Legacy of the Guardians
by AJ Marks
Part 20
Sam walked around a bit finally finding the police captain. After talking some more they finally had a plan, and that he would meet Sam in a couple of hours. So he had some time and went back to go over any additional information he could find.
It seemed most of the information as useless, filled with misinformation and information that contradicted itself. He felt unsure what to believe but somehow he felt closer to the solution than before.
Sam looked up at a knock on the door. The captain was early, but Sam didn’t care.
“May I come in?” the captain asked.
“Of course,” Sam replied, opening the door enough to allow the man into the room.
“I see you’ve been busy,” the man said. “I’m Ishaad, top recruiter for Egypt.”
“Captain Sam Uliki, special forces,’ Sam replied, as they sat down.
“Looks like you’ve developed quite an obsession here,” Ishaad said, holding up at book at looking over at Sam.
“Um, yeah, you could say that,” Sam said, seeing Ishaad’s eyes scan the room. “Okay, yes, I seem to have an obsession, and I’m not even sure why.” Sam said, explaining to Ishaad a short version of the story.
“You have no idea who this shadowy character is?” Ishaad asked, finding Sam’s story fascinating.
“No, not a single clue, only that it keeps appearing when I fall asleep,” Sam replied.
“And it keeps guiding you here, to the Sphinx,” Ishaad said.
“Yes, but once I’m there, that’s where everything stops. I have to do something, but what I don’t know,” Sam said. “That’s why I have so much stuff about Marcus Johansson, but after everything only a vague idea of what I might need to do. I also have reason to believe he was here as well before World War Two.”
“So you want to be in the same spot?” Ishaad said.
“Yeah.”
“It can be done, but you’ll have to be patient,” Ishaad said. “And you’ll have to stay away for a couple of days, allow me to set things up.”
“Okay,” Sam said, with a bit of a sigh. He would wait, though it might be hard, it was his only way.
“I’ll contact you later on the channel captain,’ Ishaad said, standing up. “By the way, how are things along the border?”
“Tense, we’re at war again with the Skartians,” Sam said. “Was part of a team to help out the operation in Afghanistan, last I heard there they captured some Skartians, and I got a message to keep an eye out for any.”
“Thought so, I got the same message, thought I haven’t seen any lately,” Ishaad said, heading to the door.
“I wish you luck captain,” Sam said to Ishaad.
“And you to,” Ishaad replied, leaving the room. Sam went back to sit down, now all he had to do was wait.
*****
Space around Independence Station was still crowded, as Fleet R had yet to receive any new orders. No new intrusions into Sol space had happened A group of ships had been deployed to the asteroid belt, to both patrol and give the illusion more ships were there. Everyone waited to see what the Skartians would do next.
In the cafeteria on the station Greg and Karen ate lunch.
“I got a message from my mom today,’ Greg said, watching her look up.
“Let me guess, wondering if we’ve chosen a date yet?” Karen said, with a chuckle.
“Yeah, she’s really on my case about us setting a date. I think even Admiral cave is wondering about it,” Greg said to her.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” she said, taking another spoonful of her soup. “How does the week after Christmas sound to you?”
“Will there be enough time to get everything together?” Greg asked her.
“Are you kidding, the way our mothers’ have planned everything, all they need is the date,” Karen replied to him.
Greg had to agree with her, they had done almost everything for the wedding, including the dress.
“Can you get off?” Karen asked.
“I think we can, barring a complete invasion by the Skartians, yeah,” Greg said, thinking about how the admiral probably would allow him off.
“Sounds like a plan,” Karen said, looking at the time. “I need to get going, see you after your shift.”
“Count on it,” he replied, watching her walk away from the table.
*****
“Captain,” Ahmed’s new second in captain said, causing him to look over at him.
“Yes?”
“Just received word, the construction crews are done, they are going to be leaving the ship soon,” he replied.
“Great, get me Admiral Dinen and begin preparations for a shakedown run,” Ahmed said, watching the crew begin to work. A few seconds later the admiral appeared on the screen.
“Captain, what can I do for you?” George asked.
“Wanted to let you know the Moscow has completed repairs and preparing for shakedown trial,” Ahmed said to him.
“Good news,” the admiral said, “Probably ready to get out of the dock I see.”
“Yes sir,” Ahmed said.
“I’m actually glad you called, I’ve gone over the ships for the patrol squad, some good choices there,” the admiral said.
“Thank you sir, I wanted ships that were stealthy, not powerful, heavily armed ships,” Ahmed said. “Firepower should be with the fleet, the scouting party needs to be invisible.”
“True, but each ship is capable of defending themselves,” the admiral replied back to him.
“I know, but our job is to inform, and if we’re spotted then we can’t do that job,” Ahmed said. “The group with the better information usually has an advantage.”
“Sound advice, you’ve been trained well,” the admiral said. “Once the Moscow has finished the shakedown I’ll have the ships’ captains report to you and a spot for you to patrol.”
“Yes sir,” Ahmed said, signing off. Now all he had to do was complete the repairs by testing the systems out and he’d be back on patrol. His mission planet-side was exciting, but he decided he enjoyed space better.
*****
Jack sat in his chair, looking around his office. All around were pictures of him and buddies during the war, some died in battle, others lived and retired. Many had died in battles in the sixties, during the fiercest fighting of the war. One of the most violent was in sector T-2, which after the ‘Terminator’ movies had been renamed the Terminator battle. They won that battle, which ended up being one of the turning points of the war.
He looked over, seeing an old picture of him from the fifth air squad of the old carrier Essex, destroyed at that battle. So many good men and women killed in the war and no one ever knew why the Skartians had attacked them.
“Admiral,” Greg said, walking into the room handing the message to Jack.
“Thanks,” Jack said, taking the message, seeing Greg hesitate a second and looked up at him.
“We’ve set a tentative date, sometime in the week after Christmas,” Greg said. “That is if we can both get time off.”
Jack nodded feeling pleasantly happy they had finally selected a date. He knew Karen’s mother would be happy about that then address his concerns. “You’re worried that the Skartians might attack at that time,” Jack said watching Greg nod his head yes. “Well, I don’t know, I think the Skartians will make a move sometime in October, but beyond that I don’t know. I think we can survive a week or two without you two here. Consider it done.”
“Thanks admiral, and try not to take my temps head off,” Greg said to Jack, who took a moment to reread the note then scribble a reply. He watched Greg head off with the reply before leaning back looking at the pictures once more.
It seemed the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. He could recall his own nerves asking his commander for time off for his wedding, and got the same answer. Only a full-scale invasion would stop the time off, and if that happened, a lot of things would have changed. He turned back to his reports hoping to get something done.
End part 20
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