Chapter 19: Winging It Part 1

The tension was as thick as thieves.

Kate and Pilcher were in the middle of a heated debriefing with three representatives from the S.U.E.P. Her report was in front of them and they must have read it a dozen times.

The first question Pilcher drilled Kate was, “How the hell would they get here? Ahmadeus is two hundred and fifty million light years away, and they can’t send a huge battalion through the BSP.”

“I believe they have been hunting and replenishing certain minerals and crystals and combined with their technology, they can match the BSP’s hyperspace allowing their fleets to move vast distances just as we can walk through the BSP when the laser is shone on it.”

He was astonished. “How do you know all this?”

She had earlier debated whether or not to tell Pilcher about her telepathic transfer of information with the Trimadian leader. As much as Talokta was reading her mind, he was allowing her to read scraps of information in his, probably deliberately. Why though? To invoke fear, make them realize they could not fight such an advanced race.

It had occurred to Kate that the stone may have something to do with the recent enemy events. Why had the enemies appeared and seemed to know so much? Was the stone a transmitter planted and used by the Trimadians that wanted to overwhelm Earth? Was she the instigator without knowing?

If she told Pilcher her thoughts, he would see her as a risk, might even lock her up. Or, on the other hand, he would use her to infiltrate the Trimadians further. There were her own reasons, her quest to find her own answers, and just as equally, she did not want to go back, as she was deep down plain scared. But her colleagues were counting on her; their lives were at stake. Would Talokta keep his word? And did she always want to suffer disjointed and sometimes violent visions for the rest of her life—voices chanting in her mind. No, she had to go back, she had no choice. If Talokta has the telepathic gift, he may give her answers to why she has been blessed, or cursed.

Now she had to convince the powers that be.

A little peeved with Pilcher’s brusque attitude she stated, “I don’t know how. Maybe my genetic code allows me to sense this, maybe they put that information in my mind, or maybe I’ve always known. Your guess is as good as mine. I really don’t know, Paul.” She slumped back in her chair with a scowl.

“Well, I’ve spoken with the representatives for the S.U.E.P. here and they have concluded they will not negotiate with terrorists.”

“With all due respect, Paul, they are not your usual run of the mill terrorists. They make Al Qaeda look like the local amateur ballet club. They are not open for negotiation the way we understand. I don’t even think they know the meaning of the word. Listen, with all your collection of alien technology over the years you surely have some weapons you can use. What about the F35 skyscraper ship?”

Pilcher’s jaw dropped. How the hell did Willard know?

The F35 was partly reverse engineering technology from the Septens who were a small, discreet, orange tinged, wide eyed, intelligent species. They first made contact with Earth fifty odd years earlier, and set up an outpost underground on the dark side of Earth’s Moon. That is where they had settled to stay until another planet became suitable. They had a fascinating ability to adapt to varying atmospheres. Their home world was also two hundred and fifty million light years away, but tucked in the Omicron Galaxy. Their once beautiful planet, Sanah, was made uninhabitable, even for them, by invading Trimadian warlords. The majority of lives were lost, as they did not stand a chance. The captured Septens were taken to the Trimadian mines on Heliostronus. Only two hundred escaped Sanah and made it to the Milky Way. Like the Cantals, they were peaceful and curious explorers themselves and had been discretely studying the large water bodies called humans, a relatively new race originating from Earth.

The F35 ship was being held in a secret location in the middle of Australia. Pilcher knew a ship was in the pipeline, but even he did not have details to hand from S.U.E.P yet.

Kate noticed the pained look on Pilcher’s face and added in a condescending tone, “I think they call it the Mizzen Taurus.”

Pilcher frowned at her and looked with raised eyebrows at the three members of the S.U.E.P. who in turn looked uneasily at each other.

Boy, have I hit a nerve, she thought.

Denver Calham, the senior of the three, spoke. He had a monotone voice, tinged with a deep Southern accent.

“That subject, young lady, is classified. How did you know about the F35?” He asked the question to Kate but was looking at Pilcher, who looked decidedly uncomfortable.

She did not have a clue how the hell she did know, well, maybe she had visualized it. For what she had been through, it would not surprise her. But if she told them that, they might view her as padded room material, or worse, an enemy spy, and she would never be able to rescue her teammates, nor perhaps find some real answers to insurmountable questions. Maybe it was too late.

She despised his arrogant attitude, but refused to show her anger. She just looked at Calham and shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know. I just do. That is not the point. We haven’t got much time. You just need to trust me.” She looked at all four faces. Compared to what Talokta put her through, she was at the point where she would rather go through that again than be under this scrutiny. She could hear whispers going on, but their mouths did not move. The whispers were jumbled together, she could not understand, and they were getting louder.

Kate’s head felt as if it was going to explode, and she almost jumped up to shout at them to shut up, when Pilcher intervened. “I’m sorry we got you involved in this mess from the start.” Paul looked at Kate sadly. “I should never have let you leave this planet.”

Kate felt desperate. “I went willingly, and sooner or later you would have let me. But now, what choice have I got, Paul? I knew the risks of traveling. I am not afraid. In fact, maybe we are looking at this pending threat from the wrong perspective.”

“What do you mean?” He looked inquisitively at her.

Kate’s mind raced. “If I go back, I’ll play for time regarding Earth’s surrender. Shit, he must understand that something like this is going to take time. I’m sure I can convince him. Meantime I will try and learn more about the Trimadians. Plus, we have a distinct advantage—the Locum threat.”

“How the hell is that an advantage?”

“The Trimadians are proud and will never freely admit that the Locum is a huge threat to their existence. That is why they want to take Earth over, to greatly outweigh the Locum by sheer numbers, and have another world to fall back on. They want Ahmadeus too for its raw materials and the Cantal hosts to mine it. They are desperate for resources. The Cathexistomes will never let themselves be wiped out. You never know, they may simply be too busy battling each other to bother with Earth.”

Pilcher stared at her in silence, measuring her words, it sounded like she was bluffing. What the hell was she up to?

“It sounds purely speculation on your behalf; can you prove your hypothesis?” Calham asked looking coldly at her.

“Look at the reports that have come in from Sataal. It was heating up, and I doubt it has cooled any. They are desperate and certainly will execute the team and the Cantals, if I don’t do something. Let me go back and talk to their leader. What have we got to lose?”

“I’m sorry, Kate. That is impossible. You yourself are a valuable asset to Divisions. We can’t afford to lose you, too. You are damn lucky you are back here in one piece.”

Kate saw she was going nowhere fast and decided to spill the beans. “Okay, okay, when I was interrogated, I managed to get a glimpse into Talokta’s mind, and we had a conversation telepathically. Whether or not he deliberately let me ‘read’ his thoughts while he was interrogating me, I’m not sure, but—”

“You never mentioned this in your report. Were you actually going to tell me about this?” Pilcher thundered back at her, looking thoroughly pissed.

“Well, I thought you might think I was crazy or something. Bottom line is there is little time, and I have got to go back, alone, he made that perfectly clear. He gave me three days; now I’ve only got less than two. Then he starts executing. Say goodbye to your other valuable assets.”

Calham’s eyes blazed with anger. “You do realize that he has probably set you up for their own advantage, especially now they can open the BSP at will with this ring device you reported. All our security measures that we set up will be breached, now the Trimadians know where you have come. They will all have to be changed at once.”

“They have,” Pilcher said. “Standard protocol.” He jumped when Calham looked as though he was going to thump him.

Jesus, wait a minute, thought Kate. If history is correct, according to what she had learned from Pete, the Trimadians know full well where Earth is. They left it alone for six thousand years. Why choose an invasion now? Why have they waited? It was not adding up.

Calham stared at her wishing he could read her mind.

“Let me at least buy some time, and you can get your forces and your nonexistent technology together before the worst comes down,” Kate pleaded with an undertone of frustrated disdain.

Kate had tried to read Calham at that moment, but she could hear nothing, if she was telepathic, why could she not do so now?

He looked skeptically at her.

“You are only one person.”

“Well, Moses parted the Red Sea, and no, I am not religious, but my point is I may just be the one person to make a difference. I do want to take both stones with me. I think they will help me. They help me channel my thinking.”