Mission

Takunda punched in the flight co-ordinates on the control panel in front of him, pulled back the power column and the scout ship shot into the blue sky at three times the speed of sound.

A child sitting on his father's shoulders at Harare gardens excitedly pointed at the tiny image of the vessel receding into the sky as they strolled along one of the walk ways running between the trimmed lawns, "look daddy!"

The youthful looking father smiled and looked up in the indicated direction.

"Another fly boy takes to the sky ", playfully remarked Maidei's workmate and friend pointing at the tiny image of the fast ascending starship as they ate lunch at a food sitting on a park bench.

"I hope he treats his girlfriend better than the way Takunda is to me", Maidei remarked bitterly.

"I 'm sorry babe, ", Takunda thought to himself sitting in the cockpit.

The scout ship shot up into the sky, and Takunda attentively watching the well illuminated instrument panel before him, prepared to make the jump to accelerated space once the scout ship reached the toposphere, upper most edge of Earth's atmosphere.

A computer generated voice began the count down to catapult as Takunda watched the darkness of space come into view.

He touched an icon on the panel before him and the scout ship catapulted into space at accelerated velocity, the stars seeming to race past like shooting stars as the vessel sped through space. Takunda relaxed sat back to enjoy the flight.

The president was giving an address to the nation across all media boss platforms.

"Citizens of our great nation. I call upon you to remain calm and continue to conduct yourselves in the orderly manner you are known for. My government has since launched a mission to look in the signal which caused a lot of anxiety. As of now we are not sure if it was of alien origin but rest assured, we are siezed with the matter. All will be clarified sooner rather than later.

Once again, I want thank you all for urge to continue to conduct yourselves with restraint as you go about your day to day activities".

The broadcast ended.

"Of course", thought Maidei to herself, sitting at her desk in the Galaxy Times, news room.

She had felt that Takunda wasn't being entirely honest with her, when they had spoken earlier. As though there was something he was hiding from her.

The speech by the president had aroused her suspicions.

Could it be that the starship she had seen earlier that day escaping the Earth's atmosphere was being flown by Takunda, was he following the signal into space, if indeed that is where it had originated from?

He must have been under strict instructions not to say a word to the press. Hence he had lied, no not lied, considerately kept her in the dark. The thought also carried the possibility of a bigger mission on the cards once he reported his findings back to his superiors.

"Meaning", a broad smile began to play across Maidei's face as she further contemplated on the possible implications of where this might lead to, when the word literally screamed in her mind, SCOOP!

If she could follow the story as it unfolded, her channel the Galaxy Times could be the first one to break the story to the nation and grab public attention.