Legacy of the Guardians
by AJ Marks
Part 15
Jack sat looking over the documents of the Seydlitz along with Steve. In truth, both men were looking at the reports while waiting for reports on the operation at Earth. They heard about the call from Captain Ahmed, now they waited to see if the plan worked or not. Questions about how many Skartians were on Earth kept running though Jack’s mind.
“Whoa,” Steve exclaimed drawing Jack’s attention.
“What?” Jack asked, wondering what Steve had read and he missed, or not gotten to yet.
“Did you check out the report on the power and weapons test?” Steve asked, holding up the paper in question. Jack frowned not recalling seeing that test, but knowing it would strain the ship in combat situations.
“No, don’t think I’ve gotten to that one yet, why?” Jack asked, curious about het results now that Steve said something. Everything he read so far the ship performed beyond expatiations.
“Not even a drop in power, the cooks in the gallery could even prepare the even meal while the tests were going on,” Steve said, reading the report in front of him.
“Going for full energy consumption,’ Jack said finding the report for himself.
“George decided to let them continue to cook and not tell them the test was underway,” Steve said, as Jack found the report.
“Damn, look at that power readout,” Jack said, pointing to a figure at the bottom of the page. He felt much better with such information about the latest ship. The design had been justified, and so far, the ship outperformed the new Paris class which would have two ships by the end of the month.
“I talked to General Ginal, and he said with such positive results the funding for the second ship probably won’t be pulled this time,” Steve said.
“That would make my day,’ Jack said, a smile of satisfaction on his face. “Now, if the rest of the day goes as well I’ll be pleased.”
“Admiral, Captain Ahmed is here,” Jack’s secretary said. He looked over at Steve before replying.
“Show him in,” Jack replied, watching as Ahmed strode through the door a few seconds later. He looked to be not too bad for whatever happened on Earth.
“Welcome back Captain,’ Steve said, returning Ahmed’s salute and gave him a handshake.
“Glad to be back sir,” Ahmed replied.
“At east captain,” Jack said. “I don’t like to do debriefing formally, I find it makes people uncomfortable, and they leave things out when that happens.”
“I take it you’re all right and can return to duty soon?” Steve asked, glancing over at Jack.
“The med team wants me to report back to them to check for a concussion, so I don’t know,” Ahmed replied. “It’s possible, I was knocked out twice, so anything is possible.”
“Okay, we’ll let us know about that after their report,” jack said.
“What happened?” Steve asked, directing the conversation towards the debriefing.
“Well, pretty much went according to the plan, what plan we had. It took me less time than I thought to contact my brother. I arrived at my parent’s house to ask them, and warn them, when he showed up. It did not take long before me to realize this was the group behind the attacks. Once I had that, it was a matter of trying to get in touch with their leaders. The second time I was introduced to another person, and I noticed he was Skartian” Ahmed told them.
“That’s what led you do deducting there were more?” Jack asked, recalling the message that there were several Skartians on Earth.
“Yes sir,’ the Skartian I saw seemed to have little power, and that made no sense to me,” Ahmed said. “He was higher up in the organization, but obviously not the inner circle. The logical conclusion to me was the leadership was Skartians, or at least a couple of them.
“Get the leader of the group,” Steve said.
“In that case, hopefully we got them all,’ Jack said.
“All I could think about was a situation like World War Two, all over again and I could prevent it,” Ahmed said.
“Well, this time if it happens there is no clear lines like that war,” Jack stated. What country would they fight? During the war there were clear countries allied with each other.
“I knew I had to get as close to the top as possible before calling in the troops,” Ahmed said. “And I still wanted to see Osama bin Laden, to see if he was a Skartian or not. It was then they decided to abduct my parents when they could gain no knowledge from me.”
“That operation went very smoothly, though some of our units did engage the kidnapping group,” Steve said.
“Two men were killed in the exchange fo fire, but the team got out safely and your parents are safely in Canada and at your house in Vancouver,” Jack said to him.
“Thought so, but their rescue solidified my cover that I was part of a secret organization, not that I was lying much,” Ahmed said, with a slight chuckle. “I just didn’t tell them what type of organization. It did get me into their compound and I saw bin Laden himself. He wasn’t a Skartian, but there were a few others who seemed to be the leaders of the group on Earth. So I decided to signal for you to come in. The rest, well you know.”
“We’ll be interrogating the prisoners as they come up and are prepared,” Steve said. “And a request by your brother to join us. What are your thought about it?”
They both waited to hear the recommendation by Ahmed.
“Well, he has seen what is going on,” Ahmed said, thoughtfully. “He can be stubborn, and pig-headed, but thoughtful. I always wondered how they were able to brainwash him.”
“They tell them what they want to hear,” Jack said. “We’ve got to remember that when it comes to playing emotions, the Skartians are quite clever.”
“Very true,” Steve replied.
Jack paused thinking about something. He felt sure they still had more planned, ever since that first attack. What bothered him was he could not think of anything that might happen they had not covered already.
“Something wrong?” Steve asked.
“No, just thinking,” Jack replied back to his friend, giving him a later look that he knew his friend understood. What bothered him was not worth talking about in front of others.
“Okay,” Steve said. “I was about to let the captain go unless you had more questions.”
“Nah, I’m sure the report will be detailed,” Jack replied, watching Ahmed nod.
They watched as Ahmed left the room before Steve looked back over at Jack.
“You know I won’t push you, but answer me this, are you thinking about eth Skartian prisoners?” Steve asked.
“In a way Steve, it actually deals with a much larger picture. I can’t put my finger on it yet, but something else is going on,” Jack said to him. He knew that answer would only partly satisfy his friend.
“Well, it’s getting late, I’ll see you in the morning,” Steve said, standing up and making his way o the door. “And Jack, get some sleep would ya.”
“I will, just going to finish up these reports,” Jack said, pointing to the stack of paper in his office on the Seydlitz.
“Okay, then I’ll see you in the morning,” Steve said, walking out and back to his own office to shut down for the night.
Jack quickly read through the rest of the reports that he only skipped through earlier, but his mind kept going over recent events. He wondered how may Skartians had fled after World War Two. He know realized they had missed more than a few, and they continued to be a problem.
Jack looked over the reports feeling redeemed by backing her design. The battlecruiser outperformed any other design, and if all out war came, then such ships would be needed. He felt glad his ideas in the design were proved to be correct.
*****
Steve made it back to his desk, quickly going over several things he would need to do when he arrived in the morning. Setting up several stacks he shut down his computer and turned off the light walking back to the cafeteria, passing Greg and Karen who were also having supper. He felt glad to see people getting on with their lives despite the chaos around them.
Flipping on the light in his quarters he checked the computer for e-mail, seeing nothing important. He had one e-mail from his brother, who checked up to make sure he was all right. He said everyone was okay. Steve read on learning one of his nieces had been in the tower that day, but was on a lower level and evacuated. Realizing he had been too busy to call, he picked up the phone and called.
“Hello,” a familiar female voice said.
“Amy, is Richard there?” Steve asked.
“Just a moment Steve,” Amy said. Steve had to wait only a few seconds before his brother picked up.
“Well bro, about time you called,” Steve heard Richard say. Steve had not told his brother what type of work he did, only that it was confidential.
“Sorry, been quite busy lately. A lot of top-secret operations are underway requiring a lot of time,” Steve said. HE had told his brother that he was in the military doing top-secret ops and such.
“I figured you were, but it’s still nice to hear from ya occasionally. You got the message about Marnie,” Richard asked.
“Yeah, what happened?” Steve asked.
“She was meeting with a client there, like the fifteenth floor or something like that. When the attacks happened I thought Amy would go crazy. Fortunately they evacuated when the first plan hit,” Richard said.
“I bet Amy was frantic,” Steve said, unsure how he would react to such a situation.
“Yeah, so, have you captured bin Laden yet?” Richard asked, changing the subject.
“I don’t’ know who you’re talking about,” Steve joked back. Even if he denied it all, his brother was smart enough to know his group would be after the leader of the attack.
“Fair enough, are you going to honor us with your presence this year at Christmas?” Richard asked.
“Well, my vacation is scheduled for that week, so unless things happen to prevent it, I should be there,” Steve said.
“We’ll look forward to it,” Richard said.
“I’ll try to be there, no promises,” Steve told him, knowing that the current situation could turn into an all-out shooting war. That would spoil his vacation plans for sure.
“All right, well, I let you go, and keep in touch,” Richard said.
“I’ll try,” Steve said. “I’ll know if anything comes up in a couple of weeks.”
“Fair enough,” Rickard said. “This time, give us a bit of warning before showing up on the doorstep, like you did a couple of years ago.”
“Gotcha, talk to you later bro,” Steve said, as they hung up. He went over to change before going to bed. He still had a long day ahead of him.
*****
Sam stared at the ceiling of the hotel, trying to sleep. Each time he fell asleep the mysterious figure seemed to enter his dreams. He started to think he had gone crazy. Several times the mysterious figure led him to the same spot, one he had been at the previous day.
Finally he gave up on sleep and pulled out something to read. However his mind kept going back to the fact the figure seemed to be leading him her for a reason. Sam wished he knew what that reason was.
The book didn’t interest him and he put it down picking up another one and flipped through it finding a debate on the age of the Sphinx. He read though it thinking they were all wrong. The purpose of the monument also seemed wrong to him. He did not know why he felt so strongly, only that the experts were wrong.
The idea of an underground area intrigued him, and felt that was the key. He did not know how, but only that he had to find that underground room. Same looked over and decided to take a tour of the area to see if anything grabbed his attention.
*****
Ahmed finished his phone call to his parents, glad they made to his house all right. He smiled at the conversation, and his mother’s first question. Who did he work for that got them out of the country so easily? He had to fudge and answer, basically telling them he could not say, and that it was top-secret.
His mother wanted to see him, but he said he was in off on another duty and informed her he would try to return as quickly as possible. He mentioned that Aziz might show up, and that if they needed anything to call him. He gave them his number and said their good-byes.
The doctor came in to check up on him once more. Ahmed waited patiently for the scanners to do their job before he was pronounced healthy and could return to duty. He felt glad about that, but knew he had a report to write up.
The doctor said for him to stay awake tonight if possible, and he could return to work after a final check-up tomorrow morning.
Ahmed finished his report back in his temporary quarters. With the Moscow still under repairs for the foreseeable future he was uncertain about his assignment. A knock on his door interrupted the report, and got up to answer it.
“Sir,” Ahmed said, seeing Vice Admiral George Dinen standing there.
“I see you’re still up captain, good,’ the admiral said.
“Yes sir, doctor’s orders,” Ahmed replied. “I see you’ve been promoted.”
“Yes, I actually came by to ask you a few questions.”
“Okay, go ahead,’ Ahmed said, curious about what type of questions the admiral might have for him. Ahmed did not think it would involve anything about the latest operation, but would wait to see.
“I’d like to put you in command of the Moscow and her patrol group.”
“What about the captain?” Ahmed asked, knowing that he had survived the battle. He did not want to take over what had been someone else’s operation.
“He’s also getting a promotion, sort of, I’m making him captain of the Seydlitz, the new flagship of the fifth battlcruiser fleet. The Moscow and her group will be part of Fleet R, directly under my command. Fleet R is made up of the first, second and third patrol groups, the fifth battlecruiser fleet and the Saratoga and Midway carrier groups. It’s operational mission is to respond rapidly to any and all threats between the neutral zone and Earth.”
“What about the other fleets?” Ahmed asked.
“They all have certain operational zones. Admiral Cave set it up this way to be flexible and have a cohesive defense unlike previous times. If the first patrol group had not been there to slow down the Skartians, we could have lost Earth,” Dinen sad to him.
Ahmed knew how many lost their lives, and thought it over a bit before another question came to him.
“How long till the Moscow is operational?” he asked, knowing it had been damaged quite severely in the battle.
“She should be ready by the end of the week, the damage wasn’t as extensive as first thought once the crews started the repairs. They originally though one whole engine would have to be replaced, but that was proven incorrect. I am bringing up other ships to replace the lost ships of the group. By the time the Moscow is operational again you’re squad will be back to full strength,” Dinen told him.
“Report to Admiral Cave once you are completely cleared by the doctors, then to the Moscow,” Dinen said.
“Then I accept sir,” Ahmed said, both excited and fearful.
“Good,” Dinen said. “Well, still a lot to do.”
With that Ahmed watched as the admiral left his quarters and allowed the promotion to sink in. Captain of not only the Moscow, but the patrol group. Was he ready for that? He sure hoped so, after all, he had finished a solo mission and before that, taken over the patrol fleet when the captain had been injured.
He took a moment to feel the sense of accomplishment in his life. Tomorrow would be a new day, one he hoped he was ready for.
End part 15
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