‘Everything.’

Buzz grabbed up his friend in a bear hug, then they danced round laughing and crying together.  ‘Hey do you realise you look like Kurt Russell?’

‘Yeah great init.’  They burst out in a fresh chorus of laughing.  

Howe groaned, ‘I’m so happy for you both.’

It stopped them.  Wiping the tears from his eyes Steven stood over him, ‘so what am I to do with you Colonel?’

‘Well if you’re really Steven Gordon and can prove it to my satisfaction, then you have nothing to fear from me.  I would advise you to let me go now though.’

Steven nodded, ‘really and just how am I supposed to do that?’

‘DNA test should do it.’

‘I see, so I should just walk of the ship and put myself back into the hands of your President, until such a time as I can prove who I am?’

Howe frowned, ‘he’s your President too.’

Steven squatted down beside him shaking his head sadly, ‘I’m afraid you’ve got your wires crossed there Colonel.  I was brought up in America yes, but I was born in the Highlands of Scotland.  I have a British passport not an American one.  My parents are here on a work permit, they never applied for citizenship.’

A shadow of alarm flitted across his eyes, ‘why not?’

‘You may believe America to be the, be all and end all, of civilisation Colonel, but my parents certainly don’t.  They still have a home in the Highlands they intend to retire to when their working life ends.’

A flicker of anger crossed his face, ‘so after all Americas done for them, they’re just going to take the money and run?’

Steven burst out laughing, ‘that’s a good one Colonel.  Maybe if they had stayed at home they would be well off now.  After I had my accident I would have been cared for on the national health, but not here, most of their life’s savings went on keeping me alive.  The medical bills were enormous.  Coming from a society where medical insurance is almost unknown, they thought they had been given adequate cover for any eventuality.  Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

Oh and consider this; my parents are the top people in their field.  They have helped develop technologies that have made many companies in America Billions.  Technology that has not only benefited America but the whole World.  I believe they have come away by far the poorer partners, so don’t tell me how much we owe to America.

My parents were really made to feel a part of the team when the ships arrived weren’t they?’  Howe’s head dropped.  ‘Yes you noticed it to didn’t you?  It was alright as long as they were inventing the technology for your country, but as soon as something really important came along they were shoved to the back of the queue and a bunch of fools with only half of their intellect were brought in to take over.’

Howe’s head came up, ‘you
’re right, I saw what they did to them but these ships landed on American soil and now belong to the United States of America.’

‘Says who?’

‘The President.’

‘Yes of course God incarnate himself.  I’ll let you into a little secret Colonel? You’ve seen this metal plate I have on my hand, yes.’

‘I see it.’

‘Well you haven’t seen this one yet.’  Stevie swept back the hair from behind his left ear to reveal another shimmering plate.  This is a neural implant only given to the captains, and there can only be one captain.  The ship will only respond to my orders now and there are only two ways I can be separated from this ship.